Only adverts showing junk food covered by TV ban
Brands that make unhealthy food will be able to get around the government’s ban on junk food advertising if they don’t display offending products in their ads.
From October 2025, foods high in fat or sugar will not be advertised on TV or in paid online ads before 9pm.
But restrictions in new regulations aimed at tackling childhood obesity only apply to products that are identifiable in the advertisements.
This means, for example, that ads for fast-food chains will not be restricted as long as they do not show products such as burgers or fries.
The new ban was introduced using powers from the Health and Social Care Bill 2022, passed by Boris Johnson’s government, which puts the focus on the products.
More than one in five children in England are overweight or obese by the time they start primary school, government statistics show. When they leave, that rises to more than a third.
When the new rules were released on Tuesday, Health Secretary Wes Streeting said obesity “denies our children the best start in life, exposes them to lifelong health problems and costs the NHS billions of dollars” “.
“This government is taking action to end junk food advertising targeted at children on television and online,” he added.
Under the ban, if a product falls into one of 13 categories and is classified as “less healthy” in the product classification, its advertising will face restrictions. government scoring systemAfter analysis of its nutritional content including salt, fat, sugar and protein.
Katharine Jenner, director of the Obesity Health Alliance, an umbrella group for health activists, advocated for brands to be included in the ban and said she would like to see companies respond by making their products healthier.
“That would be the ideal thing, but they could get around it by showing branding, and it’s unclear what effect that would have beyond what we’re already getting,” she added.
“We’re very supportive of (restrictions) being implemented as planned, but I think in the future we’d like to see where loopholes can be closed.”
Some food and drink brands are already creating ads on TV and social media that do not feature their products, regardless of any bans.
Vic Banham, who runs TikTok marketing agency Antler Social, said some of them might not even be considered ads.
“There are a lot of ads out there that don’t focus on the food itself, but they still get their name out there in a smart way,” she said.
“I would describe it as organic content rather than advertising as we know it. They have the opportunity to reach a large number of people of all ages and backgrounds”.
A spokesman for the Department of Health and Social Care said the ban would cover “unhealthy foods found to be excessively high in sugar, fat or salt”.
They added: “This advertising ban does not restrict brands from advertising as long as any products they display meet the stated conditions.”
