Eating more than five a day 'has no health benefit'

The fruit study, published on thebmj.com, examined the association between fruit and vegetable intake and risk of premature deaths.

Researchers from China and the US analysed 16 studies involving more than 830,000 participants - 56,000 of whom died during the follow-up period.

Higher consumption of fruit and vegetables was significantly associated with a lower risk of death from all causes, particularly from cardiovascular disease.

They found the average risk of death from all causes was reduced by about 5% for each additional daily serving of fruit and vegetables.

But once a person had consumed five portions, there was no additional benefit noted for extra portions.

Eating more portions of fruit and veg than the recommended "five a day" has no additional benefit on reducing a person's risk of death, researchers have suggested.

Consuming five portions of fruit or vegetables each day is linked to a lower risk of premature death but eating more portions appears to have no further effect, their study concluded.

The findings contradict recent research which found that eating "seven a day" holds the lowest risk of death.