Bacon, butter, and jam axed from Tube ad due to Sadiq Khan's new 'junk food' rules

Bacon and butter, circled left, and the jar of jam, circled right, in Farmdrop’s original photo, was deemed non-compliant with the TfL ban

It’s a thoroughly wholesome scene. A mother, father and their two children gather around a kitchen table laden with fresh fruit and vegetables, meat and organic dairy goods.

But this photograph has become the first victim of Sadiq Khan’s new ban on “junk food” adverts on London transport — the bacon, butter, eggs and jam have been deemed “non compliant”.

The Mayor of London’s policy prevents products which are high in fat, salt or sugar being advertised on the Tube, and at TfL rail stations and bus stops in an effort to tackle soaring rates of childhood obesity.

Farmdrop, an organic food home-delivery firm, said they were advised to crop the photo to chop out foodstuffs which breach the new rules. They said TfL bosses asked them to remove the jam and butter and to submit evidence demonstrating the compliance of other foodstuffs including shortbread, juice, biscuits, yoghurt and elderflower.

The second attempt still had the butter visible and was not approved 

Damian Hind, marketing manager of Farmdrop, said: “We had to go through everything on the tabletop with our buyers and check the nutrient profile. We had to get rid of jam. That was one we definitely couldn’t use. Then they told us to check bacon, bread, eggs, butter and peanut butter — and we did.

“But obviously — according to their scoring — bacon, eggs and butter are not compliant with the regulations so we had to crop them out the photo. It actually got ridiculous.

“We ended up having to crop the photo twice. It doesn’t make any sense. It’s nonsense to score a product in its raw form. You eat them with other products. It’s the basics of cooking.”

The ad was approved once the bacon, eggs, butter and jam were removed

The design was intended to run on the display panels above the seats in Tube carriages and the company says it has spent tens of thousands on the campaign. It intends to go ahead with the adverts.

CEO Ben Pugh, an ex-City broker who launched the company in 2014, added: “We support the ban but it’s being handled very unjustly. Our ad was a mixture of balanced, whole foods. It’s crazy.”

Sadiq Khan has introduced a new ban on “junk food” adverts on London transport
Getty Images

TfL is using a nutrient-profiling model created by Public Health England with foods given a score based on the balance between beneficial nutrients and ingredients which children should reduce in their diet, such as sugars, saturated fat and salt. Advertisers can apply for an exception by arguing they do not target children or amend their adverts.

A TfL spokeswoman said their advertising agent asked Farmdrop whether their products were compliant with the ban and recommended they apply for an exception or amend the copy. She stressed the agent did not state specific items, such as eggs, could not be featured.

“Child obesity in London is a serious issue: almost 40 per cent of children aged 10 and 11 are overweight or obese, one of the highest rates in Europe. This ban is designed to reduce children’s exposure to adverts for food and drink which could contribute to this problem," said a spokeswoman.

“Our advertising policy requires brands to demonstrate that any food or drink products featured in advertisements running on our network are not high in fat, sugar and salt, unless they have been granted an exception. In this case, Farmdrop chose not to apply for an exception and our advertising agent worked with them to amend the advertisement. We have never said that eggs do not comply with the policy.”

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