Advertising Restrictions on Less Healthy Food

Lord Krebs Excerpts

Monday 14th July 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Blake of Leeds (Lab)]

First, I commend the work done by the noble Baroness, the committee and everyone in this House who is passionate about this agenda. We are not weakening our stance on this. It is absolutely imperative that everyone understands that we are determined to tackle this issue. We felt strongly that there was a need for legal clarity on the existing policy, so that we could bring in the restrictions in January, which we are committed to doing. I repeat that brand advertising was always out of scope for the policy. That was confirmed during parliamentary scrutiny of the Health and Care Act 2022. This is an important area. We have laid out our determination to move forward on it and we intend to do so.

[Lord Krebs (CB)]

My Lords, I am sure that the Minister and her officials will be familiar with the research carried out by Professor Emma Boyland of Liverpool University, which was presented recently at the European Congress on Obesity. Professor Boyland’s results show that exposure to brand-only advertisements has the same effect as exposure to product adverts. Both brand-only and product adverts increase young children’s subsequent food intake by 130 calories. In the light of this, can the Minister assure us that the Government will consult with Professor Boyland before considering further whether or not to restrict brand advertising?