Here’s a shocking fact for you... In England, 26.8% of children aged 2–15 were overweight or obese in 2022–2023 (Source: Commons Library).
Eye-opening stats like this are why the government is introducing new HFSS rules for 2026 – a classification of foods that are “High in Fat, Salt, and Sugar” - and tightening restrictions on “less healthy” food and drink promotion. These regulations are designed to reduce children’s exposure to advertising for high-fat, salt and sugar products and to create a more responsible media environment.
Yet many hospitality brands still assume HFSS regulations apply mainly to big FMCG brands, supermarkets, or national restaurant chains. However, if you run paid social media ads, display ads, YouTube ads, influencer campaigns or even sponsored listings on delivery apps, the new HFSS rules 2026 apply to you.
Here’s our clear, easy-to-understand explanation of the new HFSS rules for hospitality, including pubs, bars, hotels, and restaurant groups – plus, a practical action plan to help your business comply.
What counts as a “less healthy” or HFSS product under the new UK rules?
Under the new HFSS rules 2026, restrictions apply to food and drink classified as “less healthy” using the UK government’s nutrient profiling model. Items commonly sold across UK hospitality that usually fall into the HFSS category include:
- Burgers
- Fried chicken
- Loaded fries
- Pizzas
- Indulgent desserts
- Milkshakes
- Some sugary cocktails and soft drinks
- Even braised red cabbage can be, as it’s high in sugar
However, it’s worth noting that rather than “unhealthy” dishes being banned on sight, meals are nutrient graded. So, for example, a “bad” dish like a pizza or burger may pass the test if served alongside a big salad or vegetables.
The HFSS nutrient profiling model, developed by the UK’s Department of Health, assigns a score to food and drink products based on their nutritional composition per 100g. This score determines whether a product is classified as “less healthy” and therefore subject to marketing restrictions.
It’s calculated by subtracting positive nutrient points (fruit/veg/nuts, fibre, protein) from negative points (energy, saturated fat, sugar, sodium).
A score of 4+ for foods or 1+ for drinks means the product is HFSS.
It’s crucial to understand that these rules regulate advertising, not your menu. You can still sell HFSS items – you just cannot promote identifiable less healthy products on certain paid marketing channels.
Although the government now uses the term “less healthy food and drink” (LHF), most operators still speak in shorthand about HFSS – which is why the industry, such as CAP and ASA, also refers to HFSS rules for pubs and restaurants or HFSS rules for UK hospitality marketing.
What are the new HFSS advertising rules (from 5 January 2026)?
From 5 January 2026, the following restrictions apply across the UK:
- Television: Ads for identifiable, less healthy products are banned between 5:30am and 9pm.
- On-demand programme services: Banned between 5:30am and 9pm.
- Paid online advertising: A total ban at all times on ads for identifiable, less healthy food and drink.
Paid online advertising includes:
- Social media ads
- Sponsored posts
- Paid influencer content
- Paid affiliate links
- Display ads
- Paid search ads
- Paid video ads (e.g., on YouTube)
- Third-party app placements, and more.
This is not a minor update to targeting practices – it is a major structural change. As broadcasters and digital platforms adapt, many already encouraged voluntary compliance from October 2025.
Because of this shift, hospitality brands must understand that the new HFSS rules 2026 fundamentally redefine what can be promoted in paid media and when.
Do HFSS rules apply to pubs, bars, hotels, and restaurants?
Yes – in many cases. The HFSS rules for pubs and restaurants apply to businesses that:
- Promote identifiable less healthy products.
- Pay for digital or broadcast advertising space.
SME exemptions exist, but many multi-site hospitality brands and growing restaurant groups will not qualify, especially if they invest significantly in paid online marketing campaigns. Both local chains and national brands are likely to fall into the scope of these new HFSS regulations because they advertise menu items directly to consumers, which includes children.
As Maxine Catley, Brew’s paid social media lead, puts it:
“If your brand is investing in paid social media, programmatic advertising, YouTube, TV or VOD to promote specific high-calorie menu items in the UK, then the HFSS rules are relevant to you. Make sure to obtain legal approval if you believe you are exempt.”
For any brand carrying out consistent digital marketing, the HFSS rules for UK hospitality marketing will require meaningful changes across content, media planning, creator partnerships, and measurement.
Can I still promote menu items on social media under the new HFSS rules?
Yes – but only in organic content, not for paid online promotions.
Paid channels (banned for identifiable less healthy items)
Under the new HFSS rules 2026, the following are considered paid online channels and therefore restricted:
- Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok paid ads (inc boosting organic posts)
- Paid YouTube and video placements
- Paid search / display ads
- Programmatic ads
- Paid ad placements in delivery apps
- Paid influencers or content creators (inc gifted vists)
Because of this, many brands will need to revise their HFSS rules for restaurant social media strategies and pivot to brand-first messaging.
Owned / organic channels (permitted with conditions)
- Brand websites
- Email, CRM, loyalty communications
- In-venue screens
- Menus
- Organic (non-boosted) social posts
These allow you to promote HFSS items in a compliant way, provided you follow broader ASA guidance regarding children.
As Julie Sherratt, Brew’s social media manager, noted:
“The new rules affect paid promotions first, but they also remind us to focus more on the brand and customer experience and value messaging in organic posts.”
What is the brand advertising exemption in the HFSS rules – and how can hospitality use it?
The brand advertising exemption offers operators a crucial lever for staying visible in paid media. The exemption allows for ads that promote the brand as a whole, not specifically HFSS products. This is a cornerstone of HFSS rules for brand advertising strategies.
