Retailers are responsible for a quarter of food adverts for unhealthy products shown during primetime television, according to new research.
The study found that, in a sample of over 750 television adverts, 22 per cent of those shown between 8pm and 9pm were for food, and viewers could see as many as six junk food adverts every hour.
Within the food adverts, the most frequently shown were unhealthy products from supermarkets such as Aldi and Morrisons (25 per cent), followed by fast-food chains such as KFC (13 per cent), with chocolate and sweet companies like Lindt and Haribo the third most common (12 per cent).
The research was commissioned by the Children’s Food Campaign, Action on Junk Food Marketing and the British Heart Foundation (BHF), which said that laws to protect children from targeted adverts don’t usually cover the primetime evening slot.
The trio called for the government and watchdog to address this “glaring loophole” in junk food marketing.
“Parents don’t expect their children to be bombarded with ads for unhealthy food during primetime TV, but that’s exactly what happens.” said Simon Gillespie, chief executive of the BHF.
“We want the Government to protect children by switching off junk food adverts on TV until after 9pm and putting rules in place to stop children becoming fair game for internet marketing.”
According to researchers, the clips analysed seem designed for a young audience, as nearly a third used themes of ‘fun’ rather than more adult concerns of price or convenience, and over half of the clips used children or child-aged characters to promote junk food.