Porridge and crumpets fall under new ad ban

Certain types of porridge, crumpets and breakfast cereals are included in a list of products that fall under a new junk food advertising ban.

The government says the legislation, which applies to both paid online adverts and TV adverts shown before 21:00, is designed to curb childhood obesity.

Due to come into force in October 2025, food classed by the government as “less healthy” falls under the ban, and includes fast food, soft drinks and ready meals as well as pastries, cereal bars and sweetened yoghurts.

Cook and TV presenter Thomasina Miers welcomed the move as “bold” but the ban has prompted criticism from others.

Details of the restrictions show baked goods including crumpets, scones and pancakes are all considered junk food under the new legislation.

Adverts for sugary breakfast cereals will also disappear from pre-watershed television screens, with granola, muesli and “porridge oats, including instant porridge and other hot oat-based cereals” all classed as “less healthy” food.

The promotion of sweetened yoghurts and sugary drinks – including fizzy drinks and some fruit juices – will also be restricted.

The government will classify products according to a scoring system based on their sugar, fat and protein content, banning advertising on all foods designated as “less healthy”.

This means healthy versions of products – including porridge products with no added sugar, salt or fat, and unsweetened yoghurt products – will not be subject to the ban.

As well as TV advertising, the new legislation applies to paid-for online ads for these products to reduce children’s exposure to foods high in fat, sugar or salt.

The legislation comes in the context of rising childhood obesity levels in the UK, with NHS data suggesting almost one in 10 reception-aged children (9.2%) lives with obesity.

One in five children by the age of five (23.7%) suffers tooth decay because of excess sugar consumption, NHS figures indicate.

Former prime minister Boris Johnson first announced a UK-wide ban on TV adverts for food high in sugar, salt and fat before 21:00 to help tackle the problem in 2021.

The ban was later delayed to 2025, with the Conservative government saying it wanted to give the food and drink industry time to prepare for the change because of the cost of living crisis.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, cook and Wahaca restaurant chain co-founder Ms Miers welcomed the advertising ban.

“The government is taking very concerted, bold, and very brave action against big food [companies] who have a complete control of our food environment,” she said.

Ms Miers said the ban would reduce the strain on taxpayers, pointing to research by Professor Tim Jackson for the Food Farming and Countryside Commission suggesting food-related chronic disease costs the UK £268bn a year.

“We’ve got the worst diet in Europe and we know it’s causing us absolute pain, discomfort, long-term sickness, early death, preventable death. It’s bringing the NHS to its knees”, she said.

Ms Miers said the “proposed legislation doesn’t go far enough” and urged the government to do more to tackle poor diets.

The government has said its legislation will prevent thousands of cases of childhood obesity each year, and is expected to remove 7.2 billion calories annually from UK children’s diets.

But for Prasanna Callaghan, who runs Crumpets café near Buckingham Palace, the proposed advertising ban on baked goods is “bonkers.”

“The world’s gone mad”, he told BBC News, arguing the government legislation should draw a clearer distinction between crumpets and more traditional junk food like fried chicken.

“If you categorise crumpets as a junk food that will have a great impact on my business – basically what they’re saying is: ‘you shouldn’t eat crumpets’, indirectly.”

“It’s an old traditional food that’s been eaten for years and years”, he said of the griddled bread.

Meanwhile, mother-of-two Maria McCracken from Ashford, Kent, said she disagreed with the advertising ban, instead stressing the importance of teaching children to eat healthy, balanced diets.

Ms McCracken told the BBC she “cooked pretty much everything from scratch” for her children when they were growing up, but added that they enjoyed “the occasional takeaway” together. “There’s nothing wrong with that,” she said.

“It’s about the way we bring our kids up,” Ms McCracken said, suggesting that children should be shown how to cook nutritious meals for themselves.

“That really has to happen within the family, not the government banning something before nine o’clock,” she said.

The Slimming World consultant also questioned whether the TV advertising ban would effectively counter childhood obesity. “Are [children] influenced by the adverts? I don’t think they pay attention ever.”

The government’s impact assessment on the legislation notes that “overall the studies do find a clear link between food advertising and calorie consumption”.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting said the policy was “the first step to deliver a major shift in the focus of healthcare from sickness to prevention, and towards meeting our government’s ambition to give every child a healthy, happy start to life.”