• Nesta analysis reveals that gaps in the new UK advertising legislation could leave just 1% of ad spend fully covered by the regulations, after companies move budgets into unregulated channels and formats.
• The eight years between the policy’s announcement and its implementation has seen four delays as well as adjustments to the scope of the policy likely to weaken its impact - partly due to pressure from industry.

London, UK - Long awaited restrictions on the advertisement of unhealthy food to children may end up as a "paper tiger", with as little as 1% of ad spend affected by the policy once expected shifts to unregulated channels are taken into account.

New analysis by the research and innovation foundation Nesta shows that long delays, changes in the advertising landscape and industry lobbying have weakened the policy and left loopholes that should be closed.

Total food and drink ad spend in the UK in 2024 was approximately £2.4 billion. Nesta's analysis, which examined ad spend and digital exposure, finds that currently only 8% (£190 million) of industry ad spend is covered by the regulations. As companies adapt and ad spend is shifted to other unregulated paid-for channels and from product to brand advertising, this could drop to just to 1% (£20 million) - leaving 99% of ad spend to continue unchecked.

The UK government introduced the regulations on 5th January 2026, banning paid online ads and pre-9pm TV adverts for products high in fat, salt and sugar within 13 specific food groups including crisps, sweet biscuits and ready meals.

The policy aims to tackle childhood obesity by protecting children from excessive and targeted junk food marketing. But Nesta’s analysis reveals the scale and impact of the gaps that will potentially weaken its impact, including:

• exemptions for brand and range advertising
• narrow scope of food and drink categories included
• a focus on paid-for advertising only that excludes advertisers own social media accounts and websites, and direct digital marketing
• a focus on TV and online advertising that excludes outdoor advertising.

The advertising landscape has shifted since the regulations were first proposed almost a decade ago. TV ad spending, which is covered by the ban, has dropped 40% in real terms between 2004 and 2024 - 21% of this was from 2018 when the restrictions were first announced. However, outdoor advertising has more than tripled after adjusting for inflation since 2004 and increased by 59% since regulations were announced in 2018, leaving consumers exposed to channels that are not covered by the current legislation.

Following industry lobbying, the recent restrictions also do not cover owned-media channels which are controlled directly by companies, such as their own websites, social media accounts and direct marketing emails. These channels leave children and disadvantaged groups at higher risk of being exposed to unhealthy food advertising as analysis by Nesta revealed that direct messages from less healthy brands were more common in the most deprived areas (65%) than in the least deprived areas (45%). Messages were also more likely to feature less healthy food in the most deprived areas (36%) than the least deprived areas (28%). Meanwhile, the proportion of messages received from less healthy brands is highest among adults under 35 years old and declines steadily with age.

The report also highlights how the legislation misses popular food choices as well as advertising for brands and product ranges. The legislation includes just 13 food and drink categories, but this misses many items which are generally considered unhealthy such as chocolate spread and toffee covered nuts. More than half (60%) of consumer spending on foods high in fat, salt or sugar (HFSS) falls outside of the 13 categories included in the legislation.

Following industry pressure, a brand and range exemption was included in the legislation. The 36% of food and drink advertising spend (£824 million) which is already brand-focused is exempt from the restrictions. In addition, product range advertising such as the Dairy Milk buttons range, or McDonald’s Happy Meals, is still permitted.

Closing these loopholes would strengthen the impact of existing restrictions by limiting companies’ ability to shift spending into exempt channels or formats, and encourage greater promotion of healthier food and drink. Nesta estimates this could lead to the total UK ad spend that is in scope of the regulations rising to around 33%.

Nesta is urging the UK government not to make the same mistake with the healthy food standard, which requires large food businesses to meet mandatory targets for the proportion of healthy products they sell. This policy, announced as part of the government’s 10-Year-Plan last year, has the potential to help 3 million people achieve a healthier weight and needs to be implemented in full as quickly as possible.

John Barber, director of Nesta’s healthy life mission said: “This policy was first announced eight years ago and in that time there have been eight consultations and four delays. Partly due to pressure from the industry, these delays and adjustments mean that the restrictions intended to keep us healthy are operating at a fraction of their potential. The policy is at risk of being a paper tiger. While governments must rightly balance the needs of the public and business, the current restrictions appear to strongly favour the latter. Advertising has a huge role to play in the food we see day-to-day and ultimately shaping the choices we make. To cut the UK’s obesity rates, we need to change how food is marketed to us.

