Labour backs law to ban junk food ads before 9pm

A pre-watershed ban on ads for junk food will prevent an estimated 20,000 cases of childhood obesity, the government has said.

- JOSIE CLARKE

More detail on which food and drink products will be covered by the regulations are due to be published today, as the government confirmed the laying of secondary legislation for the ban.

The ban, which had been first put forward by Boris Johnson’s Conservative government in 2021, will come into force in October next year, after which television ads for junk food products will be allowed only after 9pm.

It will also include a ban on paid-for online ads for these products to reduce children’s exposure to foods high in fat, sugar or salt. The government said the ban was expected to remove 7.2 billion calories a year from children’s diets.