UK HFSS: placement, promotion and advertising compliance

Layer 0 is the Nutrient Profile Model 2004/2005 — calculates a score from energy, saturated fat, total sugar and sodium per 100g (or 100ml for drinks), offset by fruit/vegetable/nut content, protein and fibre. Foods scoring 4+ and drinks scoring 1+ are 'less healthy'. Layer 1 is the 13 in-scope product categories (soft drinks with added sugar, cakes, chocolate confectionery, sugar confectionery, ice cream, morning goods, puddings, sweet biscuits, breakfast cereals, yogurts, milk-based drinks with added sugar, pizza, ready meals, crisps and savoury snacks). Layer 2 is placement restrictions in qualifying retailers — store entrances, aisle ends, checkouts and equivalent online locations cannot promote HFSS products. Layer 3 is volume-price promotion restrictions on HFSS pre-packed products (BOGOF, multi-buy, free with purchase). Layer 4 is advertising — the 9pm TV watershed and paid online advertising restrictions (scheduled October 2025).

NPM scoring per 100g: 'A' points for energy (kJ), saturated fat (g), total sugar (g) and sodium (mg) using DHSC threshold bands (0-10 points each, total 0-40 'A' points). 'C' points for fruit/veg/nut content (% by weight), fibre and protein. Final score = A - C, but C-protein points only count if A < 11 or if F+V+N points reach 5. Score >=4 for food (>=1 for drinks) classifies as less healthy. Special treatment for added-water dilutables, beverages with added sugar, cheeses and other category edge cases. The calculation must use the product as sold for ready-to-eat foods and as reconstituted / prepared per pack instructions for products requiring preparation. Documented NPM calculation is a retailer-asked evidence requirement.

Qualifying retailers (50+ employees, 185.8m² qualifying floor area for the relevant category) cannot place HFSS in-scope products at: store entrances (within 2m of customer entrance), aisle ends (gondola ends), checkouts (within 6 retail metres of any checkout, including queueing area), and the equivalent online locations (homepage, category landing pages, checkout/basket pages, favourites/recommendation pages where the location is functionally analogous). Compliant locations: standard shelf space within the category aisle, the soft drinks/confectionery aisle, online category-specific search results. Free-from variants are not automatically exempt — they must score <4 on NPM independently.

Volume-price promotions on HFSS in-scope pre-packed food (BOGOF, 3-for-2, multi-buy at a single price, free-with-purchase of another HFSS product, free refills of HFSS soft drinks) are restricted in qualifying retailers from October 2025 (after delays from the originally-scheduled October 2022). Single-product price discounts (% off, £ off single unit, meal deals where each component is independently priced) remain permitted. The restriction applies in-store and online. Loose food is generally out of scope. Specialist shops where the product category accounts for >50% of sales are exempt for that category.

The Health and Care Act 2022 establishes restrictions on paid HFSS advertising on TV before 9pm and on paid online advertising at any time (scheduled to come into force October 2025 after delays). Ofcom is the broadcast enforcement authority. The ASA and CAP Code already restrict HFSS marketing to children; the new statutory restrictions extend to general-audience advertising. Sponsored social, paid search, paid display, paid influencer and paid newsletter inclusion are all in scope of the paid-online restriction. SME exception: businesses with <250 employees are exempt from the advertising restrictions. The classification engine is the same NPM 2004/2005 framework as placement.

Calculate NPM on every product (in-scope category or not — categories shift). Maintain the per-SKU less-healthy flag with version history through reformulation. Tag in-scope category to drive placement and promotion gating. Run reformulation programmes against NPM (sugar reduction, sodium reduction, fibre/F+V/N increase) — many brands reformulate to NPM <4 to retain promotion eligibility. Build retailer evidence packs (NPM calculation, category classification) for category-buyer reviews. Wire marketing-calendar approval to the less-healthy flag — paid online ads on less-healthy in-scope SKUs require legal review. Track DHSC consultation on NPM 2018 update — adoption would re-score the inventory.