Majority in UK want new tax on makers of ultra-processed and junk food

27 comments

1. And then wonder when food prices go up across the board as companies try to recoup money elsewhere.

2. “58% of those questioned said they backed the introduction of a tax on organisations that produce foods high in sugar or salt, with some of the revenue to be used to buy fresh fruit and vegetables for poor families.”

   They say this, until it impacts them in some other way, be that increased costs or ranges of food being dropped.

3. Yeah I’m sure the UK people want to be taxed more. What a ridiculous article.

4. No they don’t. 

   Hey do you want this cheap food more expensive?

   No.

5. OK, but what actually is “junk food” or “ultra processed food”? Because if you’re going to pass laws on something like that, you need a rock solid legal definition, otherwise you just end up with years of expensive court cases.

6. This country is miserable. All it knows is tax, bans and making the populous miserable. No one can have or enjoy anything unless it’s state approved.

7. A little suggestion: can we use the tax on junk food to subsidise healthy food? If a packet of crisps goes up by 10p then an apple is 10p cheaper…maybe it’s tricky to implement, but it would make some sense

8. No healthy food should be subsidised otherwise it’s just a tax on the poor

9. I hate polls could ask 1000 people and 501 would say that and get shit article like this

10. Tax structures are complicated, far too complicated to use a general survey to decide what might be a good idea. It’s like asking people what arms our military should buy.

    Pigouvian taxes like this act on the marginal consumer. The marginal consumer is not the person who has the problem the article suggests the tax will address. It’s just silly nonsense that unfortunately our media laps up (as do our politicians).

11. I’m seeing people here saying that a tax will be passed onto the consumer. They are right of course, but worth noting that even if not taxed they’ll still raise the prices and pass that onto the consumers anyway.

    Junk food just isn’t cheap anymore. McDonald’s used to be a nice treat but when I can go sit in the pub beer garden have a burger and pint from there for the same price as a McDonald’s burger it doesn’t feel worth it.

    These greedy companies don’t need a tax to charge us more. Don’t let them off with these excuses of “tax means more cost” they’ll do that regardless.

12. Majority in UK apparently want to be miserable more so.

13. What working person wants to have to pay even more tax 😒

14. Is it food high in sugar and salt or is it “ultra processed foods”?

    Fucking hate the new meaningless buzzwords – is it ingredients I’d have in my cupboard/recognise or what Bob over the road does?

15. If it pushes them to make the same products, but with less salt, sugar, and less artificial additives for the same price as the original items, then yes, this could work. If the taxes helped subsidise healthier alternatives, or perhaps went toward free school meals, I would be for it.

16. I am going to bet that if you actually put that to a vote the majority don’t because 2100 odd is not in anyway representative of 62 million.

    Anyone else have taxing the poor to starvation on their bingo card.

    And anyone that says oh but they are taxing the manufacture just ask your self who they will pass that tax onto.

    Unless there was no tax on heathy options and they made it cheeper I would be against this.

17. For fucks sake nobody wants that. It’s about time people started focusing their anger on the right people look up not down.

18. Ah, look, everyone being convinced they want this, but they won’t tax the richest 5% any further.

    Just another tax on the poor that’s framed as a good thing…it’ll just make poorer people less able to afford food.

19. When it costs more for fresh fruit than a frozen pizza you really know we have fucked it.

    How can a watermelon cost 3 times that of a pizza that gets produced in a factory.

    We are on our way to become the same as the US.

20. The more you Tax something the less of it you will have.

21. Making a loaf of Warburtons or Hovis more expensive isn’t going to make local bakers open outside of 9-5.

22. Happy to pay more for unhealthy food, provided that the tax goes directly towards making healthy food cheaper.

23. Oh yea let’s just put a tax on food that predominantly poorer people eat because it’s what they can afford.

24. Yeah more tax, we all want to pay more tax on everything because we have so much money left after you tax us for absolutely everything. Guardian 💩

25. Tax those poor people who can only rely on the £1 unhealthy pizzas in Iceland, so those posh people can eat more healthy salad in Waitrose.

26. No we don’t. We don’t want another tax on the poor and middle classes in the name of “health.”.

    We want to tax the rich

    We want to tax large foreign corporations that avoid it

    We want to tax owners of multiple homes

    We want to tax destructive industries

27. On the other hand, a tax on wealth / land / estates is utterly unacceptable.