Cabinet fury over ‘nanny state’ ban on junk food adverts on TV

A CABINET rift has erupted over plans by Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt to crack down on junk food TV adverts in an attempt to curb child obesity.

The move is being opposed by Culture, Media and Sport Secretary John Whittingdale, who claims it is an example of ‘the nanny state’.

Cabinet sources say David Cameron may be called in to referee the dispute.

The Mail on Sunday has learned that Hunt wants to extend the ban on adverts for products such as Kellogg’s Coco Pops and Coca-Cola from ‘children’s hour’ programmes until the 9pm watershed.

The initiative follows Hunt’s vow to make the ‘great scandal’ of childhood obesity his priority.

He described it last week as ‘perhaps the biggest health challenge of our time’.

Hunt wants to include the new curbs in his national strategy to address Britain’s spiralling weight problem, to be unveiled next month. But Right-winger Whittingdale, who is responsible for TV advertising rules, has vetoed the plan.

‘John is not a fan of knee-jerk nanny-state meddling and unnecessary restrictions on business,’ said a source. ‘He accepts child obesity is important but believes personal responsibility is also important and that parents should take the lead, not just the Government.’

Regulations banning adverts for products high in sugar, fat or salt during programmes designed to appeal to seven-to nine-year-olds were introduced in 2007, then extended to programmes for under-16s.

A spokesman for the Advertising Standards Authority said: ‘The current rules are proportionate to the role advertising may play in childhood obesity.’

But Malcolm Clark of the Children’s Food Campaign said the new curbs would be ‘a very positive move’.