Healthier eating has never been higher on the nation’s agenda, but it has always been an issue in which I have taken a keen and personal interest.

We began our support of the government’s 5 A DAY programme by applying for the 5 A DAY logo, which was first featured on Whitworths Fruits 25g, a three-strong range of fruit snacks, ideal throughout the day, and naturally low in fat.

I was also delighted that we could feature 5 A DAY on a Whitworths world-first - individually wrapped prunes that have been described in some quarters as the “ultimate in convenience snacking”.

But our support for 5 A DAY extends way beyond featuring the logo on-pack. Our national sampling campaign at shopping centres, theme parks, seaside resorts and high profile visitor attractions is reaching hundreds of thousands of consumers, highlighting how tasty, convenient and healthy snacking the 5 A DAY way can be.

We have also taken the 5 A DAY message into the high street with a nationwide sampling campaign involving two leading sports brands, Sports World and Reebok.

With Christmas just around the corner, the healthy-eating heat is also being turned up in the home baking sector, into which we have also introduced 5 A DAY on Whitworths World Orchard range of premium home baking fruits.

Looking ahead to the New Year, traditionally a time for healthy eating, we will be actively promoting the benefits of healthy fruit snacking, and 5 A DAY, in women’s magazines.

I am delighted that Whitworths is wholeheartedly supporting the Department of Health’s 5 A DAY campaign, and we are actively encouraging people of all ages to eat dried fruit snacks as part of a healthy, balanced diet. With two impressionable daughters at primary school, I know only too well the pressures parents face from all angles when it comes to providing their children with a healthy diet.

There is no doubt that if you encourage children to eat fruit and vegetables as part of their everyday diet, they will be more inclined to eat the same in adulthood.

Once the preserve of crisps, snacks and confectionery, school tuck shops, lunch boxes and even vending machines are now playing host to healthy fruit snacks - and not before time!

Our drive to educate people, and youngsters in particular, has resulted in us producing the UK’s first “fruit stop”. The fruit stop is a mobile tuck shop that allows primary schools the chance to offer children a range of great-tasting fresh and dried fruit snacks.

There is still a long way to go to change the nation’s eating habits, but Whitworths will continue to play its part by remaining at the forefront of 5 A DAY and encouraging consumers of all ages to enjoy the benefits of healthy fruit snacks.

David Smith is Whitworths’ marketing director

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