Luton Council has become the third council outside London to restrict adverts for ‘junk foods’ – those deemed unhealthy for being high in fat, salt and sugar (HFSS).
The measures, developed in collaboration with the charitable alliance Sustain, have been introduced to protect local adult and children’s health, and will be in place across all the borough’s advertising estate.
The restrictions make the East England council the eighth local authority to bring in a healthier food advertising policy, Tower Hamlets approved similar measures earlier this year.
A similar HFSS-ad free policy was first introduced across the Transport for London (TfL) network in 2019 after the Mayor of London, with support from Sustain, made the move in response to national government anti-obesity measures.
TfL says its advertising revenues have been unaffected by the restrictions and had instead increased by £2.3 million in the first year, with similar results in the second.
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While the government’s national HFSS and buy-one-get-one-free (BOGOF) promotional measures have been delayed, some authorities have implemented the advertising changes on a local level.
Councils which have already implemented similar changes include London boroughs – Haringey, Southwark, Barnsley and Greenwich – and outer London areas, Bristol and Merton.
“We’re delighted to have worked with Luton Council on this policy,” said Sustain children’s food campaign coordinator, Fran Bernhardt.
“At a time when our national government is repeatedly failing children and adults by stalling on important health measures, Luton council has stood up to the food and drinks industry on behalf of all their residents.”
“We know that those living in the most deprived areas are most affected by unhealthy food advertising, and most at risk from diet related diseases. So, by removing the spotlight from unhealthy foods, Luton is supporting their local area to level up,” Bernhardt added.
Luton Council director of public health, Sally Cartwright added: “We want everyone in Luton to have the best possible chance of living a healthy life. This new policy is just one example of what we’re doing to make it easier to be healthy.
“We’ll be working collaboratively with businesses to make sure that they can advertise healthy food and drink on council-owned advertising,” Cartwright added.
