The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland is to ban the advertising of foods high in fat, salt and sugar during children's TV programming.
The BAI has also decided to restrict the volume of advertising of these foods during general programming after 6pm.
BAI Chief Executive Michael O'Keeffe said that despite restrictions on cheese advertising being included in the draft code, there are to be no restrictions under the final code.
However, such advertising will have to carry an on-screen message.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Mr O'Keeffe said that although some cheeses are high in fat, the other health benefits were looked at.
"We took the advice of the Department of Health and the Food Safety Authority in coming up with the less restrictive line that is now in place," he explained.
Mr O'Keeffe acknowledged that there was a lot of lobbying following the inclusion of cheese in the original draft code.
But he said that some of the health benefits of cheese as a food became lost in the overall debate.
He said that in response to the health lobby groups, they had introduced a volume restriction after 6pm to not more than 25% of the time.
Mr O'Keeffe said that as a broadcasting regulator, the BAI had to take the views of all sides and based their decision on the health experts they had consulted.
He said some health groups had wanted the ban to extend to the watershed at 9pm, but they had had to take into account of the potential economic impact on revenue for TV stations, in particular.
The new measures are due to come into effect on 2 September.
IFA National Dairy Committee chairman Kevin Kiersey welcomed the decision to exempt cheese from the new advertising regulations.
He said the value of dairy and cheese has been well documented and both the FSAI and Department of Health recommend three to five portions of dairy products a day for children and teenagers.
Director of Food and Drink Industry Ireland Paul Kelly said the new advertising code is based on flawed science and will have little impact on childhood obesity rates.
Speaking on RTÉ's News at One, Mr Kelly said he believed the BAI ignored "world class information" before deciding on the ban.
He said that the code was too stringent, as it did not accurately portray what people ate.
"The system itself is very unscientific ... they (the BAI) were working on a nutrient profiling system which used 100g measure rather than the amount that people actually ate or do eat," he said.
"Our concern is that certain products, including some dairy products and some cereal products have fallen foul of this new code because of the nutrient profiling that they have put in place."
