Jam latest cancer-fighting medicine

Why we should all be eating a spoon of jam a day

It's usually loaded with sugar and reserved for the odd slice of toast if we're feeling naughty, or with cream and scones if we're feeling really bad, but now scientists say we all ought to be beating more jam to help fight off cancer.

Pectin - a key ingredient in jams and jellies - has been shown to have anti-cancer properties prompting boffins to herald it the latest super food (although they do suggest we look for sugar-free jams before we start stockpiling the stuff).

'The treatments used by the food industry to modify pectin would emphasise the release of the fragment we've identified,' says Professor Vic Morris from the Institute of Food Research. 'I expect you would get some protection from jam but it's full of sugar.'

If you're not a big jam fan, pectin can also be found in other processed foods like yoghurt and cake filings.