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Adverts for cheese, butter, olive oil and stock cubes could be banned from London’s transport network in Sadiq Khan’s war on junk food, the Evening Standard can reveal.

From next month, adverts for junk food will be axed at Tube stations and bus stops as part of a policy by the Mayor of London to tackle soaring rates of childhood obesity.

However, common household foods such as mayonnaise, soy sauce and pesto would not be allowed under new criteria which will highlight food high in fat, salt or sugar.

Critics argue that most passengers are adults and the range of advertising is different. It is estimated the junk food advert ban, which is backed by celebrity chefs Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, will cost TfL £13 million a year in lost revenue.

TfL is using a nutrient profiling model created by Public Health England.

Foods are given a score based on the balance between beneficial nutrients, such as fruit and vegetables, protein and fibre, and ingredients which children should reduce in their diet, such as sugars, saturated fat and salt.

The system is already in used by Ofcom and the Advertising Standards Authority as their basis for regulating media advertising.

Conservative assembly member Andrew Boff said the ban was “reckless” at a time when TfL was facing a £1 billion deficit. “This is yet another example of the Mayor indulging in pointless virtue signalling and grandstanding,” he said. “It is not just junk food adverts which will be banned; Londoners will not be allowed to see adverts for everyday items such as olive oil, stock cubes and pesto.”

Christopher Snowdon, from the Institute of Economic Affairs, a free-market think-tank, said: “Mr Khan’s ban will lose revenue for TfL at a time when passenger numbers are falling.

"There is no evidence from anywhere in the world to suggest that restricting food advertisements reduces obesity.” Last month it emerged that the rules could prevent the Macmillan Cancer Support charity from promoting its coffee and cake events on the TfL network due to the sugary fare on offer.

City Hall argues there is growing evidence that the more children are exposed to advertising of unhealthy foods, the higher their risk of becoming overweight or obese.

A recent report by Cancer Research UK found that young people who recalled seeing junk food adverts every day were more than twice as likely to be obese.

A spokesman for the Mayor said: “It is not our intention to ban adverts for products which genuinely do not contribute to childhood obesity.

“Advertisers can request an exemption if they can demonstrate a product doesn’t contribute to the problem, for example if it is not generally consumed by children. Such requests will be considered carefully.”

TfL’s outdoor advertising sites are the most lucrative in the world, generating £147 million a year to reinvest in public transport. About £20 million a year comes from food adverts.

A spokesman for the Advertising Association, which speaks for the industry, said: “While the Mayor’s office has recently begun consultation with industry on the policy, there are outstanding issues, particularly around what products might be exempt. Given this, it is hard to see how the policy can feasibly be introduced by February.

“Nonetheless, we remain ready to work together, using the advertising industry’s expertise to improve the health and wellbeing of children.”