Denmark has introduced what is believed to be the world’s first tax on foods containing saturated fat.
The Danish government is applying a surcharge to foods with more than 2.3 per cent saturated fats, in a bid to combat obesity and heart disease. The new tax will be levied on food such as butter, milk, cheese, pizza, oils and meat. It means customers will be paying about $3 more per kilogram of saturated fats in a product. Prices rose Saturday in many grocery stores as the tax came into force, while some customers cleared out shelves earlier in the week to stock up on fatty favorites.
Food industry managers have complained that the tax will be a bureaucratic nightmare.
In 2004, Denmark declared war on trans fats, making it illegal for any food to have more than two per cent of the artery-clogging oils. Austria has a similar law. In July 2010, Denmark imposed a tax on sugary junk food.
About 10 per cent of Danes are considered obese. Britain is the fattest nation in Europe; one third of children and nearly two-thirds of adults are overweight or obese.
More than one in every four Canadian adults and almost one in 11 children are obese, with a body mass index of more than 30, according to the Canadian Institute for Health Information.
And in the United States where we love our fast food, soft drinks, sedentary lifestyles and huge portion sizes? We have a bigger problem and do less about it than the rest of the World. A whopping 33.8% of adults are considered obese and 17% of those 2-19 are obese. In 2008, medical costs associated with obesity were estimated at $147 billion.
A few brave politicians have toyed with the notion of a “fat tax” in the US but it is meant with objection every time. The lobbyist for big soda and big burgers go to great lengths to assure the lawmakers that their products are not to blame for obesity. OK, let’s assume that they aren’t in and of themselves to blame…perhaps we could agree that consuming too much of them may be at fault?
Dr. Mehmet Oz called me and Obesity Activist on his Oprah & Friends XM show because of my passionate fight against big food and big gulp on behalf of those of us who fight the scale constantly. I strongly join my fellow fat fighters and urge that the US do something about our increasing girth and tax the junk that is literally killing too many of us.
Yale University professor Kelly Brownell agrees that government should tax them in the same way it does cigarettes. “We have seen how effective tobacco taxes have been in reducing rates of smoking, so there is no reason to believe such taxes wouldn’t be as effective in reducing the consumption of high sugar and fat foods,” Prof Brownell says.
“A soft-drink tax is a good place to start.” He additionally suggested they curtail aggressive marketing efforts.
I agree but take it one step further. I think we should demand truth in advertising! If a fast food chain is allowed to show Olympians with healthy and fit bodies and run the tag line “Eat like an Olympian”—how is the average Joe supposed to assume eating like one will only make him fatter?
I think they should have to show 400 lb patrons eating their meals and say “Eat like a Morbidly Obese Person” for a tag line. Think that might slow sales down? I do!
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