Understanding ‘Less Healthy’ Food Advertising Restrictions
If you work in the retail space, you’ve probably already heard a lot about LFH (Less Healthy Food) regulations recently. Specifically, that the rules are changing, which means the ways that both brands and retailers can promote certain products in online or in traditional advertising is changing too.
For some marketers, it feels like just another compliance hurdle to jump over. But for those willing to adapt, it’s a chance to rethink how they connect with consumers. In fact, these changes are already pushing many food and drink brands towards more engaging, real-world marketing approaches. So, let’s take a closer look at what the regulations actually mean, and where the opportunities are.
What are the Less Healthy Food Advertising Regulations?
On the 5th of January 2026, the Government introduced new rules around less healthy food and drink (LHF) advertising, as part of its efforts to reduce children’s exposure to foods that are high in fat, sugar and salt. Under these regulations, products that fall into specific categories and meet specific nutritional thresholds are classified as LHF. When this happens, there are stricter limits on how those products can be advertised.
The biggest changes affect the digital advertising of products. Paid online promotions for identifiable LHF products are heavily restricted, and any TV advertising for these products can’t run before 9pm. The idea is to reduce the number of unhealthy food adverts that children see, hopefully creating a more positive relationship with healthy food from a young age.
But for brands, the result of all this is a noticeable shift in where marketing activity can take place.
HFSS and LHF, What’s the Difference?
You’ll often see the terms HFSS and LHF used in the same conversation, and naturally, the acronyms cause some confusion. HFSS means high fat, salt and sugar, while LHF means less healthy food, and while they’re closely related, they aren’t the same thing.
HFSS: This describes foods that are high in fat, salt, or sugar according to the government’s nutrient profiling model.
LHF: Refers to the specific products within regulated categories that fall under the advertising restrictions.
So most Less Healthy Foods are also HFSS, but not all HFSS foods are Less Healthy Foods. The distinction is important because not every HFSS product is automatically affected by the advertising rules, but if a product is classified as LHF and appears in paid advertising online, it’s likely to fall within the restrictions. So both brands and retailers need to understand where products sit when choosing advertising campaigns to make sure they’re compliant.
What the Restrictions Actually Cover
The key concept within these regulations is whether a product is ‘identifiable’. So, if a consumer could reasonably recognise that a piece of advertising is promoting a specific LHF product, then the restrictions apply. This covers most forms of paid digital media like social advertising, sponsored content, display advertising and influencer partnerships. Even when a product isn’t directly shown, it can still be considered identifiable depending on the context of the advert. That doesn’t mean that all marketing activity disappears. It just means that brands need to think more carefully about how and where they engage with customers.
The Shift Towards Real-World Experiences
All of that leads us to our main point. As digital advertising becomes more restricted, retailers and brands are looking for new ways to reach their customers and rediscovering the value of real-world consumer experiences. And this is where experiential marketing, and particularly in-store sampling, really shines.
That’s because sampling allows retailers to intorudce products to shoppers in a place where the purchasing decisions actually happen. Rather than scrolling past an advert, consumers can taste the products, ask questions, and understand what makes it different, creating a much stronger connection than most traditional advertising formats. And when digital visibility is limited, those face-to-face moments become even more valuable. Experiential campaigns can offer genuine engagement, allowing customers to experience the product for themselves before committing to a purchase. Not only is it a powerful apoproach in it’s own right, but it fits perfectly into the new regulatory landscape, allowing retailers and brands alike to introduce products to customers without relying on restricted advertising.
At Fizz, we’ve always believed that the best marketing happens when people can experience a product for themselves. As advertising rules evolve, that belief is only becoming more relevant. For brands navigating the new landscape, the question isn’t just how to advertise differently. It’s how to create moments that shoppers genuinely want to be part of. And that is what we do best. If you’d like to find out more, just get in touch with our team today.