The promotion of high fat junk foods, sugary confectionary, over the counter medicines and infant formula will not be allowed as product placement in UK programmes according to the UK’s culture secretary Ben Bradshaw.
Bradshaw speaking in Parliament stated the move would "provide meaningful commercial benefits to commercial television companies and program-makers while taking account of the legitimate concerns that have been expressed".
The U.K. was the only European Union member state apart from Denmark that had not yet introduced product placement. Bradshaw said that a failure to introduce it in the UK would "jeopardize the competitiveness of UK programme makers as against the rest of the EU, and this is something which we cannot afford to do."
The move will not take immediate effect, but will be incorporated within the charter of media regulator Ofcom as soon as possible, Bradshaw said. The move was welcomed by broadcasters, including ITV.
