A new 5-a-day logo, designed to be a trusted and reassuring symbol reminding people of the benefits of eating five portions of fruit and vegetables a day, has finally been unveiled to consumers by the Department of Health (DoH).

Asda launched the official logo at its Clapham, London branch on Tuesday with public health minister Hazel Blears, pictured. She commented: 'Consumers want healthy choices to be easy choices, so they need accurate, consistent advice on how to reach the 5-a-day target.

'The 5-a-day logo is backed by nutritional advice so that consumers can trust it. If the logo appears on a product, people can be confident that it will count towards the recommended daily target for fruit and vegetables and that they aren't eating too much salt, sugar or fat at the same time. The portion indicator shows that you can take it one step at a time to reach your target - you can do it if you just eat more fruit and vegetables.' Over the next few months the DoH logo will appear in supermarkets and on food packaging hoping to dispel doubts about what counts as a portion. The logo can be used on fresh, chilled, frozen, canned and dried fruit and vegetables which do not have any added sugar, salt or fat.

To carry the logo, food must contain at least one portion of fruit or vegetables. To make it easier for people to decide whether or not they are achieving their 5-a-day, a portion indicator has been created for food packaging.

Asda's nutritionist Sue Malcolm said: 'We want to support the government in a co-ordinated response that maximises the impact of this important message and at the same time provide customers with clear information to show what a portion of fruit or vegetables actually looks like.' According to a recent DoH survey, 79 per cent of people incorrectly believe that a jacket potato should count towards their daily intake, 41 per cent thought rice should count 13 per cent thought strawberry jam was included.