The UK government has announced that online adverts for junk food will be banned starting October 2025, in a bid to address the country’s growing childhood obesity problem. The ban will also apply to TV adverts shown before 9pm. Health minister Andrew Gwynne stated that the restrictions will “help protect children” from advertisements that can influence their eating preferences from a young age. England’s latest government statistics suggest that over one in five children are overweight or obese upon entering primary school, and this figure rises to over one in three by the time they leave.
The ban will focus on food items that meet two specific criteria: firstly, if they are classified as “less healthy” based on government nutrient scoring and analysis, including salt, fat, sugar, and protein. Secondly, if they belong to one of 13 categories created by the government, which include soft drinks, savoury snacks, breakfast cereal, chocolates and sweets, ice cream, cakes and cupcakes, biscuits and bars, and ready meals, among others. However, there are exemptions for some food items such as infant formula and baby food, weight control products, food supplements, medicinal drinks, and meal replacement products.
The ban on junk food on TV and online adverts is not the first UK policy to tackle unhealthy eating habits. Restrictions were put in place back in 2009, which banned junk food from being advertised during programmes aimed at children under the age of 16. Celebrity endorsements and marketing claims about unhealthy foods’ health benefits were also prohibited during this period. In 2016, the UK introduced a sugar tax on soft drinks, responsible for removing roughly 45,000 tonnes of sugar from drink sales in the country by 2019, because manufacturers reduced the sugar content in their products to decrease the tax rate they paid.
Several other countries have introduced similar restrictions on junk food targeting young people. Norway is banning under-18 marketing for sweets, ice cream, and soft drinks, while Portugal has limited the advertising of unhealthy food during TV and radio broadcasts that attract more than 25% of viewers under the age of 16. The EU also proposed in 2023 that member nations adopt restrictions on under-18s junk food advertising across all media platforms, but this policy has yet to be approved by the European Parliament
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