On 12 January 2026, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) published an impact statement to accompany the NHS 10-year plan for England. Within which the DHSC confirmed that there is an intention to change the Nutrient Profile Model (NPM) which is used to determine whether an item constitutes an HFSS product for the purpose of advertising and marketing restrictions. This will likely bring many more products within the scope of the HFSS advertising restrictions.

What's changing and why it matters?

The Government has signalled it intends to move away from the NPM developed by the FSA in 2004/05 towards the newer model developed in 2018. This model was developed and consulted on but never implemented for advertising compliance. The DHSC say that the plan could reduce calorie intake by up to an additional 30% compared to the current model used. In addition, to the further reduction in children's exposure to less healthy items, this would have an impact on reducing childhood and adult obesity by up to 170,000 and 940,000 respectively.

If adopted the revised model will likely bring more products within scope of the restrictions. Notably the 2018 NPM replaces the sodium criterion with salt, increases the importance given to fibre, updates the way sugars (in particular “free sugars”) are scored, and reduces the energy criterion thresholds.

How does this sit with the new HFSS restrictions?

From 5 January 2026 the new restrictions on advertising less healthy foods came into effect (which we explained in our article here) with a watershed of 9pm on TV and ODPS and a 24/7 restriction on paid-for online ads. These restrictions currently rely on the 2004/05 NPM for assessing, amongst other criteria, whether a product is within scope. Whilst the DHSC has only confirmed an intention at this stage to update the NPM, a switch to the 2018 model would almost certainly bring more products in scope and will require further guidance. 

When are the changes coming into effect and what will the impact be?

Currently we only have an indication that the DHSC intends to update the NPM. The timeline for moving to the 2018 model is not certain, however we understand that any change would first be subject to consultation. In light of the fact that at least some part of the HFSS legislation requires cooperation from the Scottish parliament we expect that nothing will happen before the May elections in Scotland and Wales. So it is likely that we will get more visibility on timings in the second Kings speech as this will set out the legislative agenda and the next phase of the government’s plans. 
 
As we already know the differences between the two NPMs, it may be worthwhile keeping the 2018 NPM in mind, particularly in relation to the development of any new products to reduce the likelihood that further changes may be required down the line and to make sure it satisfies the updated HFSS requirements.

What are the wider implications?

This is now the second time that major changes to advertising of food have been announced through the NHS 10-year plan. It illustrates clearly how important this issue is to the government and how the plan to seek to prevent healthcare issues are becoming food and advertising policy. For more about this please see our recent breakfast seminar. 
 

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