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Food: Advertising

Asked by Jas AthwalLabourDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled Answered 17 March 2025UIN 36945

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made on the potential merits of a total ban on the advertising of unhealthy food across all media.

Answered by Ashley Dalton

No such assessment has been made. However, we are implementing restrictions on the advertising of less healthy food or drink products on television and online from October 2025. This includes a 9pm watershed on television and a 24-hour restriction on paid-for advertising of these products online. These restrictions are expected to remove up to 7.2 billion calories from United Kingdom children’s diets per year and reduce the number of children living with obesity by 20,000. We continue to review evidence of the impacts on children of advertising for less healthy food and drink products and will consider where further action is needed.

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