Food and non-alcoholic drink guidance
Background
Evidence shows that advertisements for unhealthy food and drink products directly and indirectly impact what we eat:
- view the National Library of Medicine article about the awareness of marketing for high fat, salt or sugar foods (HFSS), and the association with higher weekly consumption among adolescents: a rejoinder to the UK government’s consultations on marketing regulation
- young people who recall seeing unhealthy food adverts every day are more likely to be obese - view further information on Cancer Research UK about obesity risk doubling for teens bombarded with junk food adverts
- Wirral Council has high rates of children and adults living with excess weight and widening health inequalities. Obesity rates almost double in Wirral school children between reception and year 6 (in line with national and regional trends) from 22.7% of children, to 37.7% of children. This means that by age 5 (reception), one in five Wirral children are living with obesity. By the age of 10 or 11, two in five are living with obesity. View the statistics on 'Fingertips' - a public health data collection website
- both children and adults from lower socio-economic groups are 50% more likely to be exposed to such advertisements for high fat, salt, or sugar (HFSS) foods. View the research for sociodemographic differences in self-reported exposure to high fat, salt and sugar food and drink advertising: A cross-sectional analysis of 2019 UK panel data on the BMJ website
Transport for London (TfL) and 22 councils have introduced an advertising restriction on all food and non-alcoholic drink products that are high in fat, salt or sugar (HFSS). This restriction is across all advertising opportunities on the TfL estate and council-owned sites (including bus stops, taxi wraps and stations).
General principles
The UK Nutrient Profiling Model (NPM) has been adopted by Wirral Council to identify HFSS products, consistent with similar advertising policies implemented by:
- Barnsley Council
- Bristol City Council
- Cheshire East Council
- Cheshire West and Chester Council
- Greenwich Council
- Halton Council
- Haringey Council
- Knowsley Council
- Liverpool Council
- Merton Council
- Sefton Council
- Southwark Council
- St Helen's Council
- Tower Hamlets Council
The UK Nutrient Profiling Model (NPM) is widely used and has been subject to rigorous scientific scrutiny, extensive stakeholder consultation, and review. Furthermore, the scoring system it uses balances the contribution made by beneficial nutrients that are particularly important in children’s diets (under the age of 18) with components in the food that children should eat less of. It has therefore been concluded that the NPM model is the best way of identifying food that contributes to child obesity. Such food and drink is not only purchased directly by children under the age of 18, but is bought for them by others.
Guidance on how to identify whether a product is considered HFSS under the NPM is available on GOV.UK's nutrient profile model.
All potential advertisers should familiarise themselves with the NPM’s technical guidance on how to identify whether a product is considered HFSS under the NPM. In any case of doubt, it is for the advertiser to show that the featured product is not HFSS.
Any revisions to the NPM will be reflected in the advertisement decisions made by the council.
It is the responsibility of advertisers and their agents to verify the status of the products featured using the NPM.
Wirral Council or its representatives may request evidence of nutrition information of food and drink products advertised, and in line with the Food Standards Agency recommendations, Wirral Council expects any laboratory used for nutrition analysis to have ISO 17025 accreditation and this should be by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS).
Content featuring only non-HFSS products
These would normally be approved but would still need to comply with existing principles and procedures relating to any advertising carried by Wirral Council.
Content featuring only HFSS products
Where proposed content features only food or drink which is rated HFSS, such copy would be rejected.
It is therefore recommended that, before committing to advertising production agreements, advertisers should discuss their eligibility with the council or its agents.
Content where there is a range of food or drink featured, some of which is HFSS
The advertising or promotion of HFSS products is unacceptable under the policy, so a range or meal could not feature them (for example, fish, chips and peas could only be advertised if all products were non-HFSS). This would also apply to any meal settings being shown, including those for restaurants, aggregator platforms and delivery services.
It is the responsibility of advertisers and their agents to verify the status of the products featured using the NPM.
Content where no food and drink is featured directly but the advertisement is from or features a food or non-alcoholic drink brand
This may include:
- advertisements where the brand’s logo is included but no products, such as a brand values campaign,
- directional signage to a store, app or website,
- promotional advertising which is price-led but features no products such as ‘50% off everything’ or similar,
- advertising about a business or its performance
Food and drink brands (including food and drink service companies or ordering services) will only be able to place such advertisements if the advertisement promotes healthier options (i.e. non-HFSS products) as the basis of the copy.
Where advertisers are uncertain about the classification of proposed copy under these guidelines, they should discuss this with the council or its agents.
Advertisements where food and drink is shown ‘incidentally’, that is, it is not the subject of the advertisement but is included (or implied) by visual or copy
HFSS products should not be promoted by being featured in advertisements for other products. It is the responsibility of advertisers and their agents to verify the HFSS status of the products featured using the NPM.
Where a food or drink item is featured incidentally and does not relate to a specific identifiable product which can be assessed for its HFSS status, advertising copy may be rejected by the council or its agents on the basis that the advertisement promotes the consumption of HFSS products.
Advertisements where food and drink is referenced in text, through graphical representations or other visual representation
HFSS products should not be promoted through references in text, graphical images or other visual representations of food and drink. Where a food or drink item is featured in this way and does not relate to a specific identifiable product which can be assessed for its HFSS status, copy may be rejected by the council or its agents on the basis that it promotes the consumption of HFSS products.
Indirect promotion of HFSS food and drink
Where a product is non-HFSS but falls within a category covered by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities recommendations for sugar or calorie reduction, the product should always carry a prominent product descriptor to help differentiate it from noncompliant products (for example, where an advertisement features a non-HFSS pizza or burger, the image should be accompanied by prominent text that names the specific product and retailer).
Children should not be shown in advertisements for products which are compliant in a category which is covered by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities recommendations for sugar or calorie reduction.
Portion sizes
The NPM model is based on nutrients per 100g of a product, rather than recommended portion size. Advertisers should always ensure that they promote products in portion sizes which encourage healthy eating. For products that are non-HFSS but fall within a category covered by PHE’s recommendations for sugar or calorie reduction, the product should be displayed as a single portion.
If advertisers and agencies are unsure about how to interpret this, or any other aspect of these guidelines, they are encouraged to get in touch with the council or its agents and work together on a solution to avoid submitted copy requiring changes or being rejected.
Exceptions
There are no standard exceptions to the policy offered on council-owned advertising sites.
Alignment council-wide
Wirral Council will consider the potential impact of HFSS advertising when looking at planning applications which include advertising sites. Unhealthy food and drink marketing is an important consideration upon healthy town centres and is therefore considered in planning applications.