From 2023 onwards, food with high fat, salt and sugar content will no longer be advertised on television between 9:00 p.m. and 5:30 a.m. and companies will no longer be allowed to place paid online advertising, as the Ministry of Health announced in London on Thursday.
Products such as chocolate, soft drinks, ice cream, cookies, chips and pizza are affected. “These restrictions will help to protect children from developing long-term unhealthy eating habits and to improve the health of the country,” the ministry said. However, there are exceptions. The rules apply to individual products and not to entire product lines and not to manufacturers with fewer than 250 employees. In addition, foods and beverages that are considered healthy and contain too high a sugar content are excluded, for example honey, olive oil, avocados and the popular marmite spread can continue to be advertised.
The advertising ban could lead to 7.2 billion calories being removed from children’s diets, the ministry said. This could reduce the number of obese children by more than 20,000 in the coming year. It is estimated that a third of all children finishing elementary school in the UK are overweight or obese. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who himself has a few pounds too much on his ribs, has made the fight against obesity a top priority, also under the impression of the corona pandemic. “Losing weight is one of the ways to reduce the risk of corona,” Johnson said.
