Note: This advice is given by the CAP Executive about non-broadcast advertising. It does not constitute legal advice. It does not bind CAP, CAP advisory panels or the Advertising Standards Authority.
Government guidelines recommend consumers eat five portions of fruit or vegetables a day ('5 A DAY'). Information on what constitutes a portion can be found on the NHS website here.
How can a 5-A-DAY claim be made?
Marketers claiming that a product counts as one of a person’s 5 A DAY will need to be able to show that their product meets the criteria for being a portion of fresh fruit of vegetables.
The ASA previously investigated the claim “6 of your five a day”, which implied the product provided more than the governments daily recommended five portions of fresh fruit and vegetables. However, because the product was a powder, it was ruled that it did not meet the definition of fresh fruit and vegetables under the guidance and so could not be used to count towards the recommended 5-a-day portions (Racing Greens Nutraceuticals Ltd, 4 July 2018).
The ASA has also previously upheld complaints about ads for soups and fruit drinks because advertisers over-claimed the number of portions those products contributed towards 5 A DAY.
In contrast, claims in an ad for Innocent smoothies that “[e]ach glass contains two whole portions. Two of your 5-a-day" were considered acceptable because the advertiser was able to provide evidence that their product met the criteria. Because the smoothies contained all the edible parts of the pulped fruit, a sufficient amount of edible fruit and of fruit juice, and did not include a dairy product, the ASA was satisfied that a 250 ml portion could provide two portions of a person’s 5 A DAY (Innocent Ltd, 16 September 2009).
How and when can health and nutrition claims be made?
Ads which refer to government health messages but do not make explicit nutrition or health claims are not covered by rules 15.1, 15.1.1 or 15.2 but the general rules on misleadingness do apply.
Ads which include a health or nutrition claim will need to abide by the relevant conditions of use set out in the GB (NHC) Register. Marketers should also familiarise themselves with CAP Advice on Food: Health claims - ASA | CAP, Food: General health claims - ASA | CAP and Food: Nutrition claims - ASA | CAP
A social media ad for nuts and dried fruit mixes included the claim that they contained the “equivalent nutrition to 1 portion of your 5-a-day”. Having already established that the product did not meet government criteria of one of your 5-A-DAY, the ASA went on to address the claim the product was equivalent to those criteria. The ASA considered the claim suggested that each pack had the same amounts of all types of nutrients as a portion of fruit or vegetable, which it understood to be a comparative nutrition claim rather than a 5-A-DAY claim. Because that specific comparative nutrition claim was not permitted, it was therefore concluded that the ad breached the Code (Whitworths Ltd, 28 January 2026).