Several “junk food” companies operating in Ireland have been named in an investigation into sponsorship deals in professional sports published by the British Medical Journal on Wednesday. The finding comes amid growing concerns about junk food’s impact on public health, particularly on children.
The investigation found 95 deals between “junk food” companies and sporting stars, teams or official governing bodies in the UK. The brands include Cadbury, Kellogg’s, Coca Cola, Pepsi, Just Eat, Red Bull, and Monster Energy.
“Junk food sponsorship is everywhere – it is pernicious and ubiquitous”, says Francis Finucane, consultant endocrinologist at Galway University Hospitals.
Kellogg’s has been sponsoring the GAA Cúl Camps for the past 14 years. Just Eat sponsors the Uefa women’s Euro 2025 league and Leinster Rugby. The Irish national women’s soccer team have been sponsored by Cadbury since 2021. Irish rugby is sponsored by Goodfellas, a frozen-pizza company.
The report “highlights the scale and extent of an important public health problem. Sports sponsorship in the EU is a €23 billion market, and junk food manufacturers see it as an important way of raising awareness of their products,” says Dr Finucane.
Unhealthy food products have a “health halo effect” when used in sports sponsorship, according to research. “These players are in absolute peak physical condition and they are unfortunately promoting products that just do not generally feature in athletes’ diets,” says Robin Ireland at Glasgow University’s school of health and wellbeing.
This is because the quality of the fuel in junk food is poor, which impacts energy and ability to perform, explains Daniel Murphy, a dietitian and owner of Apex Nutrition in Co Cork.
Red Bull and Monster Energy are also sponsors in the Irish sports industry, with the former sponsoring Olympic gymnast Rhys McClenaghan and the latter partnering with surfer Gearoid McDaid and the Straight Blast MMA Gym.
Mr Ireland says marketers are using tobacco-style tactics in sport to encourage young people to consume energy drinks. “You want to encourage young consumers – because if you encourage young consumers you may have them for life.”
But Dr Finucane notes the smoking ban is also a route to dealing with ultra-processed food. “We need to emulate the proportionality and ambition of the smoking ban, with taxation and meaningful restrictions on marketing and advertising. It is important for politicians and legislators as well as public health actors to understand these ‘commercial determinants of health’.”
Experts also advise educating young people about nutrition. “The younger that people are exposed to these foods, the more it will affect them growing up,” Mr Murphy says.
Rules introduced by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) of Ireland in 2021 prevent companies from advertising products with high fat, sugar or salt content through platforms where the majority of the audience is under 15 years old. The ASA did not deem any complaints from members of the public in 2024 about the advertising of food and drink to children to be in breach of its code.
Kellogg’s says its partnership with the GAA Cúl Camps is fully compliant with all regulatory requirements. The other companies mentioned did not respond to a request for comment on how they work within the 2021 rules.
