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Junk food ad crackdown expected
A crackdown on junk food advertising on TV which targets children is set to be announced by regulators.
The idea of restricting advertising was first proposed in public health plans unveiled by ministers two years ago. Ofcom has spent 12 weeks consulting on three options to tighten restrictions on the timing and content of adverts. But the regulator was heavily criticised by campaigners and the Food Standards Agency for not suggesting a total ban before a 9pm watershed. Ofcom has said it is not necessarily the best option because it would restrict advertising to adults and cost the TV industry £240m in revenue.
However, the regulator has said it will listen to proposals put forward about a total ban after being threatened with a legal challenge by the National Heart Forum. One of the options consulted on was to ban junk food advertising during programmes specifically made for children. It was also proposed that all food and drink products be banned during the same programmes - to avoid the problem of defining what should be classed as junk. The final option was to limit the amount of advertising shown to children, although ban it outright for programmes made for pre-school children.
Critics argued that that would only cut down on about half the advertising seen by children and, therefore, would have limited impact on the country's obesity crisis.
Ian Twinn, director of public affairs for the Voice of British Advertisers, said a watershed would hit advertising revenues which would in turn affect programme quality. "We accept there need to be restrictions, we're bringing in a tougher code ourselves so what you say in an ad will have to change - no use of cartoon characters for instance," he said. "The government have said they want to protect primary school children, we agree with that, we think that's right, we think there should be restrictions on food advertising during children's programming time. What we're scared about is extending that and grabbing adult viewing time in the evening, and putting bans into that."
It is estimated that 14% of children in England are clinically obese.
In its submission to the Ofcom consultation, the Food Standards Agency said it supported a pre-9pm watershed on advertisements for products high in fat, salt or sugar as it "would offer a practical means of extending protection to older children and would be consistent with other broadcasting controls". The government has said it wants to see restrictions in place by next year.
A crackdown on junk food advertising on TV which targets children is set to be announced by regulators.
The idea of restricting advertising was first proposed in public health plans unveiled by ministers two years ago. Ofcom has spent 12 weeks consulting on three options to tighten restrictions on the timing and content of adverts. But the regulator was heavily criticised by campaigners and the Food Standards Agency for not suggesting a total ban before a 9pm watershed. Ofcom has said it is not necessarily the best option because it would restrict advertising to adults and cost the TV industry £240m in revenue.
However, the regulator has said it will listen to proposals put forward about a total ban after being threatened with a legal challenge by the National Heart Forum. One of the options consulted on was to ban junk food advertising during programmes specifically made for children. It was also proposed that all food and drink products be banned during the same programmes - to avoid the problem of defining what should be classed as junk. The final option was to limit the amount of advertising shown to children, although ban it outright for programmes made for pre-school children.
Critics argued that that would only cut down on about half the advertising seen by children and, therefore, would have limited impact on the country's obesity crisis.
Ian Twinn, director of public affairs for the Voice of British Advertisers, said a watershed would hit advertising revenues which would in turn affect programme quality. "We accept there need to be restrictions, we're bringing in a tougher code ourselves so what you say in an ad will have to change - no use of cartoon characters for instance," he said. "The government have said they want to protect primary school children, we agree with that, we think that's right, we think there should be restrictions on food advertising during children's programming time. What we're scared about is extending that and grabbing adult viewing time in the evening, and putting bans into that."
It is estimated that 14% of children in England are clinically obese.
In its submission to the Ofcom consultation, the Food Standards Agency said it supported a pre-9pm watershed on advertisements for products high in fat, salt or sugar as it "would offer a practical means of extending protection to older children and would be consistent with other broadcasting controls". The government has said it wants to see restrictions in place by next year.
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