Rules and ethics
Part of Food influencers: UK partnership rules and ethical practice
Food influencers: disclosing restaurant ads
For food influencers, this guide explains ASA disclosure for paid and gifted restaurant ads, including visible “Ad” or “#ad” labels in captions and video.
What to take away
- For food influencers, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) administers the CAP Code. Rule 2.1 requires marketing communications to be obviously identifiable as such.
- The ASA's list of non-compliant online advertisers names influencers alongside businesses, so weak disclosure is an enforcement risk rather than a style choice.
- Label paid or gifted content as an ad where a viewer first meets it, not at the end of a long caption.
- The restaurant, the creator and any agency can each be held to the CAP Code, so keep the brief and the approvals together.
- From 1 October 2021, under Natasha's Law—the Food Information (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2019, which amended the Food Information Regulations 2014—prepacked for direct sale food sold in England must carry a full ingredient list. The same food information rules cover the claims and origin wording a paid post may show.
Check the ad is identifiable
Under CAP Code rule 2.1, a marketing communication must be obviously identifiable as such, and its commercial intent must be clear when context does not make that clear, as the CAP Code's identification rule states. The ASA's Influencers' guide to making clear that ads are ads explains how this applies to influencer content. That duty covers a paid fee, a free meal and a gifted product.
A label hidden below a wall of hashtags fails that test. Put “Ad” or “#ad” at the start of the caption, before other text or hashtags, and say it aloud in the first seconds of a video.
Platform tools help, but they do not replace plain wording. A paid partnership tag is useful evidence; it is not a label a viewer understands at a glance.
Restaurants that pay for a post become advertisers, not bystanders. A creator who is paid or incentivised is advertising too.
Write the brief so one person owns each claim
The restaurant knows its menu, its suppliers and its paperwork. The creator knows the audience and the format that works on their platform.
Neither side should fill the other's gaps with a guess.
Give one named person the final say on every factual claim. Health lines, nutrition figures and provenance statements all need something in writing behind them.
A brief that lists approved and banned wording settles most disputes before they start. File the approved version with its date.
Usage rights deserve the same treatment. If the restaurant wants to repost the video or run it as a paid ad, set that out in writing with a date range and a fee.
For the sequence from briefing to contracting to payment, write the disclosure wording and the person responsible for checking it into the brief.
Set the rules for contact data
Outreach to a named restaurant manager is processing personal data, even in a business setting.
UK GDPR applies to the names, job titles and contact details you keep. PECR's email rules treat corporate subscribers differently from individuals, which is where agency lists often go wrong.
The ICO's business-to-business marketing guidance explains which lawful basis fits cold outreach and when consent is needed instead. Record where each contact came from.
Keep that record short: the source, what the person was told, and when you will next be in touch. Delete details you no longer need.
A creator who passes a mailing list puts controller duties on the restaurant.
Before and after: a brief that survives scrutiny
Compare the columns. Any row still sitting on the left is a post that should wait.
Weak practice
- Disclosure
- #sp at the end of 20 hashtags
- Claims
- Healthiest lunch in Leeds
- Gifted visit
- Terms agreed in a DM
- Allergens
- Questions left to the comments
- Audience data
- Creator emails a contact list over
- Records
- Screenshots in a group chat
Working practice
- Disclosure
- Ad label in the first line, spoken on camera
- Claims
- Wording approved in writing by the restaurant
- Gifted visit
- One page covering dates, usage rights and payment
- Allergens
- Notes supplied before filming
- Audience data
- Restaurant collects sign-ups with its own notice
- Records
- Signed brief, approval and live link filed together
Check food claims and menu information
A restaurant's food still has to meet food information law when a creator films it. Product names, ingredients and allergens must be right in the post and on the counter. Local authorities enforce food information requirements, so ask the restaurant to verify the relevant labels.
Words like freshly baked or organic attach to the product, not to the video. Ask for the paperwork before you approve the caption.
Allergen questions belong in the brief, not in a comment thread.
For wider contract, tax and platform considerations, see the UK partnership overview; these are separate from the CAP Code's ad-identification requirement.
Common questions
Does a gifted meal count as advertising?
Yes, when the creator receives something of value and the restaurant has a say in the message. The rules apply whether the payment is cash or a free dinner.
Who is responsible if the ad label is missing?
The creator published the post and the restaurant paid for it, so either can be named. Agree the disclosure wording in the contract and say who checks it.
Do we need consent to email a restaurant about a partnership?
Often not for a limited company contact, because PECR's email rules focus on individual subscribers. UK GDPR still applies to those details, so you need a lawful basis and a clear privacy notice.
Can a creator's post breach food labelling law?
The post is advertising, but the food it shows is a product on sale with its own labelling duties. This article is general guidance, and individual cases need a qualified adviser.
