UK fresh produce bosses have hit back at a US study which casts doubt on 5-a-day cancer-prevention claims.
Nigel Jenney, chief executive of the Fresh Produce Consortium, said the US claims would simply cause further confusion for consumers.
A study conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston looked at data from more than 100,000 participants.
The results, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, claimed increased fruit and veg consumption helped decrease a risk of heart disease, but not cancer.
The authors said: “Consumption of five or more servings of fruit and vegetables per day has been recommended, but the protective effect of that intake may have been overstated.”
The study casts doubt on a central claim in official health advice from the government, which states eating fruit and vegetables helps to reduce the risk of some cancers.
However, a Department of Health spokesman said: “Based on the best available evidence, the government’s advice comes from the 1998 recommendations of the committee on medical aspects of diet and cancer and is supported by other research findings.
“The World Health Organisation has also recommended the consumption of 400g of fruit and vegetables a day within a balanced diet to help reduce the risk of chronic diseases.”
The FPC’s Jenney said: “This is further information which probably just confuses the consumer and takes away from the message that eating fruit and veg, as part of a healthy balanced lifestyle, can promote health and wellbeing.”
However, he said there was perhaps a need to keep messages simpler and more general: “We’ve seen two retailers taken to court by trading standards over similar claims.
“We’ve got to be careful about making specific claims and perhaps put more emphasis on the fact eating 5-a-day is generally beneficial to individual health.”
Both Asda and Tesco recently fell foul of local authorities over the labelling of fruit and vegetables with cancer-prevention messages.
Asda was fined £5,000 after pleading guilty to an offence involving health claims on mango labelling in-store.
The prosecution was brought by Swindon Borough Council and related to a label which said: “Mangoes are a great source of vitamin C and beta carotene which are good for healthy eyes and skin. Their antioxidant properties help to fight cancer."
Penny Coates, Asda’s private-label director, said: “We’re in the dock for saying that fruit is good for you.”
Tesco meanwhile settled out of court to end a prosecution being brought by Shropshire Trading Standards for labelling its produce with a cancer-prevention message.
Both retailers are now calling on the government to review the food-labelling laws, although whether the latest US claims will have an impact on that remains to be seen.
