Crumpets and porridge officially categorised as junk food

'Less healthy' foods will be subject to a pre-watershed advertising ban

The government is planning to introduce legislation which will make it illegal for unhealthy foods and drink to be advertised on TV before 9pm.

It is hoped the plans will help tackle childhood obesity in the UK.

Set to come into force in October 2025, the government has unveiled a list of "less healthy" products which will fall under the advertising ban.

This includes fast food, soft drinks, ready meals and pastries. But the list also includes products that many of you may assume are healthy, such as sugary breakfast cereals, sweetened yoghurts, "instant porridge."

Granola, muesli and "other hot oat-based cereals" have also been classed as "less healthy" food, and will no longer be advertised before the watershed.

However, healthy versions of products, such as porridge oats with no added sugar, salt or fat, and unsweetened cereals and yoghurts, will not be subjected to the ban, BBC News reports.

The advertising ban will also apply to paid-for online ads, to try and reduce children's exposure to foods high in fat, sugar and salt.

It is predicted that the ban could remove 7.2 billion calories annually from UK children's diets, which the government says will prevent an estimated 20,000 cases of childhood obesity.

The classification of "healthy" and "less healthy" foods was made based on each product's sugar, fat and protein content.

For example, one Warburton's crumpet contains almost a fifth of a 10-year-old's daily recommended salt intake, whilst a 36g packet of Quaker Oat So Simple Golden Syrup porridge with milk contains 15g of sugar, more than half of the recommended daily sugar intake for children aged 10 or under.

The NHS says children aged 7-10 should have no more than 24g of sugar a day, whilst children aged 4-6 should have no more than 19g a day.

For salt, the recommended limits are 5g for kids aged 7-10 and 3g for 4-6 year-olds.

NHS figures show almost one in 10 (9.2 per cent) reception-aged children are obese, whilst just under one in five children (23.7 per cent) have tooth decay by the age of five, as a result of high sugar consumption.

The plan for an advertising ban on unhealthy foods date back as far as 2021, when it was announced by Boris Johnson's government.

However, the legislation was pushed back to 2025 by the Tory government, who said they wanted to give the food and drink industry time to prepare for the change because of the cost of living crisis.