UK government has taken a big step to deal with the increasing problem of obesity in children. From January 6, 2026, there is a ban on showing junk food advertisements on TV before 9 pm, and such advertisements are completely prohibited on online platforms. According to The Guardian, these rules apply to foods that are high in fat, sugar and salt. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) will enforce these rules. Advertisements for a total of 13 categories of products will no longer be shown on TV or online at any time before 9 pm. These include things like chocolate, sweets, chips, pizza, ice cream and sweet drinks.
Anna Taylor, executive director of the campaign group Food Foundation, said, ‘Today is a big and globally advanced step towards protecting children from the onslaught of junk food advertising. These advertisements are very harmful for the health of children right now. Although these rules are coming into force legally from today, the UK advertising industry started following them voluntarily from October 2025. Its purpose was to properly remove commercials that violate complex government rules. The result was that this time for the first time in Christmas TV advertisements, emphasis was placed on products with less fat, less sugar and less salt. Fruits and vegetables were shown instead of puddings and sweet desserts.
There are some strange things in these rules, many times there is a ban on advertising of products that people generally consider healthy, such as sandwiches of any kind, pretzels (salty biscuits), and all breakfast cereal products. This also includes porridge (oats) and muesli. The rules have a long list of exceptions and caveats. Some products, even after being reformulated to be low fat or low sugar, are still banned because they are thought to cause obesity – such as some types of chips, crisps and pizza.
Last year, health workers expressed anger when the government allowed junk food companies like McDonald’s or Cadbury to run brand advertisements. The only condition was that no obvious product should be visible in the advertisement. This decision was taken after legal threat from the food industry. Now with the permission of brand advertising, companies can do their branding without showing the product. For example, Cadbury can run its famous gorilla ad (featuring a drum beat) before 9pm, as long as the chocolate bar is not visible.
Anna Taylor said, ‘The law gives companies the freedom to move from product advertisements to brand advertisements, which risks significantly weakening the effect of the new rules. We should not stop here. We have to remember our goal is to completely ban all types of junk food advertisements for children. Last month, the Food Foundation’s annual report revealed that even before the TV and online ban came into effect, food companies were diverting their advertising budgets to other mediums. Spending on outdoor advertising such as billboards and posters increased by 28 percent between 2021 and 2024. The ban on advertising of junk food applies only within a radius of 100 meters from schools or sports centres. According to the report, McDonald’s increased its outdoor advertising by the highest percentage in three years. These rules had been under consideration since 2020, when Boris Johnson’s government announced they would be implemented in 2023. After many delays, these have finally come into force.
