Junk food: Porridge and crumpets come under new advertising ban.

Oatmeal, crumpets and certain types of breakfast cereals are on the list of products that fall under the ban on junk food advertising.

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

Due to come into effect in October 2025, Foods classified as “less healthy” by the government fall under the ban.and includes fast food, soft drinks and prepared foods as well as pastries, cereal bars and sweetened yogurts.

Cook and TV presenter Thomasina Meyers welcomed the move as “courageous”, but the ban drew criticism from others.

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

Advertisements for sugary breakfast cereals will also disappear from already watershed television screens, with granola, muesli and “oatmeal, including instant oatmeal and other hot oat-based cereals” all labeled as “less healthy” foods. Rated at

Advertising of sweetened yogurt and sugary drinks – including fizzy drinks and some fruit juices – will also be banned.

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

This means that healthier versions of the products – including porridge products without 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 online advertising for these products to reduce children’s exposure to foods high in fat, sugar or salt.

The legislation comes in the wake of rising levels of childhood obesity in the UK, with almost one in 10 reception age children (9.2%) living with obesity, according to NHS figures.

NHS figures show that by the age of five one in five children (23.7%) suffer from tooth decay due to excessive sugar consumption.

Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson First announced a UK-wide ban on TV advertising for sugary, salty and fatty foods before 21:00 in 2021 to help tackle the problem.

The ban was later delayed until 2025, with the Conservative government saying it wanted to give the food and drink industry time to prepare for the change due to the crisis in life.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Cook and co-founder of the Wahka restaurant chain Ms Meyers welcomed the ban on advertising.

“The government is taking very concrete, bold and very brave action against big food. [companies] Who have total control over our food environment,” he said.

Ms Meyers pointed out that the ban would ease the burden on taxpayers. Research by Professor Tim Jackson The Food Farming and Countryside Commission has suggested that 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 total pain, suffering, long-term illness, early death, preventable death. It’s bringing the NHS to its knees,” he said. said

Ms Meyers said the “proposed legislation does not 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 cut 7.2 billion calories a year from UK children’s diets.

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

“The world has gone mad”, he told BBC News, adding that government legislation should make a clear distinction between crumpets and traditional junk food like fried chicken.

“If you classify crumpets as junk food that will have a huge 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 baked bread.

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

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

“It’s about the way we raise our children,” Ms McCracken said, adding that children should be taught how to cook nutritious meals for themselves.

“It really has to be within the family, not the government banning anything before nine o’clock,” he said.

The Slimming World consultant also questioned whether banning TV advertising would effectively combat childhood obesity. “There are [children] Influenced by ads? I don’t think they ever notice.”

A review of the government’s impact on legislation notes that “overall studies have found a clear association between food advertising and calorie consumption”.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting said the policy was “a significant shift in the focus of healthcare from disease prevention, and to meet our Government’s ambition to give every child a healthy, happy start to life.” Side is the first step.”