A study into the link between diet and disease has found eating more fruit and vegetables has only a modest effect on protecting against cancer. <br/><br/>The study of 500,000 Europeans joins a growing body of evidence undermining the high hopes that pushing "five-a-day" might slash Western cancer rates. <br/><br/>The international team of researchers estimates only around 2.5 per cent of cancers could be averted by increasing intake. In 1990, the World Health Organization recommended that everyone consume at least five portions of fruit and vegetables a day to prevent cancer and other chronic diseases. <br/><br/>The advice has formed a central plank of public health campaigns in many developed countries. It has been promoted in the UK since 2003 and in the US for nearly two decades. <br/><br/>But research has failed to substantiate the suggestion that as many as 50 per cent of cancers could be prevented by boosting the public's consumption of fruit and vegetables. <br/><br/>The findings of the team, led by researchers from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, in New York, appear in the journal of National Cancer Research Institute.<br/>