15 Jan 2025 Update on less healthy food and drink legislation: Food Active response
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) have published an update on the media restrictions on advertisements for “less healthy” food and drink products, which is due to come into effect in October 2025 after years of delays.
The update follows a consultation which closed just under 12 months ago in February 2024, where we and many of our national partners expressed concerns about the loopholes in the draft guidance that would undermine the aim of the policy; specifically unpackaged products, generic items, less healthy product variations or ranges, and brands predominantly associated with unhealthy products.
This latest update from the ASA suggests that some parts of the guidance will now need to be reconsidered, suggesting that the advertising watchdog has taken on board the concerns raised by campaign groups last year around brand and product range advertising.
Beth Bradshaw, Food Active Policy and Advocacy Manager responds:
While we appreciate the ASA’s efforts to consider feedback from the consultation process, it is highly frustrating that this has taken so long to conclude. Furthermore, the proposal for yet another consultation risks causing further delays to a policy originally set for implementation in 2022. We urge the ASA to act quickly and finalize the guidance—children’s health must not be kept waiting!
To read more about the legislation, follow this link: https://foodactive.org.uk/new-rules-to-restrict-unhealthy-food-advertising-set-for-october-2025-food-active-response/
For more information, please visit: https://www.asa.org.uk/news/media-restrictions-on-advertisements-for-less-healthy-food-and-drink-products-consultation-update.html
