Food items that do NOT count towards your 5-a-day

Ketchup

Hate to break it to you but this popular sauce is definitely not one of your 5 a day. It is full of sugar, harmful chemicals and has absolutely no nutrition value at all. If you really need it, try making your own!

Baked beans 

A good source of fibre but most brands are full of added sugar. Making your own baked beans is cheap, easy and makes an excellent protein and fibre rich meal (accompanied by some greens please!). 

Fruit yoghurts 

Most are high in sugar, especially any labelled ‘low-fat’. Look out for yogurts with 'sugar', 'syrup', 'cane sugar', 'molassases', or anything ending in 'ose'. If this is within the first 3 or 4 ingredients, try and avoid it. A great substitute is mixing unsweetened natural yogurt with pureed fruit. 

Fruit juice 

Fruit juice is fruit without the fibre and really needs to be avoided as it is extremely high in sugar. Fibre slows down the release of sugar into your bloodstream, so without it, you're getting a big sugar hit, which inevitably leads to energy spikes and eventual crashes. 

Dried fruit 

Dried fruit is a very condensed form of fruit sugar, often has sugar added it, so is really best avoided. I’m afraid the dried raisins in your morning granola should not count as one of your 5 a day. 

So now you know what doesn't count, it's time to find out what does. Click here to find out some creative ways to cram in the veggies with these top tips.