Junk food ban: What do the new online advertising rules include?

The advertising ban is not the first government policy designed to help people eat less junk food (and generally consume fewer calories) that has been introduced in recent years.

Restrictions implemented in 2009 meant that junk food could not be shown during broadcasts of programmes aimed at under-16s.

The policy also prohibited celebrities and animated characters from promoting health claims about these food products for elementary school-aged children and younger.

A soft drinks tax was announced in 2016. By 2019, it had helped remove around 45,000 tonnes of sugar from drinks sold in Britain, according to a report by Public Health England.

This is because manufacturers changed their recipes to reduce the sugar content, which then reduced the tax they had to pay on sales of their drinks.

In April 2022, it became a legal requirement for hospitality businesses that employ at least 250 people, such as restaurant chains and cafes, to print how many calories each dish on their menu had.

That same year, medium and large supermarkets in England were also banned from displaying certain unhealthy foods and drinks in specific areas.