Turkey bans junk food promotions, advertisements

Turkey banned the use of promotional gifts included in junk food such as chips, chocolates and candy targeted at children and prohibited them from being advertised during television and radio shows for children, the Trade Ministry announced on Friday.

According to the new regulation that aims to stifle unhealthy eating habits, junk food producers won't be able to include any sort of promotional gifts inside the package of their products. The ministry also forbidden for the firms to air commercials on TV and radio about their products during shows and programs aimed at children.

Italian confectionery giant Ferrero's well-known chocolate Kinder Surprise, which includes a plastic capsule containing a toy inside an egg-shaped chocolate, will not be allowed to be sold in Turkey after the regulation officially starts in June 2019.

The Trade Ministry said detailed information about which product constitutes as junk food and thus were banned to be promoted were published in a list by the Health Ministry on its website.

Advertisements that involve junk food will be issued with a fine from Turkish Lira 8,546 ($1,600) to 341,921 ($64,000) by the board of advertisement depending on the platform where they published. If the violation is repeated, the board will be authorized to increase the fine by up to 10 times.

In other television programs that do not specifically target children, advertisements of these products will be implemented with proper written or verbal warnings containing expressions that encourage regular and balanced nutrition.