A flood of unhealthy food including burgers and crisps is being allowed to bypass junk food advertising rules because of the govemment’s reliance on a 20-year-old classification model, it has been claimed.
New analysis by the Obesity Health Alliance claimed thousands of products that were classified as ‘healthy’ under the government’s current nutrient profiling model (NPM) would be banned from ads before 9pm if it applied a newer model to legislation as promised.
Plans put forward by former health secretary Wes Streeting in his 10-year plan for the NHS are currently on hold, amid calls from the food industry for at least a five-year delay before updating the NPM because of the economic impact on businesses.
The OHA analysis found six of the seven food and drink products currently allowed to be advertised during ITV’s Britain’s Got Talent final, a popular primetime family show, could be reclassified as ‘less healthy’ under the updated NPM.
A similar gap emerged on supermarket shelves where the NPM is used to dictate the government’s promotions clampdown.
The OHA found 45 out of 68 in-scope products featured in promotions at the end of aisles – such as cakes and biscuits, sugary drinks and desserts – could be classed as ‘less healthy’ under the updated NPM.
The organisation claims the vast majority of the public regard foods such as burgers as high in fat, sugar or salt HFSS. Polling by Savanta of a nationally representative sample of 2,211 UK adults found 77% described a KFC Zinger Burger as unhealthy, 71% said the same of a McDonald’s Spicy McCrispy, and 62% said so of Walkers Prawn Cocktail crisps. The products currently fall outside advertising and promotion restrictions.
The polling also demonstrated the scale of children’s exposure to unhealthy food marketing. More than two-thirds of the respondents (69%) believed children regularly saw advertising for unhealthy food and drink, while 57% said the government should do more to restrict this.
The OHA said the findings showed there was “clear public appetite” for further action to protect children from unhealthy food advertising.
It is urging ministers to move quickly to implement both the updated NPM and the mandatory healthy food sales reporting and targets promised by the government in proposals. The OHA is calling on the government to publish its response to a consultation on applying the updated NPM, which is already past the 12-week timeframe suggested in its own guidance.
It wants ministers to publish a promised consultation on a new Healthy Food Standard immediately, enabling businesses to prepare for and implement mandatory healthy sales reporting and improvement targets. It is also demanding implementation of the updated NPM and the Healthy Food Standard as soon as possible and within this parliament, in line with the Health and Social Care Select Committee’s recommendations.
Last week, The Grocer revealed food bosses had called on Andy Burnham to pause plans to update the NPM for at least five years, claiming “cost-heavy” health regulation was killing investment.
Research among its members by the FDF and Argon & Co found nearly 70% of companies said regulatory certainty was important in deciding whether to embark on supporting healthier product innovation.
The research followed previous FDF claims that the government had massively underestimated the cost of bringing in the new 2018 NPM.
“Families expect the rules on food advertising and promotions to reflect modern nutrition science. Instead, we’re still relying on a model designed more than 20 years ago,” said OHA executive director Katharine Jenner.
“Both the updated model and the Healthy Food Standard were promised in the NHS 10‑year plan, and countries around the world are already modernising how they identify unhealthy products based on the latest evidence – so multinational companies have long known which way the wind is blowing.
“Now they need to be implemented quickly, so the rules make sense to businesses, parents and consumers, and help ensure the food we buy is affordable, available and advertised responsibly.”
Action on Salt & Sugar head of research Sonia Pombo said: “This report highlights a fundamental problem that too many foods high in fat, salt and sugars are still slipping through the regulatory net. Nutrition science has moved on, the food we buy has changed, and the rules need to catch up.
“We now need stronger rules aligned with the latest nutrition evidence, not outdated standards that allow less healthy products to keep securing prime advertising and retail space.
“If we are serious about making healthier choices easier and more affordable, we need to stop giving the biggest promotional push to products that frankly do not need it.”
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