5 A Day

"[1] A meta-analysis of the many studies of this issue was published in 2017 and found that consumption of double the minimum recommendation – 800g or ten a day – provided an increased protection against all forms of mortality.

Benefits include reduction in the risk of many types of cancer, hypertension, heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.

[14] The programme was introduced by the UK Department of Health in the winter of 2002–2003, and received some adverse media attention because of the high and rising costs of fresh fruit and vegetables.

[15] The campaign has come under criticism from Channel 4 because of government failure to prevent the food industry from claiming that their products constitute part of a five a day despite having added salt, sugar or fat.

[16] In April 2014, a study by University College London concluded that '5 a day' was not enough and that a healthy diet should contain 7 or more portions of fruit and vegetables.