Photo Archive
The UK will ban fast food TV ads until 9pm from October 2025, the British government said on Thursday.
In a written statement to the House of Commons, British Deputy Minister for Public Health and Prevention Andrew Gwynne explained that, in addition to introducing an hourly limit on television advertising, the new rule will also include a total ban on paid advertising on the internet, with the aim of combating childhood obesity.
According to Gwynne, these restrictions “will help protect children from exposure to advertising for less healthy foods and drinks” as currently one in five primary school children in the UK is overweight, a figure that rises to more than a third in secondary school.
However, the measure is not new, as the British Conservatives, with Boris Johnson as Prime Minister, already committed to introducing the ban in 2021, but its implementation was delayed to give the industry more time to prepare.
Alongside this announcement, the Labour government published its response to a 2022 consultation on draft secondary legislation, which sets out in detail the products, businesses and services covered by the future legislation.
According to Gwynne, these new guidelines regarding fast food provide “the clarity that businesses have been asking for and will help them prepare for the restrictions that will come into force” on October 1, 2025.
The government has launched a specific consultation over the next four weeks to clarify how IPTV will be applied, with Labour proposing that they should be subject to the 9pm time slot, as are other on-demand television services and programmes..
Independent journalism needs the support of its readers to continue and ensure that uncomfortable news that they don’t want you to read remains within your reach. Today, with your support, we will continue working hard for censorship-free journalism!
Support El Nacional
