Salford fast food workers say a junk food advertising ban is ‘unlikely’ to alter lifestyle choices, despite efforts to reduce unhealthy food consumption.
Since October, children have been seeing fewer adverts for high-fat, sugar or salt (HFSS) foods on TV and online as part of a voluntary move by advertisers.
A full ban will come into force in January, restricting HFSS ads on television between 5:30am and 9pm and online at any time.
Salford fast food staff say the issue is deeper than advertising and that people will continue to eat what they want regardless of the rules.
Gracie Jones works at Nandos in Media City. She said the idea behind the ban “makes sense”, but doubts it can meaningfully influence adult behaviour.
She said: “I think the idea makes sense, but I just don’t think it would work.
“These are adults making decisions about what they want to eat. If they want to eat something, they’re going to go and eat it.”
Jones added that even existing measures are unenforceable. She compared it to Nando’s bottomless drink refills, “There’s no way of us monitoring that, someone could go and grab six seven glasses of soft drink.”
However, concern has already been raised in Parliament that some chains are creating “healthy” products purely to look compliant, while still promoting their high-calorie bestsellers in-store.
Labour MP Alex McIntyre told the Health and Social Care Committee that non-HFSS items often appear “at the very bottom” of digital menus, far below more indulgent options. He questioned whether customers would “watch an advert for a healthy burger and then not order the Bargain Bucket”.
She believes restrictions work better in schools, recalling when Jamie Oliver’s healthy eating reforms removed junk food from canteens. But in restaurants she says that “no waiter, waitress, manager, should have a say” in what customers consume.
At KFC, worker Josh Bingham said the ban could “potentially work”, but only once people see it implemented. For now, he says healthier items rarely appeal to customers.
“Healthy options such as the salad, few and far between choose them.”
Bingham said past government measures like the sugar tax and Eat Out to Help Out show an ongoing push towards healthier eating, but he expects this latest move to hit the same barrier.
“It could create change, but they tend to be stagnated. So, I don’t think really, it’s going to make much of a difference.”
Concern has already been raised in Parliament that some chains are creating “healthy” products purely to look compliant, while still promoting their high-calorie bestsellers in-store.
Labour MP Alex McIntyre told the Health and Social Care Committee that non-HFSS items often appear “at the very bottom” of digital menus, far below more indulgent options. He questioned whether customers would “watch an advert for a healthy burger and then not order the Bargain Bucket”.
For many on the front line of the fast-food industry, the ban may reduce advertising, but not cravings.
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