UK government lays regulations and publishes guidance on HFSS advertising restrictions

From 1 October 2025, there will be a ban on advertisements for less healthy food and drink being shown on TV before 21:00 in the UK. 

Ads within Ofcom-regulated on-demand programme services will be subject to the same 21:00 watershed and otherwise paid-for ads for in-scope food and drink products will be banned completely online. 

Following its earlier confirmation that advertising restrictions for less healthy food or drink (also referred to as products high in fat, salt or sugar (HFSS)) on TV and online would be implemented, the government has now, on 3 December, laid the Advertising (Less Healthy Food Definitions and Exemptions) Regulations 2024 before Parliament and published guidance on them. 

The guidance provides further details on which businesses and products will be caught by the new regulations. 

Who will this apply to? 

The restrictions will apply to businesses involved with the manufacture or sale of "less healthy" food or drink with 250 or more employees, including franchises and symbol groups, who pay to advertise less healthy food or drink products. 

Which products are in scope? 

There is a two-stage process to follow when determining whether a product is considered "less healthy" and would therefore fall within the scope of the regulations. 

For a product to be considered "less healthy" it must both:

• fall within one of the 13 product categories in the schedule to the draft regulations. These include prepared soft drinks containing added sugar ingredients, breakfast cereals and cakes. The guidance provides further details on the categories as well as providing relevant examples and products which are excluded from each category. The guidance also adds that the product categories in the advertising regulations have been aligned with those in the schedule to the promotion regulations, a similar process to that under the promotion restrictions for HFSS products. This includes products which are sold by retailers, manufacturers (if selling direct to consumers) and the out of home sector; and
• score 4 or above for food, or 1 or above for drink, when applying the 2011 technical guidance to the 2004 to 2005 NPM. 

There are also products which are entirely exempt from these advertising restrictions. These are infant formula, follow-on formula, processed cereal-based food and baby food, total diet replacement products, meal replacement products which use an approved "health claim" and food for special medical purposes, all of which fall under separate advertising regimes. 

Regulated IPTV services 

As previously reported, the government also recently ran a consultation on how the new restrictions will apply to internet protocol television (IPTV) services that deliver TV services and advertising live (as opposed to on demand) over the internet. 

The government has, alongside the new guidance and regulations, published its response to the consultation. It confirms that Ofcom-regulated IPTV services (that is, they appear on regulated electronic programme guides) will be subject to the broadcast restrictions (9pm watershed). Unregulated IPTV services will be subject to the online restrictions (total 24-hour ban). 

The government has also confirmed that, in instances where a service is simultaneously available on an Ofcom-regulated platform and an unregulated platform and is identical in all respects including the adverts, the service on the unregulated platform will be exempt from the online restrictions to prevent double regulation. 

Osborne Clarke comment 

With the regulations and guidance now in place, businesses should promptly review the details to determine whether they are affected by the new restrictions and understand what steps they need to take to ensure compliance. 

If in scope, companies may need to consider alternative strategies for their marketing campaigns or make changes to their products to fall out of the scope of this regime to ensure they can adapt to these changes effectively.