Some leading food companies in the UK, including Kellogg, has proposed a plan to control childhood obesity cases by banning all of the junk-food related ads online. The companies have signed a letter which is addressed to the British prime minister suggesting to imply this strict ban. The companies which favor this ban include Kellogg, Britvic, and Mars. However, they acknowledged that their plan is somehow “disproportionate” and need more evidence.
The British government has announced its plan to support all affected children as well as families that need help to make better and healthier choices in diet. The original plan proposed by these companies was to completely ban all online and TV ads which promote eating unhealthy and junk food and are on-aired before 9 pm. The British prime minister has linked the increased risk of hospitalization with childhood obesity.
This proposal is not approved yet and still under discussion. If approved, it would be one of the biggest decisions for the digital market which may affect its progress in the coming years.
According to this new proposal, no food company will be able to sell off their unhealthy food which contains a high amount of sugar, salt, or fat on social media and TV.
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This letter has been signed by more than 800 different food and beverage making companies. Nearly 3000 brands from the UK are saying that there is not enough time given to the food companies for enlisting their objections.
The government is making sure to consider these evidence-based facts for drafting new policies. But the evidence on these proposals has neither details nor any efficient information which is why this plan still holds a preliminary value.
Also, there is no information on which food types the would government add to this proposed ban. There is so much variety in these foods and from chocolate-made products to peanut butter, there are so many things that fall under it.
Unilever, a huge food company which has also signed this letter says that it will put a hold on its ice-cream advertisements to control childhood obesity.
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According to the stats, children who are under 16 years of age are subjected to nearly 15 billion different types of junk foods advertisements in the year 2019 which were only 700 million nearly two years ago.
In this letter, the food companies are encouraged to use smart tools to know their audience and carefully plan their advertisement towards the adult audience only.
This is a big concern which these companies have raised because childhood obesity has become one of the most dangerous trends in recent years. But banning the advertisement may also disproportionately affect various smaller industries which make more than 90% of the total food industry.
The food industry is one of the biggest industries in the world and in the UK, it is worth nearly £28bn and it employs more than 500,000 individuals.
The British Health Secretary Matt Hancock has plans to share the action plans on this ban this month. according to his previous statements, he is determined to support every family or child who is struggling to make better dietary choices in life.
