So if I want to have some junk food on occasion, I will have to pay more because the majority of fat people have such little self control.
I’d sooner like to see a tax on people with obese BMI scores and high body fat percentage.
I’m a health nut but even I still think more should be done to educate people than putting all the blame onto companies. No one should be surprised to find out that junk food is unhealthy, however a lot of people do not understand just how bad it can be and that those small treats add up over time. People will be surprised to know that the damage starts in your 20s too, so heart disease and diabetes is a risk from a much younger age than people want to believe. Teaching people about the realities of an unhealthy diet when they are still at school, alongside the marketing tricks companies use to get you to buy their product, would be more valuable than just taxing junk food. We know people will pay the tax anyway, it is why Coca Cola is selling just as well as it was before the sugar tax.
i dont see why our solutions to these are to tax them? Is there no other way than to bring money to the mps?
Its the same with alcohol, people know its bad but willingly consume it. those who conrtinue jsut lose more money
I don’t hate this. The world is literally becoming obese, and while this doesn’t fix the root of the problem, I can see it incentivising healthier food as an option. When you have entire families who are obese, including toddlers and children, something needs to change.
And before someone mentions how it’s going to affect poor people- don’t. That argument has absolutely never made any sense. Homemade food has always been cheaper than processed, pre-made food. And the cheapest ingredients are things like grains, rice, chicken, eggs, veg, and beans. Which are healthy.
Maybe they should cut share dividends so they can reduce their prices.
I can never work out whether Reddit downvotes these articles because most here are junk food addicts themselves or they are just that selfish that they won’t accept any collective responsibility for public health (ironic considering what this sub preached in 2020)
Sugar for sure but fat and salt doesn’t really make sense.
So . . . Everything other than carbs?
Carbs are not exactly good for you, especially in the quantities we eat.
Sounds good as long as foods low in fat sugar and salt are made cheaper
Yes more fat, sugar and salt taxes. Let us pump more sweeteners, carbs and other junk into the food instead…
I’m overweight and I do eat too much junk food occasionally (but working on getting back into shape). But honestly increasing costs for certain food isn’t going to do anything.
In shops and some fast food places, sometimes almost all they have is sugar free/diet drinks full of sweetener. I absolutely hate sweetener as it leaves a horrible aftertaste, so I either go for regular coke, or more often now flavoured fizzy waters (without sweetener). I’ve actually stopped drinking certain ones I used to like because they changed to sugar free versions and they taste horrible now. I’ll still go for full fat/sugar versions even if it costs more.
Education really needs to be the way forward, rather than increase things when everything is already getting more expensive. Also, make healthy food cheaper….
What I have recently been thinking (as the calories on packages are never clear or always skewed to make it not look as bad), was also add how much time it would take to burn it off.
Obviously it’s a little more difficult to do as it won’t be the same for everyone as it depends on lots of factors. But maybe having at least a guide/estimate would be useful. Producers probably wouldn’t like it though as it’ll probably affect sales negatively.
In Mexico they have big hexagon stickers/icons on packagings saying excessive salt/fat/sugar.
Adding a new section on packaging similar to that – maybe with a walking/running/cycling/Swimming icon, and the number of minutes it takes to burn it off in different colours (red/orange/green… Depending how hard it was) would be useful.
I’d think far more about what I eat or drink if I knew how much work I’d have to put in to burn it off. It would definitely motivate me to be more active too if there were things I really wanted to eat. Bumping the price up on the other hand wouldn’t do a thing (unless you increase things like cigarettes and make them unaffordable. I’m which case you’d binge on them when you do get them cheaper).
Ah yes, making food more expensive, just what we need right now. Obviously they’ll use the money raised to subsidise fresh food and meat do we can eat healthier, right? Oh wait, that’s not how taxes work, they’ll just make living even more expensive, especially for those with the least
Nothing wrong with salt or fat. If anything, products marketed as fat-free should be the ones getting taxed more.
Yaay more tax on working people, just what we need! I was just thinking the other day I had some spare change that the treasury could waste on something or other.
They should put large warning on foods with ultra processed ingredients. We don’t need more taxes, and fat isn’t necessarily bad for you.
Just ends up with companies reducing the portion sizes to game the system or filling the foods and drink with shit that makes them taste bad. Lost Fentimans to aspartame last week and it’s foul now
Part of the issue is that a large majority of healthy food (and raw ingredients) are just so damn expensive. It’s no wonder that people turn to cheap junk food full of shite (mostly rusk, which is full of stuff that is far from healthy but it is cheap).
Any one else find it weird when a big company calls for a tax on the thing they produce?
Don’t tax fat, you nutritionally illiterate bumpkins…
Like putting up the price of cigarettes, taxing junk food has the greatest impact on the poorest. If I’m well off, it’s very easy to join a gym, get a trainer, go to pilates, and make myself a mango and papaya smoothie.
But if my life is utterly shit and the only joy I have is in a ciggie after work or a bar of chocolate then putting up prices isn’t going to stop me, it’s just going to make my life even worse.
“Yogurt with dubious health claims flogger presses government to make competitors products more expensive”
22 comments
So if I want to have some junk food on occasion, I will have to pay more because the majority of fat people have such little self control.