“The government should look to amend the loopholes in the restrictions, taking care to include popular foods and common advertising tactics so that the legislation can do what it was designed to do - helping us to make healthier choices.

“Most importantly though, the government should learn from this to ensure that the recently announced healthy food standard is implemented as quickly and impactfully as possible, keeping consumers’ best interests at heart.”

D’Arcy Williams, CEO of Bite Back, an activist network that is challenging the food system and its effect on young people said: “These findings back up everything we’ve been seeing and warning about for years. Junk food companies are as incredibly adept as they are sinister at finding loopholes, shifting their marketing into places where the rules don’t apply, while young people continue to be surrounded by unhealthy food advertising every day. The government has taken an important first step with the new restrictions, but this report proves our case for stronger action to ensure their efforts are not in vain.

“That’s why we’re urging the government to move quickly to both close those marketing loopholes and expand their scope, while ensuring other key policies - like the Healthy Food Standard - get over the line without industry interference. These are evidence-based policies that safeguard child health, and ensure that businesses are actually required to take responsibility for how their products are made, marketed and sold to young people. Ministers must do everything they can to prevent industry interests from diluting the government’s bold ambitions to raise the healthiest generation ever.”

Ends

Notes to editors

1. The report includes two monetary values for industry total food and drink ad spend for 2024. £2.4 billion is from a high-level longitudinal data set which includes data from 2004 - 2024, while the £2.3 billion is from a more granular 2019-2024 dataset.
2. Spokespeople from BiteBack, a youth-led activist movement to challenge the food environment are available for interviews. Carrera an 18-year-old Bite Back Youth Activist said:
   “Even after the ban came into force in January, what we’re seeing is exactly what young people feared – ads are being pushed off our screens and onto our streets, and they’re still following us into the places where we live and learn.
   “When one in three young people are already leaving primary school facing food-related ill health, we simply can’t afford for policies to be watered down or full of loopholes. Young people across the country are speaking up because we know what this looks like in real life — ads on our streets, online, on our screens and everywhere we go. At Bite Back we’re not going to stop pushing until the government puts young people’s health before the profits of big food companies.”
3. The findings in the main report are grounded in the evidence derived from three distinct studies carried out between July 2025 and- January 2026. Each study was conducted to address a specific evidence gap:

• Study 1: Analysis of Nielsen advertising spend data. This study conducted a descriptive analysis of secondary data spanning two decades (2004-2024). Its primary objective was to assess the volume and focus of food and drink advertising spend across various media channels in 2024 and over the last 20 years. This analysis was used to estimate the proportion of current advertising spend that would be covered by the recent restrictions, and how extensions in the scope of the policy would broaden coverage.
• Study 2: Direct Digital Marketing study. This was a quantitative, observational study using a multi-part diary design. The aim was to quantify UK adults’ real- world exposure to Digital Direct Marketing (DDM), eg, via email, app notifications or SMS, over a typical week, specifically focusing on food and drink marketing. This generated crucial baseline data on the scale and frequency of specific tactics employed in brand- owned low- cost channels that currently operate beyond the scope of traditional advertising regulation.
• Study 3: Industry perspectives on emerging trends in advertising. This qualitative study used semi-structured interviews with eight advertising and food industry experts. The objective was to identify critical shifts in advertising strategies and practices from first hand experience, and gain insight into how food brands may seek to mitigate the impact of new restrictions on TV and online advertising of unhealthy foods.

1. For more information on the analysis or to speak to one of the experts involved, please contact Bryony Ravate, Media Officer on 07576838085 or [email protected]. Spokespeople are available for broadcast interviews.

About Nesta

Nesta is a research and innovation foundation that designs, tests and scales solutions for the biggest challenges of our time.

Driven by a vision to improve the lives of millions of people, our focus up to 2030 is on three missions: breaking the link between family background and life chances, halving obesity and cutting household carbon emissions.

We work with partners to develop high-potential solutions and test them as they evolve, drawing on expertise in qualitative and quantitative research, data science, behavioural science and design.

Once confident in the effectiveness of a solution, we take it to scale. We create national policy proposals, develop consumer-facing products and services, build and spin out commercial ventures and harness the power of the arts.

We work with two specialised units: BIT applies a deep understanding of human behaviour to help clients achieve their goals. Challenge Works designs and runs challenge prizes to spark innovation in science, technology and society. Find out more at nesta.org.uk