Jowell junks calls for ban on junk food ads

Labour's plans to ban junk food TV ads were plunged into confusion today after a Cabinet minister said the move would have little impact on children's health.

Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell said that the plan, which has been trumpeted by fellow ministers as key to fighting obesity, could also undermine income for ITV.

Ms Jowell's remarks in a magazine interview come a day after the Government went out of its way to embrace the healthy eating campaign of Jamie Oliver.

Education Secretary Ruth Kelly and Children's Minister Margaret Hodge said yesterday that junk food ads during children's TV programmes-would be banned by law if the industry failed to agree a voluntary code.

The idea has been hailed by Health Secretary John Reid as a key difference between the Tories and Labour in the general election campaign.

But Ms Jowell told the New Statesman that she was wary of the effect a ban would have, declaring that "the evidence of impact is not significant". The minister stressed that the Government should leave the decision to Ofcom, the TV regulator, but she was not instinctively for a ban.

The watchdog published a study last year claiming the ads have only a "modest direct effect on children's food consumption". It said the "significance of this is small" compared to family background and school meals.

Research has found that around 1,150 junk food ads are shown daily during children's television.

In the New Statesman, which calls itself New Stateswoman to mark a special issue on womens' issues, Ms Jowell also suggests that Labour is turning off the voters with its macho language and style.