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14/11/2012
Health Agency Calls For 'Unhealthy Food' Tax
A leading health agency, which is part-funded by the Department of Health, has called on the government to put extra tax on unhealthy foods.
In a report compilled by the National Heart Forum, deputy chief executive Jane Landon said: "Carefully applied food taxes are both cost-effective and justified to help tackle the spiralling costs and huge social burdens of non-communicable diseases such as coronary heart disease, stroke, cancer and diabetes caused by over-consumption of unhealthy foods high in fat, sugar and salt."
The NHF report backs "excise duties applied with care to specific food categories such as sugary soft drinks which are 'unhealthy', non-essential and which can easily be substituted for a healthier alternative". Revenue could be used to subsidise the cost of fruit and vegetables to help win public support, it recommends.
However, the NHF call comes just days after Denmark, which last year became the first country to increase duties on foods high in saturated fat, scrapped its experiment saying it had failed.
The Food and Drink Federation dismissed the NHF's call as "simply a revenue raising scheme that will hit families hard. Research shows that calorie intake from sugar sweetened drinks in the UK is just 2% so it will have an effect on people's pockets, but not their waistlines", said Terry Jones, its director of communications.
(H)
In a report compilled by the National Heart Forum, deputy chief executive Jane Landon said: "Carefully applied food taxes are both cost-effective and justified to help tackle the spiralling costs and huge social burdens of non-communicable diseases such as coronary heart disease, stroke, cancer and diabetes caused by over-consumption of unhealthy foods high in fat, sugar and salt."
The NHF report backs "excise duties applied with care to specific food categories such as sugary soft drinks which are 'unhealthy', non-essential and which can easily be substituted for a healthier alternative". Revenue could be used to subsidise the cost of fruit and vegetables to help win public support, it recommends.
However, the NHF call comes just days after Denmark, which last year became the first country to increase duties on foods high in saturated fat, scrapped its experiment saying it had failed.
The Food and Drink Federation dismissed the NHF's call as "simply a revenue raising scheme that will hit families hard. Research shows that calorie intake from sugar sweetened drinks in the UK is just 2% so it will have an effect on people's pockets, but not their waistlines", said Terry Jones, its director of communications.
(H)
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