Industry reacts to ASA’s delay on junk food advertising restrictions guidance

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has announced a further delay in finalising its guidance on new restrictions for the advertising of less healthy food and drink (LHF) products.

The planned restrictions, part of a broader effort to combat childhood obesity, are set to come into force in October 2025 and will limit the advertising of identifiable LHF products during specific time slots.

The delay, now announced by the ASA, is due to the results of the consultation process, which closed on 7 February 2024. The ASA revealed that the consultation responses and legal advice had prompted them “to rethink and potentially revise aspects of the guidance”.

New revisions to consider

The initial guidance suggested that ads featuring branding associated with a range of less healthy food products would not be restricted, as long as no specific product was depicted or referenced.

However, the ASA now consider that the guidance should be more circumspect in this regard. The law currently makes no reference to brand advertising. Instead, it targets ads for “identifiable” LHF products. Importantly, it stipulates that a product is ‘identifiable’ if a person in the UK could be reasonable expected to link the advert to that product.

The revised guidance will therefore seek to clarify this.

Uncertainty for food and drink brands

The Food and Drink Federation (FDF) has expressed disappointment at the ongoing delays, stressing that businesses are in urgent need of clear guidance to adequately prepare for the upcoming changes.

A spokesperson for the FDF said: “It’s incredibly disappointing that industry is once again facing delays to the publication of the details we need for the implementation of the food advertising restrictions. Government originally announced a delay to the regulations in 2022 to give industry more time to prepare, but we’re still waiting for guidance to be published, and the information that has now been shared is unclear and confusing.”

“Food and drink brands typically plan their advertising campaigns 12-18 months in advance, so this lack of detail and potential change to what is in scope will cause a lot of uncertainty and may require businesses to make costly changes to their advertising plans,” the FDF spokesperson added.

“We urge the government and regulator to provide clarity on this issue as soon as possible.”

Public health advocates call for swift action

While the food industry calls for clarity, the Obesity Health Alliance (OHA), a coalition of over 60 health organisations, has commended the ASA for maintaining its stance against pressure from the food and drink industry to weaken the policy.

Katharine Jenner, Director of the Obesity Health Alliance, commented: “This government has strongly committed to protecting children from junk food advertising, and we need to see this policy come in as planned in October 2025. Food and drink companies are prepared for this legislation, and we commend the ASA for proposing to revise its guidelines to better align with public health.”

However, the OHA also expressed frustration at the continuing delays. “It is deeply frustrating that the ASA has decided to put us all – industry, public and health charities alike – through yet another round of unnecessary consultation, especially when this one closed back in February 2024,” Jenner added.

“The law clearly states that ‘if persons in the United Kingdom (or any part of the United Kingdom) could reasonably be expected to be able to identify the advertisements as being for that less healthy product,’ then such adverts must not appear on television before 9pm or on paid online media at any time.”

The OHA has called on the ASA to expedite its guidance process and focus on the health of children over the “interests of food and drinks companies profiting from pushing unhealthy products on our children.”

Next steps for the ASA

The ASA has indicated that it will revise the guidance in response to the consultation feedback and legal advice. A further public consultation on these revised proposals is expected to take place in the coming weeks. Once the consultation period concludes, the ASA aims to finalise the guidance by spring 2025, ensuring it is ready for implementation by October 2025.

While the delay has sparked debate, one thing is clear: the landscape for food advertising in the UK is changing, and stakeholders across the spectrum are waiting for the final pieces of the puzzle to fall into place.