LONDON, June 24 (Reuters) - Britain will ban adverts
promoting unhealthy food from appearing on television during the
day and on the internet as part of its drive to tackle obesity
and encourage healthy eating.
The new rules, which will come into force at the end of next
year, are designed to change the current trend where one in
three children leave primary school overweight or obese, but
they prompted an angry reaction from some media groups.
Under the plan, adverts for foods that are high in fat, salt
and sugar will be banned from appearing on television or UK
on-demand programming before 2100 hours. They will also be
banned from paid-for slots online, allowing them to still appear
on their producer's website and social media pages.
The government said the restrictions would apply to all
businesses with 250 or more employees that make or sell the
products, helping to protect smaller companies that can only
afford to advertise online.
"The content youngsters see can have an impact on the
choices they make and habits they form," Public Health Minister
Jo Churchill said on Thursday.
"With children spending more time online it is vital we act
to protect them from unhealthy advertising."
Analysis cited by the government showed that almost half of
all TV food adverts shown in a month in 2019 were for unhealthy
food. A sugar tax introduced in 2018 prompted some drink
manufacturers to cut their sugar levels.
The News and Media Association said it was very disappointed
with the decision because it was not clear a link had been found
between advertising exposure and childhood obesity.
"Instead of tackling the problem of childhood obesity, this
draconian measure will harm news media publishers who rely on
advertising revenue to fund the journalism which keeps us all
informed," the NMA's Sayra Tekin said.
Shares in Britain's biggest commercial broadcaster ITV
were down less than 1% while newspaper group Reach fell
1.5% and Daily Mail & General Trust fell 2%.
(Reporting by Kate Holton, Editing by Paul Sandle)
