London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Aug 22, 2025

Junk food: Obesity strategy falling apart, Jamie Oliver says

Junk food: Obesity strategy falling apart, Jamie Oliver says

Health campaigners say the government's obesity strategy is "falling apart", after it delayed bans on multi-buy deals for junk food and pre-watershed TV advertising for at least a year.

Chef Jamie Oliver said banning adverts was vital to protecting child health.

Multi-buy deals made "people spend more on junk, and less on healthy food", the Children's Food Campaign said.

But ministers say they are deferring the policy to assess its impact on the cost of living crisis.

The Department of Health and Social Care said the planned ban - due to be brought in in October - on "buy one get one free" deals for food and drinks high in fat, salt or sugar as well as free refills for soft drinks, would be put on hold for 12 months.

Plans to restrict TV advertising of junk foods before the 21:00 GMT watershed and paid-for online adverts are also being paused and will not come into force until January 2024, the department added.

It added curbs on junk food placement in stores would still go ahead this October.

Writing on Twitter, Mr Oliver - who has long campaigned to improve children's access to healthier food - said restricting junk food advertising was crucial.

"This is a wasted opportunity and it starts to erode the whole obesity strategy - which at some point looked progressive and world leading written down, but is falling apart when it comes to acting on these policies," he said.

"Parents and kids don't want to hear any more excuses from the government. I really hope the Prime Minister @BorisJohnson proves me wrong and shows real leadership to give young people a healthier and fairer future."

Chef and healthy eating campaigner Jamie Oliver said the government's obesity strategy was being eroded by the delays


The delay was also criticised as "unconservative" by former health minister Lord Bethall, who said it would be "extremely difficult" for the government to come back to the plans before the next election.

Lord Bethell, who previously served in Boris Johnson's government, said illnesses caused by excessive junk food consumption were placing a burden on the NHS and the taxpayer.

Public health research commissioned by the government shows consumers buy around 20% more junk food than they would ordinarily when it is sold via promotion.

It also found that people do not stockpile the extra food and drink, but increase their consumption instead.

A study released by Cancer Research UK in March has also found "strong evidence" of targeted advertising of junk food on social media directly influencing young people aged 11 to 19 into making unhealthy choices.

The charity's chief executive, Michelle Mitchell, said she was "incredibly disappointed" over the decision to postpone the bans, saying obesity was the second biggest preventable cause of cancer in the UK.

Obesity - what does the data say?


About two thirds of adults in England were overweight or obese - with 28% of these considered to be obese - according to the NHS' most recent health survey in 2019.

Among children aged four to five, 14% are obese, with a further 13% overweight, the National Child Measurement Programme found last year.

When surveying children aged 10 to 11 years old, this rose to 25.5% obese and 15.4% overweight.

These figures showed large increases on the previous year, when 9.9% of children aged four to give and 21% of children aged 10-11 were obese.

Barbara Crowther, of the Children's Food Campaign, said ministers should be urgently curbing multi-buy offers.

"Obesity is spiking and millions of families can't afford to put proper food on the table. Multi-buy offers make people spend more on junk, and less on healthy food," she said.

"This delay threatens the UK target to halve childhood obesity by 2030. Boris is playing politics with our children's health."

Labour's shadow health minister Andrew Gwynne said: "Instead of cutting childhood obesity, preventing ill-health and easing pressure on the NHS, this chaotic government is performing another U-turn."

However, public health minister Maggie Throup insisted the government remained committed to tackling the issue of childhood obesity.

"Pausing restrictions on deals like 'buy one get one free' will allow us to understand its impact on consumers in light of an unprecedented global economic situation," she added.

The British Retail Consortium said the ban on multi-buy deals was unlikely to make much difference as retailers have "largely moved away" from them in recent years.

Andrew Opie, director of food and sustainability at the consortium, welcomed the delay on adverting rules as "one less distraction" for companies looking to focus on keeping prices down.

And industry body the Food and Drink Federation argued that it makes sense to delay restrictions on multi-buy deals as families and manufacturers struggle with high inflation. It would also give the industry time to prepare for a change in the law, it said.

