Other restricted businesses: High Fat Sugar Salt Food and Beverage Ads

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We restrict certain kinds of businesses from advertising with us to prevent users from being exploited, even if individual businesses appear to comply with our other policies. Based on our own continuous reviews, and feedback from users, regulators, and consumer protection authorities, we occasionally identify products or services that are prone to abuse. If we feel that certain kinds of businesses pose an unreasonable risk to user safety or user experience, then we may limit or stop related ads from running.

Learn more about the Other restricted businesses policy.

An icon showing the Certification required for Financial Services. We restrict the promotion of High Fat Sugar Salt (HFSS) Food and Beverage (F&B) in the UK and EU on the Google Display Network and YouTube.

We support responsible advertising of food and beverages. HFSS F&B ads and destination sites are allowed if they comply with the policies below and don’t target minors. The information reflected in this policy is not intended to be legal advice and we expect all advertisers to comply with the local laws for any region their ads target, including local requirements that may differ from this HFSS F&B policy.

We consider ads to be promoting the sale of HFSS products when one or more HFSS food item, beverage, or meal is promoted on the ad creative (text, imagery, audio and/or video) or destination site.

Advertisers are required to self-declare that they are using an account to run HFSS F&B campaigns. In order to self-declare, please use the form here. This policy applies to all HFSS F&B ads serving in the UK and EU on the Google Display Network and Youtube. Ads within accounts that are self-declared as HFSS F&B and have received the HFSS label will only serve to users with a declared age of 18 and above.

Examples (non-exhaustive): Sweetened beverages, energy drinks, doughnuts, cakes, sweet biscuits, chocolate nut spreads, trail mix or nut bar with chocolate or candy, milkshakes, pork and beef sausage, bacon, pizza, hamburger meals with fries, candy, chocolate, sweets, butter, salt, caloric sweeteners, coconut oil.

Note: If the ad or destination contains nutritional information indicating the products are within the allowed threshold and serving size/calories, the examples above may be considered out of scope.

Examples of ads outside the scope of this policy (non-exhaustive):
- Ads that promote non-HFSS F&B such as 100% juice, plain fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables, low or non-fat plain milk, dry beans and lentils, plain nuts and seeds, and any other food or beverage with no added fat, sugar, salt, or sweeteners
- Ads for restaurant delivery services or restaurant location/review websites that do not include text, imagery, audio, and/or video of HFSS F&B
- Ads that feature HFSS F&B products but promote a product or service not related to F&B, such as ads for a baking show, tourism, or kitchen cleaning supplies
- Ads that feature HFSS F&B products but promote a PSA messaging on healthy diets and eating

Violations of the policies below will not lead to immediate account suspension without prior warning. A warning will be issued, at least 7 days, prior to any suspension of your account. Learn more about suspended accounts.

Options to fix ad violations

Create a separate account

If you'd like to advertise products that contain HFSS, Google requires that you self-declare that your account is in scope for HFSS F&B, and all the creatives within that account will be subject to the HFSS F&B policy restrictions. If you want only a subset of ads to be restricted, you're required to create a separate account and self-declare that account for HFSS F&B.

Warning: Please do not submit this form if you do not advertise Food & Beverage products or F&B brand promotions. Submitting this application will result in serving restrictions to minors in some regions for all ads. HFSS restrictions cannot be removed from ads in a self-declared account.

Appeal policy decision

If you believe your ads have incorrectly been labeled, submit an appeal with nutritional information (example, a table of nutrition facts) to confirm that the ads are out of scope of HFSS F&B. Visit the help page and ensure that all products you're advertising through your ads and destination sites are within the nutrient guidelines.

Google HFSS F&B Nutritional Profile

Nutrient levels are applied on a 100-gram and per serving basis for global applicability and to reflect common labeled serving sizes and calorie levels for meal and meal components. If the serving size of your advertised food or beverage does not closely match the listed serving size (LSS), please evaluate your product using the per 100-gram criteria.

Food and Beverage	Per	Sat fat (g)	Sodium (mg)	Total sugar (g)	Added sugar (g)	Calories
Beverages
All beverages except milk	LSS (est 8 oz)	N/A	105 mg	N/A	0	N/A
All beverages except milk	100 g	N/A	46 mg	N/A	0	N/A

Grains/breads
Bread, bread products, noodles, rice, grains, pancakes	LSS (est 100g)	2	360	10	N/A	N/A
Bread, bread products, noodles, rice, grains, pancakes	100 g	2	360	10	N/A	N/A
Breakfast cereals	LSS (est 100g)	1.5	250	6.75	N/A	N/A
Breakfast cereals	100 g	5	625	22.5	N/A	N/A

Fruits, vegetables & legumes
Processed fruit, vegetables & legumes	LSS (est 90g)	2	350	N/A	0	N/A
Processed fruit, vegetables & legumes	100 g	2.2	390	N/A	0	N/A

Nuts & seeds
Nuts & seeds	LSS (est 30g)	3.5	130	4	N/A	N/A
Nuts & seeds	100 g	12	430	13	N/A	N/A

Dairy
Milks & milk alternatives	LSS (est 8 oz/245 g)	5	200	22	N/A	N/A
Milks & milk alternatives	100 g	3	82	9	N/A	N/A
Cheese & cheese products	LSS (est 30 g)	3	228	N/A	N/A	N/A
Cheese & cheese products	100 g	10	760	N/A	N/A	N/A
Yogurt & yogurt-type products	LSS (est 170 g)	5	136	19	N/A	N/A
Yogurt & yogurt-type products	100 g	3	80	11.5	N/A	N/A

Meat, fish, egg, poultry & meat replacements
Processed meat, poultry, fish, eggs and alternatives	LSS (est 50g)	2	335	N/A	N/A	N/A
Processed meat, poultry, fish, eggs and alternatives	100 g	4	670	N/A	N/A	N/A

Meals & meal components
Ready-made dishes & appetizers	< 315 calories (est 140 grams)	5	545	14	N/A	315
Ready-made dishes & appetizers	100 g	4	390	10	N/A	225
Complete meal	< 510 calories (est 300 g)	6.6	660	18	N/A	510
Complete meal	100 g	2.2	220	6	N/A	200

Snacks & treats
Snacks & treats	< 150 calories (est 30g)	1.5	120	6.75	N/A	150
Snacks & treats	100 g	5	400	22.5	N/A	500

Sauces, condiments and culinary ingredients
Sauces, condiments and culinary ingredients	LSS (est 30g)	2	135	1.5	N/A	N/A
Sauces, condiments and culinary ingredients	100 g	6.6	450	4.9	N/A	N/A

Need help?

If you have questions about our policies, contact Google Ads Support

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