What counts as five a day?

Fruit and vegetables are high in vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and a source of fibre - all essential for good health. Everyone talks about needing five portions of fruit and veg a day. But do you know what counts as one portion? Here's our quick guide to making sure you're getting the right amount:

Fruit

1 portion = 1 medium-sized apple, nectarine, banana, pear or orange; 2 satsumas, plums or kiwi fruit; 3 apricots; half a grapefruit; quarter slice of melon or pineapple (includes canned fruit).

Dried Fruit

1 portion = 1 tablespoon (tbsp) raisins/sultanas; 2 figs.

Fruit Juice

1 portion = 1 medium glass (150ml) 100% fruit juice (only counts once).

Vegetables

1 portion = Green vegetables: 2 broccoli spears; 8 cauliflower florets; 4 heaped tbsps green beans. Cooked vegetables: 3 heaped tbsps peas, sweetcorn, carrots; Salad Vegetables: 4 sticks celery; 6cm piece of cucumber; 1 tomato; 10 cherry tomatoes (includes frozen and canned veg).

Signpost labelling

To help you choose a better diet we have introduced signpost labelling. The labels highlight the calories (kilocalories), sugar, fat, saturated fat, and salt levels per serving and how much they contribute to your diet for the day.

In this case the pack is the serving. If the pack is intended to share, the information is per serving (the portion size is given in the nutrition information table).

In this example there are 498 calories, which gives a quarter of your energy for the day. The 1.7g of salt are the sodium levels expressed as salt. In this example you get 28% of your 6g Guideline Daily Amount (GDA) for salt.

We all lead different lives and need different amounts of energy to maintain our bodies. We use an average set of figures for the calculation. Taller people need slightly higher energy levels than smaller people. If you are more active you will need more energy from your food. If you are looking to loose weight you will need less energy in your diet. Children have different requirements from adults. These figures provide a rough guide.

The GDAs for a typical adult are given below.

Official Government Figures for average adults
Nutrient	Calories	Sugar	Fat	Saturates	Salt
GDA	2000 (kcal)	90g	70g	20g	6g

GDAs and signpost labelling help us keep track of all those naughty but nice treats we all occasionally need. Remember no food is perfectly balanced nutritionally – you should aim to eat a wide variety of foods with plenty of fruit and vegetables.