Bite Back’s young activists are calling on Wes Streeting to put an end to the bombardment of young people by junk food companies once and for all. We need your MP's support to add power to our voices.

Our award-winning campaign to give young people a #CommercialBreak from junk food ads has seen us take over huge billboards in London and show up in the boardrooms of global food giants. We even took the message to the halls of Parliament! But that same message was rejected by the UK’s biggest outdoor advertisers, censoring the voices of young people.

We need our voices to be heard, not silenced. So, we’re biting back, and we need your support! Email your MP today, and ask them to stand with our young activists.

The Government committed to ending junk food ads online and on TV before 9pm in 2021, and in 2022, this became law. But the implementation has been delayed again, and again — now set for January 2026.

But that’s not all. Even with a TV and online ban, giant food companies are targeting young people on the streets and near their schools, spending huge amounts on outdoor advertising. This needs to end too.

Email your MP and ask them to send our letter to Wes Streeting. We’re calling on him to put children’s health first: deliver the 9pm TV watershed and online ban by 5th January 2026, and don’t let big food companies shift those ads onto the highstreet.

I am a constituent of yours and am concerned about the proliferation of predatory junk food advertising targeting young people in our communities.

Have you heard of Bite Back? They are a movement of young people campaigning to change the way unhealthy food is made, marketed and sold – especially to children. Co-founded by Jamie Oliver in 2019, they have built a movement of 100 youth board members and over 12,000 students across 200 schools and communities nationwide, fighting for change. These passionate advocates deserve to have their voices heard at the highest levels of government.

While the Government now plans to finally implement the long-delayed ban on junk food advertising next year, on TV before 9 pm and online at any time, I believe that this vital first step must not mark the end of action on this issue. And I’m not alone, a new YouGov Poll reveals that 76% of the UK public want tougher rules on junk food advertising.

This is a very important issue to me, and I’d really value you writing to the Secretary of State to raise this issue on my behalf. I include a draft letter below if this helps in doing so —

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Dear Wes,

I am writing following contact from people in my constituency who have raised their concerns about the saturation of predatory junk food advertising in our communities. Young people are rightly frustrated by the bombardment of unhealthy food marketing they face daily.

While I strongly welcome our Government's commitment to implementing the long-awaited ban on junk food advertising in January, on TV before 9 pm and online at any time, my constituents are clear that this vital first step must not mark the end of our action. The latest research from Bite Back's "Fuel Us Don't Fool Us" campaign reveals the alarming extent of outdoor junk food advertising targeting young people:

- 57% of outdoor food and drink adverts feature at least one HFSS product (high in fat, salt or sugar)

- McDonald's dominates outdoor advertising, with 97% of its 111 adverts featuring HFSS products

- Young people in the most deprived areas face 6 times more HFSS advertising than those in the most affluent areas

- 35% of schools have HFSS adverts within a 5-minute walk of their gates

Our manifesto commitment to create "the healthiest generation of children ever" requires comprehensive action. As you rightly said, by “cruelly targeting kids” big food companies are robbing young people of the best start in life while costing our NHS billions. Without extending restrictions to outdoor advertising, we risk companies simply shifting their predatory marketing budgets from TV to billboards and bus stops, and undermining our Government’s strong work on this agenda to date. I therefore urge you to:

1. Deliver the TV and online ban on 5th January 2026, without further delay or dilution

2. Extend HFSS marketing restrictions to outdoor advertising, preventing displacement and ensuring comprehensive protection for children's health

I look forward to your response and to working together to deliver meaningful change for young people across the country.

Yours sincerely,

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I would be grateful if you could confirm that you are writing to the Secretary of State, including christopher.booth@biteback2030.com in your response.

I am a constituent of yours and am concerned about the proliferation of predatory junk food advertising targeting young people in our communities.

Have you heard of Bite Back? They are a movement of young people campaigning to change the way unhealthy food is made, marketed and sold – especially to children. Co-founded by Jamie Oliver in 2019, they have built a movement of 100 youth board members and over 12,000 students across 200 schools and communities nationwide, fighting for change. These passionate advocates deserve to have their voices heard at the highest levels of government.

While the Government now plans to finally implement the long-delayed ban on junk food advertising next year, on TV before 9 pm and online at any time, I believe that this vital first step must not mark the end of action on this issue. And I’m not alone, a new YouGov Poll reveals that 76% of the UK public want tougher rules on junk food advertising.

