From porridge to pizza: Banning junk food will have an inevitable impact on growth.

A prior ban on junk food advertising will have an inevitable impact on the UK's wider economic growth, an advertising industry body has warned.

The government says the new policy, which will come into effect in October 2025, will prevent around 20,000 cases of childhood obesity.

Legislation released Tuesday afternoon reveals the extent of the restrictions, which will cover: granola, oatmeal, yogurt, ice cream, cakes, rice cakes, croissants, custard, pizza, fries and crisps, as well as as a range of ready meals and ready meals.

The ban was first proposed by Boris Johnson's Conservative government in 2021 and means TV adverts for junk food products will only be allowed after 9 p.m.

It will also include a ban on paid online advertisements for these products to reduce children's exposure to foods high in fat, sugar or salt.

But a spokesperson for the Advertising Association (AA) warned the move would have an inevitable impact on the creative industries and wider economic growth, in which advertising plays a key role.

Slowed growth?

They highlighted: The government's impact assessment recognized that this could cost commercial media hundreds of millions of pounds.

Money that would be used to fund journalism, new programmes, sport and Britain's creative industries, all of which are essential to the government's growth agenda.

It comes as the Prime Minister and Chancellor faced backlash from businesses over their Budget, which raised taxes by 40 billion, including boosting employers' national insurance.

But the AA spokesperson added that the industry was working closely with the minister and regulators to ensure the policy was enforceable from day one, and said the secondary legislation coming into force gave advertisers more of certainty regarding the ban on advertising of junk food.

However, they warned that the impact of policies aimed at reducing the average child's daily calorie intake will be minimal at best, while potentially costing our sector millions of pounds.

The government said the ban is expected to remove 7.2 billion calories a year from British children's diets, and its impact assessment noted that, overall, studies establish a clear link between advertising food and calorie consumption.

Politics is unwanted?

It also suggests that these measures could reduce just 2.1 calories from children's diets each day, while costing advertisers $659 million in revenue over 25 years.

Chris Snowdon, of the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), claimed the ban itself had no global precedent and therefore Britain was in uncharted territory, and said he did not didn't think it would lead to a reduction in obesity.

He added: Every other anti-obesity policy has failed, including the sugar tax and mandatory calorie labeling, and I see no reason why this should be any different.

This is bad news for broadcasters, internet platforms and everyone who uses them.

Streeting insisted: Obesity robs our children of the best possible start in life, exposes them to lifelong health problems and costs the NHS billions.

This is the first step towards a major shift in the focus of healthcare from disease to prevention, and to meet our ambition to give every child a healthy and happy start in life.

The powers of the Council on junk food?

And NHS medical director Professor Sir Stephen Powis welcomed the new law and highlighted that one in eight children in toddlers and primary schools are obese, which he said sets up problems for a future NHS already spending billions to tackle this problem.

Health experts warn that obesity is the second largest preventable cause of cancer and costs Britain's health service more than $11 billion, the PA news agency reported.

David Fothergill, of the Local Government Association (LGA), said childhood obesity was one of the biggest public health challenges we face, but called for increased powers for councils to tackle the consolidation of takeaway meals and restricting junk food advertisements near schools.

A spokesperson for the Food and Drink Federation (FDF) said the organization welcomed the long-awaited publication of further details, but stressed: We still need the advertising regulator to publish its implementation guidelines as soon as possible to ensure businesses have all the necessary information. conform.

“We are committed to working with policymakers to support healthier eating and our industry already adheres to advertising rules that restrict the advertising of less healthy foods in children's media.”