New UK rules to ban advertising fatty or sugary foods to children

From:FoodBev

Advertising junk food and sugary drinks to children will be banned as part of new measures in the UK.

The  Committees of Advertising Practice (CAP) has published ‘tough new rules’ that will prevent advertisers from promoting foods high in fat, salt or sugar in all non-broadcast media – including print, cinema, online and social media – that is specifically targeted towards children, or where under 18s make up over 25% of the audience.

Brands will also be stopped from using promotions, licensed characters and celebrities popular with children to advertise high-fat, salt and sugar products.

And it will mean that adverts for unhealthy food and drink products will no longer be allowed to appear around TV-like content online, such as on video-sharing platforms or advergames, if they are directed at or likely to appeal to children.

The rules, set to take effect at the start of July 2017, help protect the health and wellbeing of children, CAP said.

CAP chairman James Best said: “Childhood obesity is a serious and complex issue and one that we’re determined to play our part in tackling. These restrictions will significantly reduce the number of ads for high-fat, salt or sugar products seen by children.

“Our tough new rules are a clear demonstration that the ad industry is willing and ready to act on its responsibilities, and puts the protection of children at the heart of its work.”

The new rules respond to shifting media habits among young people and evolving advertising techniques which have fundamentally changed children’s relationship with media and advertising.

Research from Ofcom, CAP said, showed that young people aged 5-15 are spending around 15 hours each week online – the first time that this figure has overtaken the amount of time spent watching a TV.

The rules extend existing coverage afforded to TV advertising, with eligible products to be determined by the Department for Health’s profiling model.

The system scores products by considering its levels of energy, saturated fat, sugars and sodium, and subtracting any fruit, vegetables, fibres, proteins or nuts. The model is used to determine which products should be subject to advertising restrictions, though the government’s own workings show that, in cases, fruit juices and cereal bars score poorly and would be unable to advertise in places where children would be likely to see it.

And the restrictions, CAP said, would be enforced by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).

The ASA already censures breaches of advertising code in the UK, but its powers to sanction brands that fall foul of the rules are generally limited. In most cases, the ASA instructs brands to remove or not to repeat adverts where a complaint is upheld against them – and even in more serious circumstances, the watchdog is only able to name brands that do not cooperate.

CAP acknowledged that the effect of advertising on children’s food preferences was ‘relatively small’, particularly when compared to other factors like parental influences, but said that even a small positive impact would make ‘meaningful change’ to children’s exposure to junk food advertising.

 

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