Remember that time Denmark imposed a tax on fatty foods? Well, barely a year later, the Danish government recently announcedthat they’re abolishing the tax, which impacted foods with more than 2.3% saturated fat.
The main reason reported for getting rid of the tax is that authorities said the tax had inflated food prices and put Danish jobs at risk. The Danish tax ministry also announced it was canceling plans to start taxing sugar.
I know some people might look at this as a failure, but I love that the Danish government gave the tax a shot at least. I wish we saw more of this kind of thing in health-related law. It takes balls to both put something that radical into action and then to take a step back and say it’s not working.
What do you think of a tax on fat and/or sugar? Waste of time or worth exploring?
I think taxing junk food and fast food is a great idea actually, but it would be hard to implement.
Wasn’t it going to be a failure right from the beginning? The Danes only had to cross over to Germany to get all the fatty foods they wanted – a bit like during the Prohibition and the US – Canada border.
Trying to force people to change their lifestyle without getting them to agree with the why is almost always doomed.