My fabulous colleague Barbara will be at IFE London (30 March - 1 April). Give her a shout if you’re there too!
The UK has been talking about cracking down on junk food advertising for the better part of a decade. There were consultations, then delays, then more consultations, then industry pushback, then more delays. And yet, somehow, when the big one finally arrived, i.e., the ban on pre-watershed TV advertising and paid online ads for high fat, sugar, and salt (HFSS) products (which came into force in January this year), a surprising number of brands were caught flat-footed. UK brands included. These are companies that had years of advance notice, watched the regulations tighten in stages since 2022, and still haven't sorted out whether their products are compliant.
That's the thing that surprised me most in a chat I had about the new regulations with GourmetPro expert Sam Conebar.
Sam is a UK-based regulatory compliance specialist who works with food, beverage, and supplement brands, both homegrown ones navigating the new rules and international brands trying to figure out what entering the UK market even looks like now.
We talked through what HFSS actually means in practice, how the scoring works, what options brands have if their products don't make the cut, and what overseas brands need to factor in before they even think about launching in the UK. There's a lot to unpack, and honestly, it's less doom-and-gloom than the word “ban” suggests.
The full conversation is worth your time, especially if you're working in or looking to enter the UK market.
Watch it on our YouTube channel:
Or listen to it on Spotify:
So... are you on the naughty list? 🍫
Our nutrient profile score calculator will tell you exactly where you stand in less than 2 minutes, so you can plan your next move.
What you need to know about the HFSS ad ban:
Products aren't banned, only how they're promoted has changed
No paid online ads, no pre-9pm TV spots, no checkout placement or BOGOF deals
Compliance is scored on a nutrient profile model: fat, sugar, and salt weighed against protein, fiber, and fruit/nut content
Retailers will check your score before you go on shelf
Non-compliance could mean fines. So if you’re a bigger brand, there’s bigger risk
📢 What do you think of today's Market Shake? 📢
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