‘Makes no sense’: South Australian ban exposed

In the latest example of bureaucracy gone mad, a new ban came into effect in South Australia this week – and it makes absolutely no sense.

Soy milk, rice cakes and ham salad sandwiches aren’t usually the first things that come to mind when you think of “junk food”.

Yet, here we are, in the first week of the introduction of the South Australian food and beverage advertising bans on government assets, still debating what has been banned and what has not.

Confusion and uncertainty reigns as businesses, the public and even nutritionists are scratching their heads as to why everyday nutritious food and drinks have been caught by the ban and whole groups of food are permitted.

Let’s look at the facts. Under these new rules, everyday products like some soy milk, oat milk and rice cakes are banned from appearing in advertising on South Australian government assets.

This is because these products contain small amounts of added sugar and that is enough to land them on the blacklist.

Ham salad sandwiches are on the new blacklist. Picture: iStock.

So are several different brands of soy and oat milks (not picture here) are affected by the advertising ban. Picture: Thomas URBAIN / AFP

Under the new regime, if any sugar is added, it is banned.

That means a number of plain, unflavoured soy milks with only 1 gram (per 100ml) of added sugar cannot be advertised.

On the other hand, according to the South Australian Government Implementation Guide, all condiments (including dips), and all jams and spreads are considered acceptable.

Ham salad sandwiches were banned. Then they were not – if the ham was incidental to the advertisement. But, you need to submit the advertisement to a departmental panel for approval, creating more unnecessary bureaucratic red tape.

Sound confusing? It is.

This simply doesn’t pass the pub test and is creating confusion and uncertainty for business and the community.

We agree with the government that this needs a commonsense approach. The problem is the current approach doesn’t make any sense.

The fact that we are still having this conversation about which foods are objectively healthy and which are not, points to the flaws in this policy.

All the industry is asking for is a credible independent nutritional test that creates certainty about what food and beverages are permitted to be advertised by the South Australian government.

Rice cakes are also on the hit list. Picture: Supplied

South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas. Picture: Roy VanDerVegt

The industry is not asking for a free pass. We are asking for a fair go.

That is why we are calling on the South Australian Government to adopt the Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) Nutrient Profiling Scoring Criteria – a nationally consistent, scientifically rigorous framework – developed by an independent government agency under the Federal Government Department of Health.

It is already used by all States and Territories as a credible tool to assess the nutritional value of food.

The next step surely is collaboration.

The industry, public health experts, and government need to come together to empower Australians to make healthier choices – not through ad bans and confusion, but through smart policy, positive messaging, and evidence-based regulation.

The food and beverage industry is already taking steps to help consumers switch to healthier options through product innovation and reformulation.

Australia also has some the strictest rules in the world around food and beverage advertising, which effectively ban the advertising of unhealthy food to children, across all advertising and all media, at all times.

So here is our ask: pause and review this broken system and replace it with a better one based on nutritional science.

Let’s work together to promote healthier choices, through clarity, consistency and commonsense without throwing healthy foods under the bus.

And let’s put an end to policies that confuse the public and businesses and, fail to deliver results.

Because if soy milk and rice cakes are the enemies in this fight against obesity, we are targeting the wrong culprits.

Josh Faulks is the Chief Executive of the Australian Association of National Advertisers.

Originally published as ‘Makes no sense’: South Australian ban exposed