ITV boss Carolyn McCall has hit back at the government’s decision to ban junk food advertisements before 9pm, calling it ineffective.
Speaking at the Royal Television Society convention in London McCall said the move, which is designed to curb childhood obesity, would cost the broadcaster millions of pounds.
The Labour government confirmed last week that the move – which would restrict high in fat, salt or sugar (HFSS) adverts before the watershed – will be in place from October 2025.
Figures at the start of this year revealed that almost a quarter of English school children are obese by the end of primary school.
But, as reported by Daily Mail City and Finance journalists who were present at the event, ITV’s McCall said the junk food ad ban “was not going to make a dent on childhood obesity”, but would instead cost advertisers and broadcasters “millions of pounds”.
The junk food ad ban received initial pushback from the previous Conservative government, which said that businesses would need more time to prepare and reformulate ahead of the move.
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To-ing and fro-ing over the moves led then food tsar Leon restaurant co-founder Henry Dimbleby to resign from his position.
In a written statement, health minister Andrew Gwynn described the new junk food legislation as a “key milestone which confirms the definitions for the products, businesses and services in scope of the restrictions”.
“This provides the clarity that businesses have been calling for and will support them to prepare for the restrictions coming into force across the UK on 1 October 2025”.
More widely, research from activists at Jamie Oliver-fronted campaign group Bite Back and Action on Salt conducted in May found that 80% of HFSS products use techniques like bright colours, mascots and unusual shapes to lure in children.
Many councils including Luton, Tower Hamlets and more have made moves to ban fast food billboards but this TV-focused move marks new territory for HFSS restrictions.
