TIME : Beating Butter: Denmark Imposes the World's First Fat Tax
The Danish government has decided to tackle obesity and cardiovascular diseases by imposing a new tax of 16 krone per kilo of saturated fat on all products containing more than 2.3% of it. This will especially affect the price of butter and its derived products.
The Time also mentions that "in 2004, Denmark became the first country in the world to ban transfats — the solid fats commonly used in snack foods and industrially produced baked goods."
I personally think that the initiative is laudable, but many Danes seem opposed to it. Would they prefer a new tax on healthy foods instead ?
EDIT : additional review of the fat tax by the New Scientist
The Danish government has decided to tackle obesity and cardiovascular diseases by imposing a new tax of 16 krone per kilo of saturated fat on all products containing more than 2.3% of it. This will especially affect the price of butter and its derived products.
The Time also mentions that "in 2004, Denmark became the first country in the world to ban transfats — the solid fats commonly used in snack foods and industrially produced baked goods."
I personally think that the initiative is laudable, but many Danes seem opposed to it. Would they prefer a new tax on healthy foods instead ?
EDIT : additional review of the fat tax by the New Scientist
New Scientist said:Taxes on cigarettes are set high enough to discourage use, especially among young people. But the food taxes are low, 0.34 kroner on a litre of soft drinks, for example. The "fat" tax is 16 kroner per kilogram of saturated fat. In dollars, the taxes will add 12 cents to a bag of crisps and 40 cents to the price of a burger. Whether these amounts will discourage purchases remains to be seen.
Other countries are playing "me too" or waiting to see the results of Denmark's experiment. Hungary has imposed a small tax on sweets, salty snacks, and sugary and caffeinated drinks and intends to use the revenues to offset healthcare costs. Romania and Iceland had such taxes but dropped them, whereas Finland and Ireland are considering them. Surprisingly, given his party's anti-nanny state platform, UK prime minister David Cameron is suggesting food taxes to counter the nation's burgeoning obesity crisis. The US has resisted calls for taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages, not least because the soft drink companies spent millions of dollars on defeating such proposals.
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