Comedian Ed Gamble was forced to remove a picture of a hot dog from his London show Tube posters when TfL chiefs told him it fell foul of their healthy eating rules.
The Off Menu podcast host was pictured with a greasy, sauce-covered sausage on billboards for his show Hot Diggity Dog.
But when posters for his five night residency at Hackney Empire were sent to TfL for display on the Underground he was told they did not comply with the network’s anti-junk food policy and would need to be “removed or obscured”.
Gamble swapped the banger for a cucumber to get the promotional material on display. He said: “TfL told me I couldn’t have a hot dog on my poster to promote my Hackney Empire shows in June.
“I guess I’m dangerous? So I’ve replaced it with a cucumber. Eat your greens, kids.”
A TfL spokesman said: “We welcome all advertising on our network that complies with our published guidance.
“Following a review of the advert, we advised that elements would need to be removed or obscured to ensure it complied with our policy.
“A revised advert is now running on the network and we are always happy to work with people to ensure adverts follow our policy.”
A ban on junk food advertising across London's entire public transport network came into force in 2019.
Posters for food and drink high in fat, salt and sugar are not allowed to be displayed on the Underground and Overground or on buses and bus shelters.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan said the rules would help tackle the "ticking time bomb" of child obesity in the capital.
Research estimated the policy had directly led to 94,867 fewer cases of obesity than expected (a 4.8 per cent decrease), 2,857 fewer cases of diabetes, and 1,915 fewer cases of cardiovascular disease.
However, the rules have faced criticism for being too restrictive.
Cheesegeek founder and CEO Edward Hancock slammed the decision as “ridiculous” and said it wrongly categorises cheese “alongside genuine junk food”.
Critics have also pointed out that companies such as Greggs and Lola’s Cupcakes have been allowed to set up in stations, while pictures of the unhealthy food they sell are not allowed.
