Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish all correspondence between his Department and the Food and Drink Federation on changes to the HFSS guidance between October 2022 and June 2023.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to tackling the childhood obesity crisis and to raising the healthiest generation of children ever. Department officials regularly engage with a range of external stakeholders on diet and obesity policies.
The Food (Promotion and Placement) (England) Regulations 2021 were laid during the previous Parliament. The regulations provide for restrictions on the promotion and placement in retail stores, and their online equivalents, of certain foods and drinks that are high in fat, salt, or sugar, or that are ‘less healthy’.
The Department recently responded to a freedom of information request asking for details of any correspondence between the Department and the Food and Drink Federation relating to a change made to the implementation guidance in 2023 that accompanies these regulations. The relevant information was released pertaining to a decision to exclude the term ‘minimally processed and nutritious food' from the guidance. The information released has since been made available online. There are no plans to publish further information at present.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Written Statement HCWS652 of 22 May 2025, what assessment he has made of adequacy of the Advertising Standards Authority to perform the role of frontline regulator for the upcoming regulations of HFSS food and drink advertising on TV and online.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to implementing advertising restrictions for less healthy food and drink on television and online, as part of its ambition to raise the healthiest generation of children ever.
As announced in our Written Ministerial Statement on 22 May, we are working with the Department of Culture, Media and Sport to bring forward a statutory instrument (SI) that will provide an explicit exemption for ‘brand advertising’ from the advertising restrictions. This will provide legal clarification on this aspect of the existing policy, which we consulted upon and which was understood and agreed by Parliament during the passage of the Health and Care Bill. We will consult on the draft regulations before they can be finalised and laid before Parliament, which we aim to do as soon as possible. We have amended the coming into force date for the advertising restrictions from 1 October 2025 to 5 January 2026, to allow for this and for the Advertising Standards Authority to publish implementation guidance on how the restrictions will be enforced. However, industry stakeholders have complied with the restrictions voluntarily, as though they will still come into force from 1 October 2025.
The Government appointed Ofcom as the statutory regulator for the advertising restrictions. Ofcom has appointed the Advertising Standards Authority as the frontline regulator to carry out the day-to-day enforcement following consultation.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Written Statement UIN HCWS652 of 22 May 2025, what his planned timeline is for regulations on the advertising of HFSS food and drink products.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to implementing advertising restrictions for less healthy food and drink on television and online, as part of its ambition to raise the healthiest generation of children ever.
As announced in our Written Ministerial Statement on 22 May, we are working with the Department of Culture, Media and Sport to bring forward a statutory instrument (SI) that will provide an explicit exemption for ‘brand advertising’ from the advertising restrictions. This will provide legal clarification on this aspect of the existing policy, which we consulted upon and which was understood and agreed by Parliament during the passage of the Health and Care Bill. We will consult on the draft regulations before they can be finalised and laid before Parliament, which we aim to do as soon as possible. We have amended the coming into force date for the advertising restrictions from 1 October 2025 to 5 January 2026, to allow for this and for the Advertising Standards Authority to publish implementation guidance on how the restrictions will be enforced. However, industry stakeholders have complied with the restrictions voluntarily, as though they will still come into force from 1 October 2025.
The Government appointed Ofcom as the statutory regulator for the advertising restrictions. Ofcom has appointed the Advertising Standards Authority as the frontline regulator to carry out the day-to-day enforcement following consultation.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that NT-proBNP testing is implemented in Community Diagnostic Centres.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NT-proBNP is a well-established blood test used across the National Health Service in the detection of heart failure. All standard and large model community diagnostic centres (CDCs) are required to offer blood tests via a phlebotomy service, and the majority of spoke model CDCs also offer this service.
All NHS pathology networks have laboratories that are equipped to provide results for these blood tests.
14 CDCs are also currently able to provide NT-proBNP blood tests as a point of care test (POCT), where results can be assessed on site while patients wait, allowing patients to get results on the same day. NHS England is working with CDCs to expand the number offering this test as a POCT test.
NHS England has also released guidance to increase the use of NT-proBNP tests as a triage tool for referral to echocardiography services. The guidance has been published, and is available at the following link:
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Written Statement of 22 May 2025 on Childhood obesity, HCWS652, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of (a) delaying implementation of advertising restrictions from 1 October 2025 to 5 January 2026 on the number of additional advertisements for less healthy food that will be shown on television and (b) exempting brand advertising from the restrictions on children's health.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to implementing advertising restrictions for less healthy food and drink on television and online, as part of its ambition to raise the healthiest generation of children ever.