I’d sooner like to see a tax on people with obese BMI scores and high body fat percentage.
I’m a health nut but even I still think more should be done to educate people than putting all the blame onto companies. No one should be surprised to find out that junk food is unhealthy, however a lot of people do not understand just how bad it can be and that those small treats add up over time. People will be surprised to know that the damage starts in your 20s too, so heart disease and diabetes is a risk from a much younger age than people want to believe. Teaching people about the realities of an unhealthy diet when they are still at school, alongside the marketing tricks companies use to get you to buy their product, would be more valuable than just taxing junk food. We know people will pay the tax anyway, it is why Coca Cola is selling just as well as it was before the sugar tax.
i dont see why our solutions to these are to tax them? Is there no other way than to bring money to the mps?
Its the same with alcohol, people know its bad but willingly consume it. those who conrtinue jsut lose more money
I don’t hate this. The world is literally becoming obese, and while this doesn’t fix the root of the problem, I can see it incentivising healthier food as an option. When you have entire families who are obese, including toddlers and children, something needs to change.
And before someone mentions how it’s going to affect poor people- don’t. That argument has absolutely never made any sense. Homemade food has always been cheaper than processed, pre-made food. And the cheapest ingredients are things like grains, rice, chicken, eggs, veg, and beans. Which are healthy.
Maybe they should cut share dividends so they can reduce their prices.
I can never work out whether Reddit downvotes these articles because most here are junk food addicts themselves or they are just that selfish that they won’t accept any collective responsibility for public health (ironic considering what this sub preached in 2020)
Sugar for sure but fat and salt doesn’t really make sense.
So . . . Everything other than carbs?
Carbs are not exactly good for you, especially in the quantities we eat.
Sounds good as long as foods low in fat sugar and salt are made cheaper
Yes more fat, sugar and salt taxes. Let us pump more sweeteners, carbs and other junk into the food instead…
I’m overweight and I do eat too much junk food occasionally (but working on getting back into shape). But honestly increasing costs for certain food isn’t going to do anything.
In shops and some fast food places, sometimes almost all they have is sugar free/diet drinks full of sweetener. I absolutely hate sweetener as it leaves a horrible aftertaste, so I either go for regular coke, or more often now flavoured fizzy waters (without sweetener). I’ve actually stopped drinking certain ones I used to like because they changed to sugar free versions and they taste horrible now. I’ll still go for full fat/sugar versions even if it costs more.
Education really needs to be the way forward, rather than increase things when everything is already getting more expensive. Also, make healthy food cheaper….
What I have recently been thinking (as the calories on packages are never clear or always skewed to make it not look as bad), was also add how much time it would take to burn it off.
Obviously it’s a little more difficult to do as it won’t be the same for everyone as it depends on lots of factors. But maybe having at least a guide/estimate would be useful. Producers probably wouldn’t like it though as it’ll probably affect sales negatively.
In Mexico they have big hexagon stickers/icons on packagings saying excessive salt/fat/sugar.
Adding a new section on packaging similar to that – maybe with a walking/running/cycling/Swimming icon, and the number of minutes it takes to burn it off in different colours (red/orange/green… Depending how hard it was) would be useful.
I’d think far more about what I eat or drink if I knew how much work I’d have to put in to burn it off. It would definitely motivate me to be more active too if there were things I really wanted to eat. Bumping the price up on the other hand wouldn’t do a thing (unless you increase things like cigarettes and make them unaffordable. I’m which case you’d binge on them when you do get them cheaper).
Ah yes, making food more expensive, just what we need right now. Obviously they’ll use the money raised to subsidise fresh food and meat do we can eat healthier, right? Oh wait, that’s not how taxes work, they’ll just make living even more expensive, especially for those with the least
Nothing wrong with salt or fat. If anything, products marketed as fat-free should be the ones getting taxed more.
Yaay more tax on working people, just what we need! I was just thinking the other day I had some spare change that the treasury could waste on something or other.
They should put large warning on foods with ultra processed ingredients. We don’t need more taxes, and fat isn’t necessarily bad for you.
Just ends up with companies reducing the portion sizes to game the system or filling the foods and drink with shit that makes them taste bad. Lost Fentimans to aspartame last week and it’s foul now
Part of the issue is that a large majority of healthy food (and raw ingredients) are just so damn expensive. It’s no wonder that people turn to cheap junk food full of shite (mostly rusk, which is full of stuff that is far from healthy but it is cheap).
Any one else find it weird when a big company calls for a tax on the thing they produce?
Don’t tax fat, you nutritionally illiterate bumpkins…
Like putting up the price of cigarettes, taxing junk food has the greatest impact on the poorest. If I’m well off, it’s very easy to join a gym, get a trainer, go to pilates, and make myself a mango and papaya smoothie.
But if my life is utterly shit and the only joy I have is in a ciggie after work or a bar of chocolate then putting up prices isn’t going to stop me, it’s just going to make my life even worse.
“Yogurt with dubious health claims flogger presses government to make competitors products more expensive”
People are starving and there’s a food crisis!!
Let’s tax food.