The government is to impose a UK-wide pre-9pm ban on TV adverts for food high in sugar, salt and fat. Products affected include chocolate, burgers, soft drinks, cakes, sweets, ice cream, biscuits, sweetened juices, crisps, chips and pizzas. There will also be new rules on online promotion, but firms selling junk food will still be able to run websites. Food companies have said outlawing any form of junk food advertising - worth hundreds of millions of pounds a year - is disproportionate. From the end of next year, TV adverts for junk food - also including breakfast cereals, yoghurts, ready meals, chicken nuggets and battered fish - will be allowed only between 9pm and 5.30am. The UK population's weight has risen since the early 1990s, with more than 60% of the adult population now overweight or obese, according to NHS Digital. But the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising - which represents the large ad agencies - has said the government's own impact assessment shows a watershed ban on high-fat, sugar and salt food and drinks would only remove around 1.7 calories per day from a child's diet - the equivalent of half a Smartie. Sue Eustace, public affairs director of the Advertising Association, said her industry was "dismayed" and that jobs would be lost in broadcasting and online publishers.
