The Prime Minister has been urged by 26 leading advertisers, media owners, food and drink manufacturers and trade bodies to intervene over a decision to amend the Less Healthy Food advertising rules mere months after they first took legal effect in January 2026.
Download the letter here: Letter to the Prime Minister – Opposition to the adoption of the 2018 Nutrient Profiling Model (October 2026)
The Department for Health and Social Care ran a consultation in March on amending the Nutrient Profiling Model (NPM) which underpins the restrictions and determines which food and drink products are classified as ‘less healthy’. The Department also consulted on expanding the list of categories of products which would be impacted. Under the proposals, breakfast cereals like ‘All Bran’, pure fruit juices, and many dairy products would be classified as ‘less healthy’ and would be subject to a watershed advertising ban on TV and a total ban for paid-for advertising online at any time.
The 26 businesses and trade organisations who sign the letter collectively represent billions of pounds of advertising spend. They warn that the proposals are not based in evidence, that they risk creating business costs which could be passed on to consumers at a time of a cost of living crisis, and that moving the goal posts so quickly after the restrictions were brought in is not good regulatory policymaking and could undermine business and investor confidence in the UK.
The letter also reiterates the analysis conducted by Oxford Economics over the summer which found that up to £600m of advertising spend on affected media channels had already been affected from the existing restrictions and that an addition £400m of spend could be at risk. This analysis was never conducted by the Government as part of its original impact assessment; meanwhile, the Department has claimed that this is merely a “technical update” to the regulations which would have no impact on business.
All the signatories reaffirm that they support the Government’s health goals around childhood obesity and would welcome further engagement across government on how they can work in partnership to tackle the crisis with a focus on evidence-based policymaking.
For further information please contact Chris Walker, Director of Public and External Affairs, at chris.walker@adassoc.org.uk
