When the Department of Health finally unveiled its long-awaited 5-a-day logo last year there was muted muttering throughout the industry.

“Dull”, “uninspiring” and “how much did that cost?” were just a few of the thoughts being muttered in offices, packhouses and fields across the nation.

But surely the very simplicity of the government logo is now appearing to be its strength?

In recent weeks we’ve had two of the UK’s major retailers taken to task over health claims made on their fruit and veg. Now, whatever your views on the motives behind those legal actions, or indeed the very need to pursue such an action in the first place, both retailers have been forced to drop messages about the cancer-preventing strengths of fresh produce.

On top of this, US scientists are now calling into question one of the core pillars of the UK government’s 5-a-day programme by claiming that in a study of 100,000 people, increased consumption of fruit and veg had not reduced the risk of cancer.

Quite how you prove it one way or another is something of a mystery to a simple layman such as myself, but the point made headlines in a number of newspapers and the fact the same study confirmed other healthy benefits of eating fruit and veg were all but passed over.

All this simply serves to distract from the simple fact that eating fruit and veg is good for you.

So, while it pains me to say it, perhaps the government, with it’s simple ‘Just eat more’ message, has got it right.