Junk food advertising Bill set to fail
Helen Gilbert and Tom Lloyd
Friday, April 25, 2008
Attempts to tighten up restrictions on advertising junk food to children have suffered a blow in Parliament.
Labour MP Nigel Griffith's Food Products (Marketing to Children) Bill was read for a second time in the House of Commons but was not put to a vote because the debate ran out of time.
This was largely due to opposition from Conservative MPs, and means the Bill is unlikely to go forward to become law.
Griffiths argued for a 9pm watershed for junk food adverts. He said this would remove up to 95 per cent of junk food advertisements from popular TV programmes watched by children.
He added: "There is no single solution to childhood obesity, but everyone except the food and advertising industries agrees that tougher regulations and restrictions on how unhealthy foods are marketed to children are essential."
Philip Davies, the Conservative MP for Shipley, said children's food preferences are formed when they are infants and advertising restrictions would have little impact on health.
He said: "The Bill may make no difference to childhood obesity levels, even though we know that its impact on commercial broadcasters will be devastating."