When the government unveiled the planned curbs, some of the UK's biggest food companies, including Britvic, Kellogg's and Mars, criticised them as disproportionate and lacking evidence.


The costs of the NHS dealing with obesity in the UK are "vast" and it was time to "get a grip on it", says the PM.




Last month, Kellogg's said it would take the government to court over the curbs preventing some cereals from being placed in key locations in stores due to their high sugar content.

Laws requiring large restaurants, cafes and takeaways to list calories on their menus came into force last month.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
After 200,000 Orders in 2 Minutes: Xiaomi Accelerates Marketing in Europe
Ukraine Declares De Facto War on Hungary and Slovakia with Terror Drone Strikes on Their Gas Lifeline
Animated K-pop Musical ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Becomes Netflix’s Most-Watched Original Animated Film
New York Appeals Court Voids Nearly $500 Million Civil Fraud Penalty Against Trump While Upholding Fraud Liability
Elon Musk tweeted, “Europe is dying”
Far-Right Activist Convicted of Incitement Changes Gender and Demands: "Send Me to a Women’s Prison" | The Storm in Germany
Hungary Criticizes Ukraine: "Violating Our Sovereignty"
Will this be the first country to return to negative interest rates?
Child-free hotels spark controversy
North Korea is where this 95-year-old wants to die. South Korea won’t let him go. Is this our ally or a human rights enemy?
Hong Kong Launches Regulatory Regime and Trials for HKD-Backed Stablecoins
China rehearses September 3 Victory Day parade as imagery points to ‘loyal wingman’ FH-97 family presence
Trump Called Viktor Orbán: "Why Are You Using the Veto"
Horror in the Skies: Plane Engine Exploded, Passengers Sent Farewell Messages
MSNBC Rebrands as MS NOW Amid Comcast’s Cable Spin-Off
AI in Policing: Draft One Helps Speed Up Reports but Raises Legal and Ethical Concerns
Shame in Norway: Crown Princess’s Son Accused of Four Rapes
Apple Begins Simultaneous iPhone 17 Production in India and China
A Robot to Give Birth: The Chinese Announcement That Shakes the World
Finnish MP Dies by Suicide in Parliament Building
Outrage in the Tennis World After Jannik Sinner’s Withdrawal Storm
William and Kate Are Moving House – and the New Neighbors Were Evicted
Class Action Lawsuit Against Volkswagen: Steering Wheel Switches Cause Accidents
Taylor Swift on the Way to the Super Bowl? All the Clues Stirring Up Fans
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Apple Expands Social Media Presence in China With RedNote Account Ahead of iPhone 17 Launch
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Cambridge Dictionary Adds 'Skibidi,' 'Delulu,' and 'Tradwife' Amid Surge of Online Slang
Bill Barr Testifies No Evidence Implicated Trump in Epstein Case; DOJ Set to Release Records
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
The CEO Who Replaced 80% of Employees for the AI Revolution: "I Would Do It Again"
Emails Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Character.ai Bets on Future of AI Companionship
China Ramps Up Tax Crackdown on Overseas Investments
Japanese Office Furniture Maker Expands into Bomb Shelter Market
Intel Shares Surge on Possible U.S. Government Investment
Hurricane Erin Threatens U.S. East Coast with Dangerous Surf
EU Blocks Trade Statement Over Digital Rule Dispute
EU Sends Record Aid as Spain Battles Wildfires
JPMorgan Plans New Canary Wharf Tower
Zelenskyy and his allies say they will press Trump on security guarantees
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Escalating Clashes in Serbia as Anti-Government Protests Spread Nationwide
The Drought in Britain and the Strange Request from the Government to Delete Old Emails
Category 5 Hurricane in the Caribbean: 'Catastrophic Storm' with Winds of 255 km/h
"No, Thanks": The Mathematical Genius Who Turned Down 1.5 Billion Dollars from Zuckerberg
The surprising hero, the ugly incident, and the criticism despite victory: "Liverpool’s defense exposed in full"
Digital Humans Move Beyond Sci-Fi: From Virtual DJs to AI Customer Agents
YouTube will start using AI to guess your age. If it’s wrong, you’ll have to prove it
×