Government confirms what’s in scope of ‘HFSS ad ban’

The final secondary legislation specifies the precise products in scope of the less healthy food and drink ad ban (often referred to as the HFSS ad ban), which comes into force on 1 October 2025. The ban applies to all online ads for ‘less healthy’ products - as specified in the law - as well as TV ads before 9pm.  

The final legislation also confirms the details of the exemptions from the ban, which apply to SMEs and for audio-only media/ads on the internet.   

Alongside the regulations, the Department for Health and Social Care has issued explanatory guidance for the industry on the food and drink categories in scope. You can find this here.  

The Government has also confirmed that the 9pm TV watershed will apply to Ofcom-regulated IPTV services - the same as other Ofcom-regulated TV and on-demand programme services.  

The draft legislation was originally published for consultation in 2022, which IAB UK responded to. This was followed by the IPTV ‘technical’ consultation in 2024.  

Since then, we have been lobbying both the previous and current Governments to lay the legislation to confirm the precise details of the ban so that regulators can provide guidance and the industry has enough time to plan and prepare its ad campaigns with confidence.  

What happens next? Now that the legislation is in place, the ASA and CAP can move forward with finalising guidance for industry, which will need to be signed off by the Government and Ofcom before publication.  

We will continue to keep members informed of any developments and please contact [email protected] if you have any questions.