Food Advertising Restrictions 2026: Creator Marketing for Brands

This guide covers creator marketing specifically. For the full picture (employee counting, delivery platforms, nutrient profiling) see our detailed guide.

Only businesses with 250 or more employees. If you have fewer than 250, you're exempt and can work with creators as you always have.

This is the same threshold as calorie labelling. Count all staff: UK, international, part-time, and franchisee employees if you're a franchisor. Document your count on the first day of each financial year.

For detailed guidance on counting employees (including restaurant groups, franchise structures, and international staff) see Section 1 of our full guide.

Creator content counts as paid advertising under these rules (including gifted collabs), so it falls within scope. Only 13 specific food categories are restricted. There are three compliant paths:

The rest of this guide explains the details.

Under these rules, "paid" doesn't just mean cash. A free meal counts. So does any other benefit you give a creator in exchange for content.

The typical hospitality model (invite a creator, comp their meal, expect them to post) ticks both boxes: you gave them something, and there's an understanding they'll post.

That's paid advertising under the rules.

Not all food is covered. The rules target specific product types, not nutritional content alone. A ribeye steak may be high in fat, but it's not in any of these categories, so it's not restricted.

For details on how these categories work, including the nutrient profiling model and common hospitality scenarios, see Section 3 of our full guide.

Many dishes fall outside these categories entirely:

If it's not in one of the 13 categories, it's not restricted, regardless of its nutritional content.

The rules apply to products that are "identifiable" in the content. There's a difference between something being the focus of a shot and something that happens to be visible.

The ASA guidance specifically mentions "food or drink products on tables in a restaurant" as unlikely to be identifiable. It's when someone picks something up, eats it on camera, or names a specific dish that it becomes featured.

Note: "identifiable" covers both visual and verbal. Showing a pizza in close-up makes it identifiable. So does naming it. The ASA guidance explicitly includes "text or audio references" as ways a product can be identified.

The test is whether a specific purchasable product is identifiable. This can happen visually (showing the food) or verbally (naming the dish).

Brand names are protected. If your company name contains a restricted product word (Pizza Express, Pizza Hut, Krispy Kreme, Millie's Cookies), you can still use it freely. The regulations include a specific exemption for company and brand names established before 16 July 2025.

Visual identification is what usually triggers the restriction. In restaurant content, if a creator features food on camera (close-ups, picking it up, eating it), that food becomes identifiable regardless of whether they name it. A pizza being eaten on camera is a specific pizza, even if the creator just says "this is great" without naming the dish.

Generic verbal references work when food isn't featured. A creator can say "the pizza here is amazing" over shots of the venue, the atmosphere, or the service. The verbal reference is generic (not naming a specific dish), and the visuals don't identify any specific product.

Named specific products are always restricted. Saying "the American Hot is incredible" identifies a specific purchasable item, regardless of what's shown on screen.

This is why the experience-focused path works. The restriction is triggered by identifiable products, and the safest way to avoid that in restaurant content is to keep specific food out of frame.

When creators post on their own channels as part of a paid or gifted collaboration, you have two options.

Path 1: Feature dishes outside the 13 categories

Brief creators to focus on unrestricted dishes: your grilled steaks, pasta, curries, salads. Per ASA guidance, restricted items visible in the background (like on other tables) are unlikely to be identifiable. It's when a creator picks up, eats on camera, or directly comments on a dish that it becomes "featured."

Path 2: Experience-focused content

Creators can focus on venue, atmosphere, service, and vibe without featuring specific restricted products. The brand advertising exemption applies to creator content too.

Your brief can suggest either path, or leave it fully open for the creator to decide.

Content commissioned for your own social channels is not restricted. You're paying for content creation, not placement on someone else's platform.

You can hire creators to produce content for your Instagram, TikTok, or website featuring any dishes, including restricted products, as long as the content appears on your channels, not theirs. Your signature burger or loaded fries can still be showcased; it just needs to appear on your channels.

Joli Ad Studio lets you commission creators to produce content specifically for your own channels. Same creator talent, same quality workflow, no restrictions on what dishes you can feature.

Spell out what creators can and cannot feature. Even if they've done the training, be specific about your menu.

Be explicit. Name the dishes you want them to highlight and the ones to keep out of shot. Clear briefs make everyone's life easier.

