Unhealthy food ads ban approved

Ted Peskett, local democracy reporter

A Welsh council will go ahead with its plan to ban unhealthy food adverts in certain public spaces.

Vale of Glamorgan Council’s cabinet members met on Thursday, September 4, to discuss plans to stop foods categorised as high in fat, sugar and salt from being promoted at bus stops and on boards along roadsides.

Now it’s been given the go ahead, Vale of Glamorgan Council will be the first local authority in Wales to implement such a ban.

‘Heading for disaster’

Cabinet members, including one councillor who was once “heading for disaster” with their weight and health, said at Thursday’s meeting that they hope the move will help people make informed choices about what they eat.

One cabinet member, Cllr Rhiannon Birch, said many people aren’t aware of the unhealthy content of the food they’re eating, adding: “We want to see that those… people are better informed, better able to make choices and are not having these adverts thrown at them all the time.”

Unhealthy foods

The leader of Vale of Glamorgan Council, Cllr Lis Burnett, denied the council was telling people what to do through the ban.

She said: “We are not telling people they can’t buy this. We are not saying you can’t eat it. We are just not going to put pictures of it everywhere.”

The ban will also stop unhealthy foods from being marketed on the council’s website.

“This is not about telling people what to do,” said cabinet member, Cllr Ruba Sivagnanam.

“The background to this is twofold. It is about our contribution to public health… delivering on our objectives around health inequalities.

“Secondly… I think this is about our values. We as a council have a values driven corporate plan. I think this is a demonstration of our values in action.”

In March, the Senedd approved new regulations which will see restrictions placed on where retailers can display certain unhealthy foods in their shops and on their websites.

The new regulations, which will come into force next year, will also affect foods which are high in sugar, fat and salt.

Unhealthy eating

Cllr Gwyn John, who is now in his 80s, spoke about his own experience of unhealthy eating before the approval of Vale of Glamorgan Council’s ban on Thursday.

The cabinet member for leisure, sport and wellbeing said he was “vastly overweight” in his 30s and realised he needed to do something about his habits if he wanted to live a long life.

Cllr John added: “It is about your life and it is about your health. At 35, I was heading for disaster… and I did something about it. Please look after yourselves. It is down to you.”