HFSS advertising rules: what UK food marketers can and can't do now

The UK now restricts where less-healthy food and drink can be advertised at all — which makes this the rare compliance area where the media plan, not just the copy, can breach the rules.

What counts as HFSS. Products are assessed under the government's nutrient profiling model: foods high in fat, salt or sugar score as "less healthy" if they also fall into specified product categories (the usual suspects: confectionery, crisps, sugary drinks, many cereals, ready meals, fast food). Two practical implications: you can't judge by vibes — products that feel healthy (granola, smoothies, some yoghurts) can score as HFSS — and the assessment is per-product, so a brand can have both restricted and unrestricted lines.

The headline restrictions. After voluntary compliance through late 2025, the rules took legal effect at the start of 2026: identifiable HFSS products can't be advertised on TV between 5.30am and 9pm, and — the bigger operational shock — paid-for online advertising of identifiable HFSS products is restricted around the clock. That covers paid social, display, paid search and influencer posts the brand has paid for. This sits on top of the long-standing rules against targeting HFSS ads at children and the in-store placement and volume-promotion restrictions that arrived earlier.

What's still allowed. Brand-level advertising that doesn't feature an identifiable HFSS product (pure brand campaigns can run, carefully); advertising non-HFSS products in the range; owned media like your own website and organic social (unpaid); B2B communications; and audio-only podcast advertising. The dividing line that matters most in practice: is a specific less-healthy product identifiable in a paid placement?

Where teams slip. Reformulated product advertised before the new nutrient scoring is documented. A "brand" ad where the hero product is plainly identifiable. Influencer content that's paid (and therefore restricted) treated as organic. Paid boosts of organic posts featuring HFSS products — boosting converts exempt content into restricted content.

The compliance workflow that works. Score every SKU under the nutrient profiling model and keep the records; tag each as restricted/unrestricted in your asset system; brief media buyers that restricted products are off paid digital entirely; and route brand-level creative past someone empowered to ask "is the product identifiable?"