The Case Against a ‘Fat Tax’
23 August 2024
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Government and Institutions
In the Media
IEA research featured in The Mail
23 August 2024
Markets and Morality
Christopher Snowdon writes for The Times
IEA Head of Lifestyle Economics Christopher Snowdon has written for The Times’ ‘The Big Question’, arguing against the introduction of a ‘fat tax’ on unhealthy foods.
Chris wrote:
“The fiasco of Denmark’s fat tax, which was introduced in 2011 and abolished 15 months later, should have ended the conversation about taxing food to tackle obesity for good.
“The latest justification for taxing unhealthy food is that it will encourage the industry to change the ingredients in its products and build on the ‘success’ of the sugar tax. But what success? Rates of childhood obesity have risen significantly since the sugar tax was introduced in 2018.
“It turns out that increasing the cost of living in a doomed attempt to get people to stop eating their favourite foods is unpopular. Some doctors would like to do it anyway but as the Danish journalist Kristian Madsen wrote in 2012, ‘doctors don’t need to get re-elected’.”
Read the full article here.
Chris wrote:
“The fiasco of Denmark’s fat tax, which was introduced in 2011 and abolished 15 months later, should have ended the conversation about taxing food to tackle obesity for good.
“The latest justification for taxing unhealthy food is that it will encourage the industry to change the ingredients in its products and build on the ‘success’ of the sugar tax. But what success? Rates of childhood obesity have risen significantly since the sugar tax was introduced in 2018.
“It turns out that increasing the cost of living in a doomed attempt to get people to stop eating their favourite foods is unpopular. Some doctors would like to do it anyway but as the Danish journalist Kristian Madsen wrote in 2012, ‘doctors don’t need to get re-elected’.”
Read the full article here.
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