Background
On 5 January 2026, new rules in the CAP and BCAP Codes on the advertising of “less healthy” food and drink products came into force.
The rules were supported by additional guidance, “Advertising of less healthy food and drink products”, which set out various tests and exemptions relevant to the ASA’s approach to assessing individual ads under the relevant Code rules.
Ad description
A paid-for ad on Instagram for Amazon Fresh UK, seen on 19 March 2026, featured the text “Your big Easter grocery shops. All delivered same-day amazon fresh” with smaller text underneath “Terms and conditions apply”. The ad featured pack shot images of a 750g tub of Lurpak Lightly salted butter, a pack of Aunt Bessie’s 10 Proper Good Large Yorkshires and a large Cadbury creme egg Easter egg.Issue
Bite Back challenged whether this was a paid ad for an identifiable less healthy food product placed on the internet.Response
Amazon Europe Core Sarl, t/a Amazon Fresh confirmed the Cadbury creme egg Easter egg shown in the ad was classified as a “less healthy” food. They said the ad was run, in error, as part of their Easter 2026 ad campaign. They said they had since reinforced their compliance checking process with respect to foods that were high in fat salt or sugar (HFSS) and in a “less healthy” product category.Assessment
Upheld
The CAP Code required that persons must not pay for ads for an identifiable less healthy food or drink product to be placed on the internet.
The ASA understood that Amazon Fresh had paid to place the ad on Instagram.
The ad featured pack shot images of three food products, along with the text “Your big Easter grocery shops. All delivered same-day amazon fresh”. We considered that consumers could reasonably be expected to identify that the ad was for the Amazon Fresh delivery service, and for the three specific products depicted in the ad. We therefore assessed whether the products that were identifiable in the ad were “less healthy” foods.
A food or drink was “less healthy” if it met two tests, set out in the rule. Firstly, it must be classified as HFSS according to the Department of Health and Social Care’s Nutrient Profiling Technical Guidance. Secondly, it must also fall within a food or drink category set out in law.
Lurpak Lightly Salted butter and Aunt Bessie’s 10 Proper Good Large Yorkshires did not fall within a food or drink category set out in law. Therefore, ads for those products were not restricted by the “less healthy” food rule.
We understood that the Cadbury creme egg Easter egg was classified as an HFSS product. We considered that it fell within the “less healthy” food Category 4, which was described in law as “Confectionery including chocolates and sweets”. We therefore concluded that the Cadbury creme egg Easter egg was a “less healthy” food, the advertising of which was restricted by the “less healthy” food rule.
We concluded that the ad was a paid ad for an identifiable “less healthy” product, and therefore breached the Code.
The ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 15.19 (Placement of less healthy food and drink product advertisements online).
Action
The ad must not appear again in the form complained of. We told Amazon Europe Core Sarl (t/a Amazon Fresh) to ensure their paid ads on the internet were not for identifiable less healthy foods.
