Food and nutrition
Frozen and tinned food in 5 A Day
Claim not established
Official inclusion of frozen and tinned produce confirmed; no verified prior government exclusion.
Fact-check
Official inclusion of frozen and tinned produce confirmed; no verified prior government exclusion.
The evidence
Links go to the original records: Hansard, legislation, official guidance and news reports. A before-and-after pair is not always proof of a direct contradiction, so read the originals for exact wording.
After: what changed
Context
What the source documents claim
These are summaries from the original documents behind this archive. They have not been checked word for word. Where they differ from the fact-check above, the fact-check is the more reliable account.
"5 A Day" Target: Frozen and Tinned Produce (2003 vs. Later Updates)
Document B, case 5
- First Announcement
- Early healthy eating messaging heavily emphasised fresh produce, leading many shoppers to assume tinned and frozen options did not count toward daily targets.
- The Reversal
- Official 5 A Day guidelines explicitly clarified that frozen, tinned, and dried fruit and vegetables count equally toward the five daily portions, provided tinned items are packed in water or natural juice without added sugar or salt.
Register entry 30. Last reviewed: 12 November 2026.