THE LOSS OF APPETITE

As M&S launches a nutrient-dense range for GLP-1 users, and junk food ads disappear from TV, Britain's relationship with eating is being quietly rewired

- Hannah Twiggs

Christmas 2025 slipped past with a quiet but telling shift.

Between the usual festive excess, television ad breaks looked different: fewer burgers and chocolates, more apples, carrots and “everyday” food. Not because Britain has suddenly turned virtuous, but because broadcasters had already begun adapting to the junk food advertising ban that came into force this week. Regulation, not appetite, was doing the heavy lifting.

This follows a year of near-constant contradiction, one where wellness and indulgence didn't take turns so much as talk over each other. No- and low-alcohol went mainstream just as Gen Z, once held up as the sober generation, began drinking at higher rates than those before them. Fibre was rediscovered and protein shrugged off years of heart-health suspicion to roar back onto the table. Ultra-processed food was cast as the great dietary villain of the age, yet “posh” ready meals, from luxury lasagnes to £195 beef Wellingtons, dominated headlines towards the end of the year.

At the same time, indulgence didn't retreat: American dining is firmly back on trend, with more US imports set to open here this year, maximalist comfort food thriving alongside functional snacks and mini portions. The result was less a clean shift than a cultural pileup; a kind of low-level food schizophrenia that made it hard to pin down what, exactly, Britain was meant to be eating or drinking at any given moment.

But one of the biggest food stories of 2025 was the rise of weight-loss drugs, which have become almost mainstream. Which brings us neatly to Marks & Spencer. This week, the supermarket launched a new “nutrient-dense” food range explicitly designed for people using GLP-1 weight-loss drugs – medications that suppress appetite and slow digestion, making eating feel optional rather than urgent.