Great Britain: Government introduces advertising for junk food

Chips, fries, chocolate and lemonades: Advertising for unhealthy foods in Great Britain will only be broadcast on television after 9 p.m. this Wednesday and no longer on the Internet. The industry is thus a ban that comes into force at the beginning of next year and is supposed to help to suppress obesity in children.

The British Labor government, which has already taken over the project from the conservative predecessor, is hoping for the new regulation that food producers reduce the sugar and fat content of many dishes. Children’s menu is reduced by 7.2 billion calories, the Ministry of Health in London said.

Which foods are affected by the advertising ban is evaluated by an assessment of their nutritional value and the proportion of saturated fatty acids, salt and sugar. In the long term, billions of pounds in treatment costs for the health service NHS should also be eliminated.

In Great Britain, according to the agency, every tenth child at the age of four is now suffering from obesity. Every fifth has caries at the age of five.

In Germany, the then Federal Minister of Nutrition Cem Özdemir (Greens) tried to get advertising bans for unhealthy products with a view to children. However, this failed due to the resistance of the FDP that was assured at the time and was not implemented until the traffic light coalition breaks. The current black and red federal government has not provided such plans in the coalition agreement.

The Federal Government called for the consumer organization Foodwatch to follow the example from Great Britain. “Almost 90 percent of all people in Germany want strict advertising barriers to protect children,” said Anne Markwardt, who is responsible for campaigns and research at Foodwatch. This is a clear work order for nutritional minister Alois Rainer (CSU).