Semiotics is a science that systematizes and reveals the world of signs, describing and classifying them according to logic. There are three kinds of sign: icons, indexes and symbols. The food guide pyramids are, in first place, icons, which can develop into symbols. Considering the focus of Nutrition, the food guide pyramids are considered as orientation tools that can transmit knowledge related to feeding considered adequate. The objective of this paper was to show the communicative potential of the food guide pyramids from the semiotics perspective. In this trial, three food guide pyramids were analyzed. The United States Department of Agriculture, 1992, Philippi, 1999 and Willet & Stampfer, 2003. In every food guide pyramid the hierarchic "level" in which a group of foods is found is the primordial informative element.
food habits; nutrition; food guide pyramid