Digital age verification permitted for alcohol sales in England and Wales: The Home Office has issued a press release on digital age verification being permitted for sales of alcohol including by self-checkouts from 15 September. The change is made under the Licensing Act 2003 (Mandatory Licensing Conditions) (Amendment) Order 2026. Digital proof of age must be provided through a certified Digital Verification Service listed on the statutory register on GOV.UK and meeting the relevant standards under the UK digital verification services trust framework. The ACS suggest that digital verification will work in one of two ways:
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Via a mobile validator: The customer shows their digital proof of age on their smartphone. A member of staff uses a separate smartphone or tablet to verify it.
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Via a self-checkout: The customer uses their smartphone to complete the digital age check as part of the self-checkout process.
View > Association of Convenience Stores >
Food Standards Agency to progress plans for national level regulation of major food retailers: The Food Standards Agency has issued a press release following its Board meeting to outline its future plans to support Local Authority regulation and to pursue national level regulation for large food retailers which it claims make up 97% of food sales. The FSA has committed to bring plans forward to its Board meeting in March 2027 and to consult publicly later in the year. View >
Advertising watchdog rules out business to business exemption on advertising less healthy foods: In a case involving business to business advertising of fries by McCains. McCains maintained that the ad was a B2B ad, targeted only at individuals working in foodservice roles, via sector-specific and role-specific audience criteria. The ASA reviewed the details of the criteria used to target the ad and found it was targeted only to people who were registered with Meta as over 25 years old, whose profile also met at least one of a range of ‘interests’, and at least one of a range of ‘behaviours’ and job titles. The interests included: several named restaurants, sandwich shops and fast food outlets; types of venue where food was sold, such as bars, pubs, fast food, “Bowling” and “Cinema (films)”; types of industry relating to food, such as hospitality and “Food and restaurants”; and types of food dishes such as French fries, hamburgers, and fried chicken. The behaviours were “Food and restaurant Page admins” and “Employers: Restaurant management, Hospitality industry or restaurants”, and the job titles included: various types of chef or cook; manager roles in restaurants, catering, and hotels; and “Food and Beverage” managers and directors.
ASA acknowledged the ad was targeted to Facebook users whose profiles were categorised by Meta as having both an ‘interest’, and a ‘behaviour’ and job title associated with the food and drink or hospitality industries. However, it was not clear that those categorisations solely included people who were, at the time the ad was targeted to them, actually engaged in, or employed by, a business which fell under the exemption and so the ASA ruled was insufficiently precise to satisfy the B2B exemption from the advertising restrictions for less healthy foods. View >
Food and Drink manufacturers announce voluntary healthy food reporting initiative: The Food and Drink Federation has highlighted a letter by five of its members: Carlsberg Britvic, Danone North Europe, KP Snacks Ltd, Premier Foods and Nomad foods to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care setting out their commitment to report from next year on the healthiness of products they supply. Under the voluntary commitment in 2027 signatories will publish their 2026 sales-weighted average nutrient profiling model 2004 score, the same model that underpins the UK HFSS regulations. View >