We have not undertaken an assessment of the impact of moving the enforcement date of the restrictions from 1 October 2025 to 5 January 2026, or of providing an exemption for ‘brand advertising’ from the regulations, because we are not changing the policy but instead providing legal clarification on an existing aspect of the policy. We have secured a unique and public commitment from advertisers and broadcasters to voluntarily comply with the restrictions from 1 October 2025, meaning we do not expect to see adverts for specific identifiable less healthy products shown on television between 5:30am and 9:00pm, or at any time online. Therefore, from 1 October, we expect to achieve the outcomes of the policy as planned, which will protect children from the harms of junk food advertising and begin to remove up to 7.2 billion calories from children’s diets each year.
We received representation from a range of stakeholders in response to the Advertising Standards Authority's revised implementation guidance, and following my written statement of 7 April 2025. This included written correspondence from industry bodies, broadcasters, advertisers, and non-government organisations. We listened carefully to the concerns raised by all stakeholders, and we have worked with the Department of Culture, Media and Sport to find a resolution that supports economic growth by ensuring that industry has the confidence to invest in advertising that complies with the restrictions, whilst protecting children from advertising of less healthy products.
An impact assessment was published in 2021, along with the laying of the primary legislation, which recognised that brand advertising that did not identify less healthy products is out of the scope of the restrictions. This remains fit-for-purpose, as we are not changing the policy but providing legal clarification on the existing policy.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what representations his Department received on the Advertising Standards Authority's guidance on the advertising of foods high in (a) fat, (b) sugar and (c) salt in (i) 2024 and (ii) 2025.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to implementing advertising restrictions for less healthy food and drink on television and online, as part of its ambition to raise the healthiest generation of children ever.
We have not undertaken an assessment of the impact of moving the enforcement date of the restrictions from 1 October 2025 to 5 January 2026, or of providing an exemption for ‘brand advertising’ from the regulations, because we are not changing the policy but instead providing legal clarification on an existing aspect of the policy. We have secured a unique and public commitment from advertisers and broadcasters to voluntarily comply with the restrictions from 1 October 2025, meaning we do not expect to see adverts for specific identifiable less healthy products shown on television between 5:30am and 9:00pm, or at any time online. Therefore, from 1 October, we expect to achieve the outcomes of the policy as planned, which will protect children from the harms of junk food advertising and begin to remove up to 7.2 billion calories from children’s diets each year.
We received representation from a range of stakeholders in response to the Advertising Standards Authority's revised implementation guidance, and following my written statement of 7 April 2025. This included written correspondence from industry bodies, broadcasters, advertisers, and non-government organisations. We listened carefully to the concerns raised by all stakeholders, and we have worked with the Department of Culture, Media and Sport to find a resolution that supports economic growth by ensuring that industry has the confidence to invest in advertising that complies with the restrictions, whilst protecting children from advertising of less healthy products.
An impact assessment was published in 2021, along with the laying of the primary legislation, which recognised that brand advertising that did not identify less healthy products is out of the scope of the restrictions. This remains fit-for-purpose, as we are not changing the policy but providing legal clarification on the existing policy.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Written Statement of 7 April 2025 on Childhood Obesity, HCWS579, whether her Department received representations from industry after that statement was made.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to implementing advertising restrictions for less healthy food and drink on television and online, as part of its ambition to raise the healthiest generation of children ever.
We have not undertaken an assessment of the impact of moving the enforcement date of the restrictions from 1 October 2025 to 5 January 2026, or of providing an exemption for ‘brand advertising’ from the regulations, because we are not changing the policy but instead providing legal clarification on an existing aspect of the policy. We have secured a unique and public commitment from advertisers and broadcasters to voluntarily comply with the restrictions from 1 October 2025, meaning we do not expect to see adverts for specific identifiable less healthy products shown on television between 5:30am and 9:00pm, or at any time online. Therefore, from 1 October, we expect to achieve the outcomes of the policy as planned, which will protect children from the harms of junk food advertising and begin to remove up to 7.2 billion calories from children’s diets each year.
