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UK ministers are set to delay the implementation of rules that would ban unhealthy food advertising before 9pm in order to change guidance to allow brand marketing following heavy lobbying from the industry.
The government has promised that children will no longer be exposed to adverts for junk food products before 9pm on TV — or at any time online — in an effort to tackle childhood obesity.
But the rules were also set to potentially cover branded advertising — using company names, for example, even if unhealthy products were not shown — under guidance issued by the Committees of Advertising Practice (CAP) and the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), which write and enforce the advertising codes, respectively.
On Thursday ministers are to announce that pure brand advertising should be excluded from the scope of the restrictions, according to three people with knowledge of the plans.
They are expected to delay implementation of the rules to make changes so the ASA can act instead on the precise intention of the rules, the people said.
The announcement will mean that food brands can continue to promote corporate social responsibility commitments or advertise healthier products once the rules come into force.
The restrictions were due to take effect from October 1 but are now expected to be delayed until the new year. They cover adverts promoting products with high fat, salt or sugar, known as less healthy food (LHF).
One government official confirmed the legislation would be pushed back until January 5 after the ASA “interpreted” the rules “differently” to how ministers had intended and how they “were originally portrayed”.
The person added that all the main retailers had signed a letter agreeing to voluntarily implement the 9pm ban from October.
Another government official confirmed there would be a “four-month pause” while the legislation was amended. The ASA declined to comment.
A Department of Health spokesperson said: “Obesity robs children of the best start in life and sets them up for a lifetime of health problems, which costs the NHS billions.
“We have secured a unique and public commitment from advertisers and broadcasters so that from October 1 2025, adverts for identifiable less healthy products will not be shown on TV before 9pm or at any time online, and this will be a legal duty from January 2026.”
In an update to a consultation on the rules in January, the CAP said the revised guidance was likely to clarify that for advertisers “even if your ad does not explicitly refer to or feature an LHF product — it may still be restricted under law, where persons in the UK could reasonably be expected to be able to identify your ad as being for an LHF product or LHF products”.
But consumer brands and retailers have opposed any extension of the rules to cover brands as well as products, with broadcasters warning of a material hit to their revenues at a time when the advertising market is weak.
Marks and Spencer chair Archie Norman told the Financial Times in April that the plan to ban junk food advertising meant the retailer may not be able to justify the expense of a Christmas food advert, describing it as “regulating to stop people talking about mince pies”.
But a joint statement from the Advertising Association, Channel 4, ISBA, ITV, Paramount, and STV last month said the government had been clear that the law “does not intend to (and does not in fact) prevent any food or drink brands from advertising”.
The move is likely to outrage health campaigners who are concerned about allowing advertising for brands that are clearly associated with unhealthy food.
The original legislation was proposed by Conservative government but delayed by former prime minister Rishi Sunak until 2025.
