As a quarter of adults are now obese, is it time for a sugar tax?

cleverasvoltaire

What do you think? I think there definitely should be, to stop obesity overtaking our nation.

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Reply 1

Rakas21

Original post by cleverasvoltaire

What do you think? I think there definitely should be, to stop obesity overtaking our nation.

I'd make massive reforms myself..

1) Reduce packaging so that you buy things in packets of 100g or less and 1kg, 2kg ect... (exceptions for stuff like a whole chicken). While you might buy the 24 pack of crisps, it's less likely you'll buy 24 individual packets.

2) Rather than taxing consumption, i would tax the production of all food containing more than 20% per 100g of sugar, salt, calories or fat.

3) Those unemployed for more than 12 months would be conscripted and have to go through basic training anyway under 30, those over 30 would be forced to attend the gym several times per week for at least one hour.

Reply 2

dyslexicvegie

I think it would make more sense to encourage less sugar in products that don't require it.

e.g lemonade, I don't drink a lot of it due to the sugar content BUT if there was less sugar in the recipe I would still only drink a little and receive the health benefits of having less sugar in my diet.

I don't generally go for indirect taxes. Such a tax would be regressive as it would disproportionately harm those on low incomes, for which a greater proportion of their income has to go on essentials like food.

Reply 3

Huskaris

Absolutely.

And it should be entirely neutral.

For every £1 raised through a fat tax, the equivalent must be given as a subsidy for healthy food.

People who have a balanced diet should not be penalised, the same way people that drink responsibly should not be penalised.

By subsidising healthy food with taxes raised from bad food, we would see real progress in the health of the nation in my opinion.

Either way, we are already in a situation where obesity is the biggest health crisis the NHS faces, almost every other self inflicted health crisis (which it is legal to consume) is heavily taxed as a consequence eg cigarettes and alcohol, sugary foods should be the same, and I am a Conservative.

Reply 4

saayagain

The point of a tax is to raise money. Not influence the behaviour of people.

The reason why people eat excessive amounts of fatty or sugary foods is because they have psychological issues. It's the same reason why people take an excessive amount of drugs and alcohol. That and their addictive qualities.

Why do people have psychological issues? They are unhappy. Why are they unhappy? Stress. Stressing about what? Everything from money issues to relationship issues.

How do you solve it?

Reply 5

Moosferatu

Original post by Rakas21

Those unemployed for more than 12 months would be conscripted and have to go through basic training anyway under 30, those over 30 would be forced to attend the gym several times per week for at least one hour.

Burden the professional soldiers with layabouts and the deprived?

Reply 6

RF_PineMarten

I enjoy junk food, high sugar foods, etc in moderation and don't get fat from them or anything like that. Why should I have to pay more because of some other people who can't (or won't?) control their own weight? Why should my pocket suffer because of someone else's lack of self control?

The only way I could possibly support such a thing is if healthier foods were subsidised using it, so that for healthy eaters the cost should pretty much balance out. Food labelling could maybe be made clearer as well.

Original post by Rakas21

3) Those unemployed for more than 12 months would be conscripted and have to go through basic training anyway under 30, those over 30 would be forced to attend the gym several times per week for at least one hour.

I join the military if I want to and only then. The state has absolutely no right to make that decision for me.

Reply 7

ChaoticButterfly

Original post by cleverasvoltaire

What do you think? I think there definitely should be, to stop obesity overtaking our nation.

no

regressive tax.

as a lefty I am against that :colonhash:

Reply 8

Mackay

Another issue, of course, is the price of fresh fruit and veg. It's extortionate for some families, and it's easy to see why single parents opt for frozen bags of food rather than fresh produce, which is usually £2 or £3 higher in price! I was in Tescos yesterday, and a bag of apples was the same price as a four-pack of quarter-pounders.

Reply 9

Jebedee

Original post by Mackay

I don't buy this for a second, the whole "healthy food is expensive" crap. If you take 2 minutes to work out where the best places are to buy certain foods then it isn't an issue. You can order meat online for cheap or buy down the market for a fraction of the price that Tesco sell it. Veg is also cheaper in the market.

It's just a question of priority. Some people hate effort more than they hate being fat, that's all.

Reply 10

MatureStudent36

Original post by saayagain

Not quite. Putting a tax on something has two outcomes. It raises money and it also influences people's behaviour. I gave up smoking for example because the tax became prohibitively expensive. Because fuel duty normally goes up year on year driving habits have changed and drivers are now after more economical vehicles to drive.

The reason people eat fatty and sugary foods is not pycological in most cases. It's because they taste nice and they're readily available. It's like saying smokers have pycological issues because they smoke.

You solve it by taxing the food at source to raise money and influence them from stopping buying it in the first place. Another method might be to promote a European healthcare system where it's joint state and medical insurance. The poorer your lifestyle choices, the more the premium.

Reply 11

MatureStudent36

Original post by Mackay

Can't say is agree with that. The college of nutritionists reckon it's easy to live off something like £12 a week eating a healthy, balanced diet. The problem is that a lot of people have lost the skills to do basic food prep and cooking.

You've probably fallen into the trap of thinking fresh food is expensive when you buy a ready made salad.

If you buy the ingredients for a salad yourself and prepare it yourself it's suprisingly cheap.

Convieneience food is unhealthy. Convenience food caters for lazy people who in my experience tend to be the porkers.

Reply 12

SophieSmall

Original post by Mackay

No, it's really just not.

Reply 13

Rhys92

Depends what the government wants, if they really care they wouldn't put a tax on sugary foods and instead subsidise fruit making it more appealing. I doubt to the majority a tax even at 25% will be much when you can get a large chocolate bar for £1, price will rise to £1.25 which is still good value...

Reply 14

SophieSmall

Original post by MatureStudent36

You definitely can, I can easily do that. The thing that makes the price higher than that? When I buy ****ty snacks and junk food.

People are lying to themselves when they say they can't eat healthy as cheap as they can eat all those jammy dodgers with their ready meals.

Reply 15

SophieSmall

I don't really agree with a "fat tax" on principle, I just think it's ridiculous and unfair on those who eat junk in moderation. But then again I have no idea if it would actually help solve the problem...though I doubt it will

Reply 16

DonCeroni

Too much junk food in supermarkets and I don't think price is the issue here. People buy it because it taste good to them and they don't have to do anything to make it.

Imagine if a government got rid of even 50% of junk food in supermarkets

I bet the whole country would riot.

Healthy prepared meals are pretty expensive all the supermarkets do these chilled meals now but they cost a fortune.

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 17

MatureStudent36

Original post by SophieSmall

But like saying that tax on tobacco is unfair because you only smoke 'when drinking', 'at weekends' , 'ten a day'

Reply 18

frances98

Original post by saayagain

What? Psychological issues means you eat the food that tastes better? No that's just a normal thing. Eat what tasted good. Some just do this in excessive quantities

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Reply 19

Schrödingers Cat

Why should we be actively doing something about fat and lazy people? It's their own problem

Eduacate at primary school level and secondary school level about the importance of exercise and eating healthily and cut fat people off from the NHS

Apart from that we don't need to do anything else