South Australia bans ham sandwich advertising on public transport amid battle against obesity

Australia’s battle against obesity thickens after South Australia’s move to ban ads on ham sandwiches on public transport, following in the footsteps of WA, which swung the axe against the Aussie staple last year.

The iconic sandwich has been banished in a move to remove advertisement for items labelled as junk food from being publicised on buses, trains and trams across Adelaide from July 1.

The bold action aims to limit the exposure of unhealthy food and drinks to children through advertisement, and bring a light to the link between eating processed meats and the increased risk in bowel cancer.

The humble ham sandwich has been put in the same bracket as confectionery products like lollies, chocolates, ice cream, chips and soft drinks — as government figures showed 63 per cent of adults and 35 per cent of children in SA are overweight or obese.

Western Australia made a similar move, with schools putting a controversial ban on ham and cheeses toasties from canteens last year.

Industry marketing body Australian Association of National Advertising (AANA) has pushed back against the ‘blanket ban’ which it labels as unjustified.

“As it stands, this policy bans all processed meats which means a simple ham salad sandwich can’t be advertised,” AANA CEO Josh Faulks told Newswire.

“This simply doesn’t make sense and the government should be making evidence-based decisions, not blanket bans that don’t align with nutritional science.”

The leading body opposed all advertising bans on food and drinks, instead pushing for the government to adopt a “science-based approach”.

The suggested approach would use nutrient profiling scoring criteria to decide which foods should be restricted, instead of the healthy eating policy used to justify the ban.

Western Australia followed the same system last year, when under the traffic light system, processed meats became a red item and were removed from canteen shelves.