Junk food TV advertisements are to be banned from airing before the 9pm watershed as part of the government’s drive to improve public health.
In addition, online ads for products that are high in fat, salt and sugar will be banned altogether, Andrew Gwynne, the public health minister, told the Commons on Thursday. Both measures will come into force on 1 October next year.
Health campaigners welcomed the move as an overdue restriction on firms’ ability to bombard children with ads for their unhealthy food and drink products.
James Toop, the chief executive of Bite Back, which is part of the chef Jamie Oliver’s organisation, said: “This is fantastic news. These restrictions will help shield children from exposure to unhealthy food and drink advertising, which research shows significantly shapes their relationship with food.
“We know that the more junk food ads you see, the more unhealthy food you’re likely to consume. Restricting these ads will protect more young people from falling into this trap.”
The previous, Conservative government pledged to bring in the TV watershed ban from January 2023. But a month before its introduction Rishi Sunak decided to delay it until 2025, prompting a wave of criticism that he had put the interests of big business ahead of improving children’s health.
Boris Johnson, one of Sunak’s predecessors, had planned to implement the same measure. But he too put off plans to do so, ostensibly to help families deal with the cost of living crisis. He was rebuked for doing so by the former Tory health ministers Dr Dan Poulter and James Bethell.
Katharine Jenner, the director of the Obesity Health Alliance, said: “For too long the food industry has consistently pushed back on these incoming restrictions on advertising unhealthy food on TV before 9pm, and online at any time, saying they need to have ‘more time to prepare’. Not any more.”
Gwynne told MPs in a written ministerial statement that Labour was taking action because of widespread concern about the number of children in England who are overweight.
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“More than one in five children in England are overweight or living with obesity by the time they start primary school, and this rises to more than one-third by the time they leave,” he said. “We want to tackle the problem head-on and that incudes implementing the restrictions on junk food advertising on TV and online without further delay.”
