TV Ban on Unhealthy Food Ads Applies Only to Product Displays

Companies producing unhealthy food items may circumvent the government’s prohibition on junk food advertising if their commercials do not feature products that violate the established regulations. Commencing October 2025, the advertisement of foods high in fat or sugar will be prohibited on television before 9 pm and in paid online advertising. However, the limitations within these new regulations, designed to address childhood obesity, will exclusively pertain to the specific, identifiable products depicted in an advertisement. Consequently, advertisements from entities like fast food chains will not be subject to these restrictions, provided they do not display particular products such as burgers or fries. This new prohibition has been implemented utilizing authorities granted by the Health and Social Care Act 2022, enacted by Boris Johnson’s government, which specifically targeted products. Government statistics indicate that over one in five children in England are overweight or obese by the time they begin primary school, a figure that increases to more than one in three by the time they complete it. On Tuesday, upon the publication of the new regulations, Health Secretary Wes Streeting stated that obesity “robs our kids of the best possible start in life, sets them up for a lifetime of health problems, and costs the NHS billions”. He further commented, “This government is taking action now to end the targeting of junk food ads at kids, across both TV and online.” Pursuant to the ban, advertisements will be subject to restrictions if a product belongs to one of 13 specified categories and is simultaneously classified as “less healthy” according to a government scoring system, following an assessment of its nutritional content, including salt, fat, sugar, and protein. Items encompassed by this prohibition include fast food, soft drinks and ready meals, as well as pastries, cereal bars and sweetened yoghurts. While health campaigners have expressed support for this initiative, details of the restrictions, which were revealed earlier this week, also indicated that sugary breakfast cereals, crumpets, and specific varieties of porridge would also be subject to the ban, leading to criticism from some business proprietors. Katharine Jenner, director of the Obesity Health Alliance, an umbrella organization for health campaigners, had previously advocated for the inclusion of brands in the ban and stated her desire for companies to respond by improving the healthiness of their products. She further remarked, “That would be the ideal thing, but they can get round it by just showing the brand and it’s unclear what effect that would have, above and beyond what we’ve already got.” “We are very supportive of [the restrictions] coming in as planned, but in future I think we’d like to see where loopholes could be closed,” she concluded. Certain food and drink brands are already producing advertisements that do not display their products, both on television and social media platforms, independently of any prohibition. Vic Banham, who operates the TikTok marketing agency Antler Social, suggests that some of these efforts might not even qualify as advertising. She stated, “There is a lot of advertising going on that doesn’t focus on the food itself, but they’re still getting their name out there in a smart way.” “I’d describe it as organic content, as opposed to advertising as we know it. They have an opportunity to reach a huge number of people of all ages and backgrounds,” she elaborated. A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care affirmed that the ban would encompass “unhealthy food products that are found to be excessively high in sugar, fat or salt”. They further clarified, “This advertising ban does not restrict brands from advertising, provided any products they feature meet the conditions set.”