Saturated with Taxes

Denmark has announced its intention to introduce a tax on food high in saturated fat which the Danish Government claims will improve the health of the population.
 
The new tax applies to meats, including chicken and pork, cheese, butter, edible vegetable oil, margarine and other foods such as potato based snacks and will be applied to both domestic and imported food.
 
The reaction has provoked a storm of criticism which the Danish government has chosen to ignore.
 
The Danish Chamber of Commerce estimates that the actual impact of the fat tax on retail prices could see the price for double cream increase by up to 15%, a 200gram of butter by 12% while a 500gram of cheese with a fat content of 45% is expected to increase by 8%.
 
The Confederation of Danish Industry estimates that the cumulative impact of the existing taxes on confectionery and beverages together with this new saturated fat tax will add over 30% to the retail cost of food in the affected categories, adjusted for inflation compared to 2007 prices.
 
The country's dairy board has quoted the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition stating that there is no correlation between intake of saturated fats and cardiovascular diseases and goes on to say that the tax penalises people like the elderly and children who have high nutritional needs.
 
Here in recent weeks the Health Minister has voiced his support for a tax on sugared products similar to the approach taken in Finland and Denmark. Products covered by this sugar tax included soft drinks, ice cream and chocolate. In Finland, the government, supported by its National Nutrition Council, seems to have broadly accepted that a saturated fat tax is a natural extension of the sugar tax.
 
In times of recession hard pressed families are driven to find value in their weekly food shop, if this means higher levels of processed foods etc, its really hard to pontificate and advise more expensive fresh food options in advocating a healthier diet.
 
Everyone agrees that obesity and associated medical issues like Diabetes need to be tackled. Is taxation the first and best option? Or would it be wiser and more productive to concentrate on education starting in primary schools combined with an overall European Commission driven approach  geared at food manufacturers aimed at  improve foods in general in terms of salt, sugar and saturated fat levels based on a scientific based approach.
 
This will certainly be an interesting debate but with European countries in economic turmoil maybe the ability of governments to add to the tax take by playing the "good for you" card might simply be too tempting!  If you consider that the sugar tax applied to confectionery and soft drinks in Denmark alone between 2008 and 2010 has generated an annual take of DKK1bn, need I say more!
 
Take Care,

J