A compliant brand ad typically includes:
- Focus on ‘storytelling’ - atmosphere, experience, service, staff, culture, values or convenience
- Wide, non-identifiable food shots (if any)
- No close-ups of HFSS dishes
- No product-specific messaging
- It's still early days on whether a balanced ‘tablescape’ of menu items/dishes that includes LHF items as well as ‘healthy’ dishes will be acceptable, so best avoid in the short term
Examples:
- A pub’s summer campaign showing people enjoying a beer garden – people can be seen enjoying food in the background but no detailed shots of food.
- A Christmas brand advert focused on togetherness, celebration and festive ambience – guests pulling crackers or clinking their glasses with festive decorations in the background.
This approach allows paid social, paid video, and even TV to continue running for hospitality groups in 2026 without breaching the new HFSS rules for 2026.
Are 'gifted' meals and influencer invites caught by the HFSS rules?
Yes – and this area is particularly important because the HFSS rules for influencer marketing 2026 apply much more widely than you might expect.
Under ASA and CAP rules, an influencer ad exists when:
- There is payment (which includes free meals or gifted visits)
- The brand exercises editorial control over content.
This means:
- Paying a creator to promote your new double burger in a TikTok would be banned from January 5, 2026.
- Gifting a meal that includes HFSS items and requesting specific content also counts as a banned advert.
- Hosting a general event where creators post voluntarily – no payment, no control – is lower risk but still requires careful briefing.
For clarity: gifted meals HFSS rules apply whenever there is value exchanged for a deliverable, even if the deliverable is “just one story” or a single TikTok post.
Because of this, hospitality brands must update creator contracts, briefing templates, and approval processes to avoid breaching the new less healthy food influencer marketing rules.
Can I still use delivery apps and third-party platforms to advertise HFSS menu items?
Delivery platforms are a major area of concern.
If you pay for:
- Sponsored listings
- Featured banners
- Paid homepage slots
- Paid email placements
…and these include identifiable HFSS items, they will be banned from 5th January 2026.
To comply with the new HFSS rules in 2026, operators should:
- Speak to platform account managers about compliant formats
- Shift from product-specific listings to general brand messages (e.g. “Order from us for great comfort food”)
- Review commercial contracts and remove HFSS product obligations
This will create friction for performance-led restaurant marketers, but with strong HFSS rules for hospitality planning, the impact can be effectively mitigated.
HFSS rules compliance checklist: What should hospitality brands do now?
1. Map your risk
- Audit all paid media channels, including social, search, video, affiliate, delivery apps and OOH with digital components.
- Identify HFSS menu items using the government’s nutrient profile model. This will inform your internal “danger list.”
2. Separate brand from product activation
- Build a distinct brand-only creative that fits the brand advertising exemption.
- Shift HFSS menu promotion to owned channels: CRM, menus, venue screens, and organic social.
3. Audit influencer and creator activity
- Update contracts to reflect the HFSS rules for influencer marketing 2026 requirements.
- Ensure creators are briefed clearly on which dishes they can and cannot show in their content.
4. Review delivery and third-party partnerships
- Identify paid placements that currently include HFSS products, such as sponsored slots, banners, and email inclusions.
- Work with partners to develop compliant brand-led alternatives.
5. Update internal guardrails and training
- Add a formal HFSS rules for UK hospitality marketing section to your brand playbooks.
- Train all agencies, local operators, and marketing teams.
6. Plan for measurement without HFSS heavy-lifters
- Move from product-led performance to brand-led performance modelling (e.g., don’t build your performance around deals like “2-for-1 burgers”).
- Recalibrate KPIs and reporting frameworks around brand warmth, footfall intent, loyalty, and retention.
How Brew can support your HFSS strategy
Brew already partners with leading hospitality brands navigating privacy changes, cookie policies, and evolving ASA guidance. For the new HFSS rules 2026, we can support with:
- Full HFSS marketing risk audits
- Re-designing paid creative into brand-compliant formats
- Creator and influencer brief templates aligned to new gifted meals HFSS rules
- Bespoke training for in-house teams on social, paid media, and HFSS compliance
Get in touch to discuss a compliance plan for your business.
HFSS 2026 rules: FAQs for UK hospitality brands
They include restrictions on advertising identifiably less healthy food and drink products on TV between 5:30am and 9pm, and a complete ban on paid online ads of these kinds of products at all times.
Any paid promotion for HFSS items – across social, search, programmatic, influencer or delivery platforms – will be restricted. This affects both national chains and many multi-site operators.
It depends....If it is a double bacon cheeseburger served with a side of fries and onion rings, then no, as it will definitely have a score of 4+ on the HFSS nutrient profiling model BUT a high quality ‘lean’ burger served with a large side salad or jacket potato may well be compliant. That's why its so important to complete a thorough nutritional breakdown of all your menu items as some seemingly ‘healthy’ dishes or ingredients may not pass the test – see our note earlier about braised red cabbage.
Yes. Free or ‘gifted’ (via a gift card) meals count as payment, and if you require content, the post becomes a paid online advert – meaning HFSS items cannot appear.
Any paid or incentivised placement, including paid social, sponsored listings, paid search, display, affiliate promotions, and influencer posts with control from the brand will count as “paid promotion.”
Owned channels like your website, menus, CRM, and organic social remain allowed. Paid channels cannot feature identifiable less healthy products.
By focusing on experience, ambience, values, and service instead of specific HFSS dishes. This will need to become your focus for HFSS rules brand advertising strategies.
Some SMEs are exempt, but not all. If a third-party platform advertises on your behalf or if you grow past SME thresholds, you may still fall in scope.
Matt Bowell
Matt has been in marketing for 25 years, clocking up many years for institutions like the NHS, the BBC, Comic Relief, Goodyear Dunlop, and Lonely Planet in the UK and abroad. Matt leads the client service team as one of Brew’s directors.
