Diet experts have today criticized the Government’s ultra-strict new ban on junk food advertising, claiming the updated rules target foods that are actually healthy.
Ministers will today introduce legislation restricting adverts airing before 9pm on television and entirely online, which is thought to cost businesses around £199m a year.
The policy aims to reduce children’s exposure to foods high in fat, sugar or salt, such as cakes, biscuits, ready meals and chips.
However, the ban, which has not yet been revealed in detail by the Government, is believed to include staple foods considered healthy by diet experts, such as porridge, crackers and even rice cakes.
Muesli, granola and frozen yogurt are other foods targeted by authorities.
Experts told MailOnline that classifying these foods as junk is “unhelpful” and risks “sending the wrong message by calling some healthy items junk food.”
Professor Gunter Kuhnle, an expert in nutrition and food science at the University of Reading, said: “The proposed new rules would not be helpful, especially with foods that are likely to be very healthy – porridge or some unsweetened cereals.”
The ban will come into force from October next year and will apply to advertising on television before 9pm and on the internet at all times.
Ministers will today introduce legislation that will curb ads despite acknowledging it could cost businesses £199m a year.
The new rules focus on 13 categories of high-calorie, high-sugar foods that will be banned from ads.
These include cookies and sweet bars, cereals, morning products, desserts and puddings, sweetened yogurts, pizzas, potato-based products, ready meals and sandwiches.
The Government’s impact assessment says the measures are likely to reduce children’s exposure to such adverts by just 8.9 seconds and cut 2.1 calories from their diet each day.
Altogether, the Department of Health and Social Care says this could prevent 20,000 cases of childhood obesity.
However, its impact assessment points out that the true benefits may be smaller, saying young people can make up for the calorie deficit by eating more as adults and advertisers could lose £659 million over 25 years.
The ban was first proposed by Boris Johnson’s Conservative government in 2021.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting said: “Obesity deprives our children of the best possible start in life, sets them up for a lifetime of health problems and costs the NHS billions.”
Health Secretary Wes Streeting said: “Obesity deprives our children of the best possible start in life, sets them up for a lifetime of health problems and costs the NHS billions.”
“This Government is taking action now to end junk food adverts aimed at children, both on television and online.”
Professor Sir Stephen Powis, national medical director of the NHS, also added: “We have always said that the NHS can play its part in helping obese people reach a healthier weight, but we need to work with the rest of society to prevent this. people get overweight in the first place.
“That’s why we welcome this proposed legislation and look forward to working with the Government and our partners to help protect the good health of future generations.”
It comes as new data last month also revealed that almost a third of children in some parts of England are obese by the time they start secondary school.
31 per cent of sixth form pupils in Knowsley, Merseyside, are classed as obese, more than double the levels recorded in leafy areas such as Surrey and Richmond-upon-Thames.
Nationally, the rate stands at more than a fifth, a slight drop from last year but still higher than the figure recorded before the pandemic.
Waistlines also increased among foster children: the proportion of four- and five-year-olds considered obese reached one in ten.
This comes as the World Health Organization also revealed last year that 37 million children under five are overweight worldwide, four million more than at the start of the century.
Australia came second in the table of 198 countries, with 21.8 per cent of children classified as overweight.
Britain ranked 22nd (11.3 percent), while the United States ranked 52nd (7.9 percent).
Obesity not only increases waistlines but also healthcare costs: the NHS spends around £6.1bn a year treating weight-related diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and some cancers.