Use framing to your advantage. The rules apply to what's identifiable in the content, not what the creator orders. They can order whatever they want. The brief is about what ends up in the final video: "Close-up of the steak is great, just keep the chips out of frame."

Get acknowledgment. Have creators confirm they've read and understood the brief before they visit. Joli does this automatically.

Review before posting (paid collabs). For paid collaborations, review content before it goes live. For gifted collaborations, your brief does the heavy lifting, so make it clear.

As the brand, you're accountable for creator content. This sounds heavy, but in practice it just means:

Joli handles most of this automatically (more on that below).

The ASA handles complaints about advertising. Here's what the process looks like:

The ASA does not have the power to fine advertisers. Typical outcomes include requests to change or remove content.

The ASA's guidance states that advertisers should have "robust systems in place" to ensure compliance when working with creators.

Platforms also review content against these rules, just as they do for alcohol and gambling. If creator content gets flagged, the creator handles the appeal (it's their account). Documentation of the brief can support their appeal.

Joli makes compliance easy so you can focus on the creative side.

Creators already know the rules. All Joli creators complete compliance training before accepting collaborations with affected brands. You don't need to explain the regulations from scratch.

Briefing templates. Our templates include compliance fields, so you can specify which dishes to feature and which to avoid. Creators acknowledge the brief when they apply.

Content review (paid collabs). For paid collaborations, creators submit content before posting. Review, approve, or request changes, all in one place.

Everything's documented. Briefs, acknowledgments, and approvals are stored with timestamps. If you ever need to show what guidance you gave, it's all there.

Ad Studio. Want to feature your burger or loaded fries? Commission creators to produce content for your own channels. No restrictions apply, and you get the same quality workflow.

We're a pizza chain. Can creators even mention pizza?

Yes. Your brand name is protected (even if it contains "pizza"), and creators can make generic verbal references like "great pizza" or "love the pizza here." The restriction kicks in when a specific product is identifiable, either by naming it ("the American Hot") or by featuring it visually (close-up, eating on camera). Generic praise over venue shots is fine.

What if a creator says "the pizza is great" while eating pizza on camera?

That's restricted. The visual (eating a specific pizza) identifies a product, even though the words are generic. The verbal reference doesn't save you if the food is featured visually.

Can creators show food at all?

Yes, if it's incidental. The ASA guidance specifically mentions "food or drink products on tables in a restaurant" as unlikely to be identifiable. Wide shots of the venue where food is visible in the background are different from close-ups or eating on camera.

What about dishes that aren't named on the menu?

The test is whether it's a "specific purchasable product." If customers can order it (even if it's just "the fish and chips" rather than a named dish), it can be identified. The safest approach is experience-focused content where specific food isn't featured.

Can we feature unrestricted dishes alongside restricted ones?

The restriction applies to identifiable restricted products. If a creator features your pasta (unrestricted) but chips are visible in the background, that's likely fine. If they feature the chips directly, that's restricted. Brief creators to keep restricted items out of the foreground.

What if we want to show our signature dish?

Use Ad Studio. Commission creators to produce content for your own channels, where no restrictions apply. You get the same creator talent and quality, and you can feature whatever dishes you like.

Do these rules apply to our own social media posts?

No. Content on your own channels (your Instagram, TikTok, website) isn't "paid-for placement on the internet" under the rules. The restrictions apply to paid advertising, including creator content posted on their channels as part of a paid or gifted collaboration.

Can we invite influencers to events without it being "paid advertising"?

It depends on whether there's an expectation to post. If you invite influencers to a launch event with genuinely no expectation they'll post, and they choose to post organically anyway, that's not paid advertising under the rules. But if there's any arrangement (explicit or implied) that they'll post in exchange for the invite, it is.

In practice, most influencer invites come with at least an implied expectation to post. The ASA guidance says they'll look at "the presence of any arrangement between the parties" to determine whether gifting (including event invites, free meals, products) was made "for" influencer content. If your invite list is specifically influencers and the unspoken deal is they'll post about it, that's likely paid advertising.

The safest approach: if you're inviting creators and hoping they'll post, treat it as a collaboration and brief them on what they can feature.

For the complete guide, including how to count employees, nutrient profiling details, delivery platforms, and the full compliance checklist, see our detailed HFSS guide.

If you have questions about a specific collaboration, get in touch with the Joli team.

This guide is based on:

This guide is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. For advice on your specific circumstances, consult a qualified solicitor.

Last updated: January 2026