Government issues statement on LHF online ad restrictions

On Monday 7 April, Department for Health and Social Care published a Written Ministerial Statement (WMS) to Parliament regarding the implementation of the upcoming Less Healthy Food & Drink (LHF) online advertising restrictions, set to take effect on Wednesday 1 October 2025.  

The statement reiterates government's intention not to include brand ads within the scope of the LHF restrictions and places responsibility on the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) to ensure that the policy is implemented in line with the government’s original intent. 

It was issued in response to ongoing concerns raised by businesses and trade associations - including IAB UK - about the application of these restrictions to brand advertisements that do not directly feature or refer to less healthy products. 

However, it’s important to note that the statement does not amount to a change in the law and has no binding effect on how the ASA chooses to proceed. As such, it is highly unlikely to alter the ASA's stance as reflected in CAP’s draft guidance. This means that brand ads may still be prohibited from 1 October 2025. 

While the government has always stated that brand ads, which do not feature less healthy food or drink products, should not be impacted by the new restrictions, the legislation itself does not explicitly exempt them.  

IAB UK and other industry stakeholders have been actively lobbying the government for a legislative amendment to clarify that brand ads should be excluded from the restrictions and we continue to engage with officials and ministers at all levels to push for this change. 

In the meantime, we want to better understand how the LHF ad ban will affect members, including the expected financial impact of the revised ASA guidance. If you would like to support this effort, please get in touch at [email protected] 

For more on the background of the LHF online ad ban, listen to Beth Rogers - our Public Policy Manager – on The IAB UK Podcast.