Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Banning junk food ads before 9pm may not have desired effect, says Channel 4

Jamie Oliver recently launched his “#AdEnough campaign (Ian West/PA)
Jamie Oliver recently launched his “#AdEnough campaign (Ian West/PA)

Channel 4 bosses have warned that banning junk food adverts pre-watershed could cost the commercial broadcast sector £200 million and may not have the desired effect.

The broadcaster’s chief commercial officer, Jonathan Allan, made the comments as the channel presented its annual report at its London headquarters.

Chef Jamie Oliver recently launched his “#AdEnough campaign” as part of his fight to help tackle childhood obesity and has called on the Government to “introduce a 9pm watershed on junk food advertising on TV, and for proper controls on what ads kids see online, in the street and on public transport”.

Oliver and chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall also recently appeared before the Health and Social Care Committee to campaign for tighter rules on advertising junk food.

Allan said: “Our worst case scenario, it could have an impact of around £200 million for the entire commercial broadcast sector.”

He continued: “The fear is clearly it’s only TV regulation, that (advertising) money just goes elsewhere, on YouTube and to Facebook, it doesn’t actually solve the problem, so it’s a serious financial risk for broadcasters.”

He also pointed out that “it may also not be effective, it’s potentially anachronistic in a world where children are watching on demand at any time of the day, a time-based watershed is not very effective”.

The channel’s chief executive, Alex Mahon, had earlier urged the Government to carry out a “full, fact-based consultation plan” in relation to a potential ban.

The advertisements in question could be seen to promote food and drinks that are high in salt, fat or sugar (HFSS).

She said: “We are hugely supportive of the Government objective of reducing childhood obesity, but we are concerned that we might be sleepwalking in a course of action that is not properly thought through.”

Oliver’s second series of Jamie’s Quick & Easy Food is currently airing on Channel 4.