This is a very important issue to me, and I’d really value you writing to the Secretary of State to raise this issue on my behalf. I include a draft letter below if this helps in doing so —

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Dear Secretary of State,

I am writing following contact from people in my constituency who have raised urgent concerns about the proliferation of predatory junk food advertising targeting young people in our communities. These passionate advocates, many working with organisations like Bite Back, deserve to have their voices heard at the highest levels of government.

While the Government now plans to finally implement the long-delayed ban on junk food advertising next year, on TV before 9 pm and online at any time, my constituents are clear that this response is not sufficient. New research from Bite Back's "Fuel Us Don't Fool Us" campaign exposes the shocking scale of outdoor junk food advertising saturating our streets:

- 57% of outdoor food and drink adverts feature HFSS products (high in fat, salt or sugar)

- McDonald's accounts for 31% of all food advertising, with 97% promoting HFSS items

- Children in the most deprived areas face 6 times more HFSS advertising than those in the most affluent communities

- One in three schools has HFSS adverts within a 5-minute walk of their premises

During a childhood obesity crisis where over a third of children leave primary school at risk of diet-related ill health, this represents a profound failure to protect our young people. The evidence shows that without comprehensive action, marketing restrictions in one medium simply drive displacement to others.

I therefore call on the Government to:

1. Implement the TV and online ban without further delay on 5th January 2026, delivering in full on previous commitments

2. Extend HFSS marketing restrictions to outdoor advertising, ensuring comprehensive protection and preventing harmful displacement

The Government has stated its ambition to create "the healthiest generation of children ever" but to date has been too quick to cave to the big food lobby. On behalf of the young people in my constituency I urge you to show whose side this Government is on.

I look forward to your response and to seeing swift action to protect children from predatory marketing practices.

Yours sincerely,

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I would be grateful if you could confirm that you are writing to the Secretary of State, including christopher.booth@biteback2030.com in your response.

I am a constituent of yours and am concerned about the proliferation of predatory junk food advertising targeting young people in our communities.

Have you heard of Bite Back? They are a movement of young people campaigning to change the way unhealthy food is made, marketed and sold – especially to children. Co-founded by Jamie Oliver in 2019, they have built a movement of 100 youth board members and over 12,000 students across 200 schools and communities nationwide, fighting for change. These passionate advocates deserve to have their voices heard at the highest levels of government.

While the Government now plans to finally implement the long-delayed ban on junk food advertising next year, on TV before 9 pm and online at any time, I believe that this vital first step must not mark the end of action on this issue. And I’m not alone, a new YouGov Poll reveals that 76% of the UK public want tougher rules on junk food advertising.

This is a very important issue to me, and I’d really value you writing to the Secretary of State to raise this issue on my behalf. I include a draft letter below if this helps in doing so —

----------------------------------------

Dear Wes,

I am writing following contact from people in my constituency who have raised their concerns about the saturation of predatory junk food advertising in our communities. Young people are rightly frustrated by the bombardment of unhealthy food marketing they face daily.

While I strongly welcome our Government's commitment to implementing the long-awaited ban on junk food advertising in January, on TV before 9 pm and online at any time, my constituents are clear that this vital first step must not mark the end of our action. The latest research from Bite Back's "Fuel Us Don't Fool Us" campaign reveals the alarming extent of outdoor junk food advertising targeting young people:

- 57% of outdoor food and drink adverts feature at least one HFSS product (high in fat, salt or sugar)

- McDonald's dominates outdoor advertising, with 97% of its 111 adverts featuring HFSS products

- Young people in the most deprived areas face 6 times more HFSS advertising than those in the most affluent areas

- 35% of schools have HFSS adverts within a 5-minute walk of their gates

Our manifesto commitment to create "the healthiest generation of children ever" requires comprehensive action. As you rightly said, by “cruelly targeting kids” big food companies are robbing young people of the best start in life while costing our NHS billions. Without extending restrictions to outdoor advertising, we risk companies simply shifting their predatory marketing budgets from TV to billboards and bus stops, and undermining our Government’s strong work on this agenda to date. I therefore urge you to:

1. Deliver the TV and online ban on 5th January 2026, without further delay or dilution

2. Extend HFSS marketing restrictions to outdoor advertising, preventing displacement and ensuring comprehensive protection for children's health

I look forward to your response and to working together to deliver meaningful change for young people across the country.

Yours sincerely,

----------------------------------------

I would be grateful if you could confirm that you are writing to the Secretary of State, including christopher.booth@biteback2030.com in your response.