We received representation from a range of stakeholders in response to the Advertising Standards Authority's revised implementation guidance, and following my written statement of 7 April 2025. This included written correspondence from industry bodies, broadcasters, advertisers, and non-government organisations. We listened carefully to the concerns raised by all stakeholders, and we have worked with the Department of Culture, Media and Sport to find a resolution that supports economic growth by ensuring that industry has the confidence to invest in advertising that complies with the restrictions, whilst protecting children from advertising of less healthy products.
An impact assessment was published in 2021, along with the laying of the primary legislation, which recognised that brand advertising that did not identify less healthy products is out of the scope of the restrictions. This remains fit-for-purpose, as we are not changing the policy but providing legal clarification on the existing policy.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Written Statement of 22 May 2025, HCWS652, on Childhood obesity, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of delaying the legal implementation of advertising restrictions from 1 October 2025 to 5 January 2026 on children's health outcomes.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to implementing advertising restrictions for less healthy food and drink on television and online, as part of its ambition to raise the healthiest generation of children ever.
We have not undertaken an assessment of the impact of moving the enforcement date of the restrictions from 1 October 2025 to 5 January 2026, or of providing an exemption for ‘brand advertising’ from the regulations, because we are not changing the policy but instead providing legal clarification on an existing aspect of the policy. We have secured a unique and public commitment from advertisers and broadcasters to voluntarily comply with the restrictions from 1 October 2025, meaning we do not expect to see adverts for specific identifiable less healthy products shown on television between 5:30am and 9:00pm, or at any time online. Therefore, from 1 October, we expect to achieve the outcomes of the policy as planned, which will protect children from the harms of junk food advertising and begin to remove up to 7.2 billion calories from children’s diets each year.
We received representation from a range of stakeholders in response to the Advertising Standards Authority's revised implementation guidance, and following my written statement of 7 April 2025. This included written correspondence from industry bodies, broadcasters, advertisers, and non-government organisations. We listened carefully to the concerns raised by all stakeholders, and we have worked with the Department of Culture, Media and Sport to find a resolution that supports economic growth by ensuring that industry has the confidence to invest in advertising that complies with the restrictions, whilst protecting children from advertising of less healthy products.
An impact assessment was published in 2021, along with the laying of the primary legislation, which recognised that brand advertising that did not identify less healthy products is out of the scope of the restrictions. This remains fit-for-purpose, as we are not changing the policy but providing legal clarification on the existing policy.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to issue guidance on ultra-processed food consumption as part of a public health strategy.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We face an obesity crisis, and the Government will take action to tackle the root causes of obesity head on, easing the strain on our National Health Service and creating the healthiest generation of children ever.
We have already laid secondary legislation to restrict advertisements of less healthy food and drink to children on television and online, we are limiting school children’s access to fast food, and we are taking steps to ensure the Soft Drinks Industry Levy remains effective and fit-for-purpose. We are also commissioning research to improve the evidence on the health impacts of ultra processed foods (UPFs). Through our Plan for Change, we will shift the focus of healthcare from sickness to prevention, reducing the burden of obesity on public services and the NHS.
Scientific risk assessment and United Kingdom dietary recommendations are based on robust independent risk assessments by the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN). The SACN has considered the impact of processed foods on health in position statements published in 2023 and 2025. The SACN has concluded that the observed associations between higher consumption of processed foods and UPFs and adverse health outcomes are concerning.
The SACN recommended that on balance, most people are likely to benefit from reducing their consumption of processed foods high in energy, saturated fat, salt, and free sugars, and which are low in fibre. This is based on the nutrient content of many UPFs and concerns raised in relation to health. The SACN will continue to keep the topic under review.
Current UK dietary recommendations, based on the SACN’s advice, already indicate that many foods classified as ultra processed such as crisps, biscuits, cakes, confectionery, and ice cream are not part of a healthy, balanced diet. They also emphasise a diet based on fruit, vegetables, and wholegrain or higher fibre starchy carbohydrates, with less red and processed meat, and with less foods high in saturated fat, salt, and free sugars.
The SACN’s recommendation aligns with our existing policies for supporting healthier diets and our advice to consumers. Further action on obesity under the Government’s Health Mission will be set out in due course.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South and Walkden)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what research his Department has commissioned on the health impacts of ultra-processed food; and when he expects findings to be published.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department funds research on health and social care through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR launched a research call in July 2024 on the health and health inequality impacts of interventions that effect consumption of ultra processed foods, for which a funding decision will be made later this year. Findings from NIHR studies are made publicly available when the research has completed.