By Justin Parkinson, Political Reporter, BBC News
The UK government is to impose a nationwide pre-9pm ban on television adverts for food high in sugar, salt and fat. Products affected include chocolate, burgers, soft drinks, cakes, sweets, ice cream, biscuits, sweetened juices, crisps, chips, pizzas, breakfast cereals, yoghurts, ready meals, chicken nuggets and battered fish. From the end of the following year, TV adverts for junk food will be allowed only between 9pm and 5:30am. An around-the-clock ban on online junk food advertising will be limited to paid-for content, meaning companies can continue to promote goods using their own blogs, websites, apps or social media pages.
The measures follow Prime Minister Boris Johnson making tackling obesity — which affects more than a quarter of UK adults — a priority for the government. More than 60% of the adult population is now overweight or obese, according to NHS Digital. Problems often begin in childhood, and those from the most disadvantaged backgrounds are most likely to suffer. The restrictions will not affect companies with fewer than 250 employees such as local curry houses, pizzerias and sweet-makers. Honey, olive oil, avocados and Marmite are also excluded as these are not seen as contributing significantly to childhood obesity.
Food companies said outlawing junk food advertising worth hundreds of millions of pounds a year is disproportionate. The Institute of Practitioners in Advertising said the government’s own impact assessment shows a watershed ban would only remove around 1.7 calories per day from a child’s diet — the equivalent of half a Smartie. However, Charmaine Griffiths, chief executive of the British Heart Foundation, called the advertising ban “a bold and very positive step” and “one important part in building a more healthy environment where the healthy option is the easy option.” For Labour, shadow health minister Alex Norris said: “This ban alone will not be enough. We need a radical obesity strategy in this country that goes further, ensuring families are able to access healthy food, supporting local leisure facilities and tackling child poverty.”