US cereal manufacturer Kellogg has lost a UK High Court case that challenged regulations intended to restrict the promotion of high-sugar breakfast cereals in supermarkets.

Under the new regulations for England, retailer promotions on high saturated fat, salt, and sugar( HFSS )food and drinks will be restricted to control obesity, especially children. The said category products will not be allowed to be featured in key locations such as checkouts, store entrances, aisle ends, and their online equivalents.

The Royal Courts of Justice in London disagreed as he ruled against Kellogg, which, more broadly, says it supports the Government’s strategy to cut obesity, especially in children. The court ruling Judge said that the argument that there are nutritional benefits to the consumption of a given breakfast cereal does not affect the point that if it contains excess fat, sugar, or salt, that feature of the product is adverse to a child’s health. Nor does mixing a breakfast cereal which is high in, for example, sugar, with milk alter the fact that it is high in sugar.”The company claimed that UK Government rules due to be introduced in October to limit promotions of HFSS foods did not take into account that breakfast cereal is normally served with milk, providing added nutritional value. Kellogg has been critical of the Nutrient Profiling Model (NPM) employed by the UK, arguing in the case of cereal that the “nutritional content of breakfast cereals should be assessed with milk, and not on a dry weight basis”.

Despite the Royal Court verdict, Kellogg company says they are taking efforts to address the health issues in cereal, noting the company has removed 11,000 tons of sugar since 2011, including a 50% reduction in Coco Pops.

“Four out of our five top-selling cereals are non-HFSS and by next year all of our children’s cereals will be non-HFSS,” Kellogg said in the statement. “We will continue to renovate our food and launch new cereals and snacks to meet our consumer’s needs, for example the expansion of our range of non-HFSS high-fibre wheats range in the UK.”

Chris Silcock, Kellogg’s UK managing director, said he was “disappointed” by today’s decision ahead of the October measures.