Ruling Round-Up: July 2026
Official Rulings At-A-Glance
Your quick-reference monthly compliance digest for brands, agencies, creators, and influencers.
Headline Cases & Key Takeaways
1. Domino's Pizza, Mars (M&M's) & Morley's — Less Healthy Food (LHF) Restrictions
The Issue: A fresh batch of formal rulings tested the boundaries of the online and pre-9pm Less Healthy Food advertising restrictions, focusing particularly on identifiable products and brand characters.
The Ruling: Mixed (Domino's Not Upheld / Mars & Morley's Upheld).
Key Takeaway: Brand characters that are structurally or visually synonymous with an HFSS product are effectively classified as the product itself. Featuring them in paid digital space breaches LHF rules, even if no explicit food item is named.
2. Exhale Healthy Coffee — Health & Medical Claims
The Issue: A paid Instagram ad for a coffee brand made unauthorized health and nutrition claims, including referencing health claims backed by an individual health professional.
The Ruling: Upheld.
Key Takeaway: You cannot bypass general food regulations by leveraging individual medical or health practitioner endorsements on social media without strictly authorized, registered EFSA/UK-compliant health claims.
3. GoodNovel — Social Responsibility & Harmful Stereotypes
The Issue: An in-game paid ad for an online reading platform was flagged for being socially irresponsible, condoning violence, and featuring harmful gender stereotypes.
The Ruling: Upheld.
Key Takeaway: In-game and app-install creative assets are fully subject to CAP Code rules on harm, offense, and responsible social depictions—creative shock tactics or harmful tropes will face swift enforcement.
Procedural & Monitoring Shifts At-A-Glance
Active Ad Monitoring Expansion: The ASA stepped up its automated scanning tools to flag digital and social video ads (such as targeting age-restricted categories online) before traditional consumer complaints even land on their desk.
SME Exemption Boundaries: Several small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) food brands successfully defended cases under the specific SME turnover exemptions for LHF rules, though the ASA made it clear these exemptions are strictly interpreted.
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