Processed Food Tax
blueisthecolour
Posts: 20,125 Forum Member
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I've been thinking of ways that the government could introduce taxation on 'unhealthy' food and i've come to the conclusion that the only thing that might work would be a blanket tax on all processed food. The definition of this would be a little difficult but I think the best way would be to say that a processed food is any item sold which contains less than 99% of one ingredient. This would allow sale of meats and other foods which contain some flavouring and preservatives.
Now, this wouldn't be perfect; you'd end up taxing Special K but not double cream, however I think it would still be the best solution. Any tax that centers just on things like fat and sugar content would be too difficult to manage and would mean things like cheese, oily fishes and fruit juices being taxed. At least this way you are encourage people to buy the raw ingredients and then deciding how much sugar/salt/fat they want to include in their meals. Many people say that home cooking is healthier than shop bought stuff.
The money raised could be used for the free school dinners plan (or even extending it to all children). Or maybe a nationwide scheme of free gym/exercise vouchers.
What do people think?
Now, this wouldn't be perfect; you'd end up taxing Special K but not double cream, however I think it would still be the best solution. Any tax that centers just on things like fat and sugar content would be too difficult to manage and would mean things like cheese, oily fishes and fruit juices being taxed. At least this way you are encourage people to buy the raw ingredients and then deciding how much sugar/salt/fat they want to include in their meals. Many people say that home cooking is healthier than shop bought stuff.
The money raised could be used for the free school dinners plan (or even extending it to all children). Or maybe a nationwide scheme of free gym/exercise vouchers.
What do people think?
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Comments
I have an instinctive dislike of taxing anything unless you really had to, and in this case pretty much unworkable - you are in effect taxing everything from ice creams to fajitas.
Nor would it have any effect - just increase everyone's food bills - that and hit the poorest since they eat a disproportionate amount of processed foods.
A better solution is education - both that un processed foods are better for you and often cheaper.
Oh hang on, haven't they already done that?
Theoretically, it's a nice idea but I think it's a non starter not least because Denmark had to repeal its fat tax last year - http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/13/business/global/fat-tax-in-denmark-is-repealed-after-criticism.html?_r=0
I think the better way to go about things is to emulate Finland's effective North Karelia health improvement initiative - http://www.eatingwell.com/nutrition_health/nutrition_news_information/miracle_up_north
You could give me thousands of free gym vouchers and they'd go straight into the recycling bag the moment I got them!
Pretty much anything that isn't rattling around loose in a box in the fruit and veg section could be described as processed couldn't it?
Then there's the matter of how you define what a healthy food is when the trick to healthy eating is balance and volume
I suppose you could apply VAT to all foods that were not sold raw - i.e. could be eaten straight from the packaging,(however disgusting that might prove to be) with an exclusion for fresh fruit and veg.
The poor would be heavily penalised by any such tax.
Your idea is ludicrous. You'd tax processed food whilst allowing the vast consumption of cheap alcohol. Alcohol does more harm than processed food. You can't police what people eat and drink that easily.
Many people say cooking at home is healthier, only if you use less fat, sugar and salt in your own cooking and it depends on what you buy from the supermarkets.
Why do so people have little self-control and why are so many gluttons.
Have you ever heard of a fat person liking healthy foods such as vegetables and salads etc. Why not make healthy foods such as fresh fruit and vegetables cheaper so we all benefit.
This government doesn't like subsidies, but I'm sure they would be happy to increase the cost of other foods, so that fruit and veg appeared to be cheap
Perhaps they'd have monetary value on the Black Market? Just sell them on the way someone could sell on Food Vouchers.
And in this case you should not. Nose out.
The money could be better used to improve kid's cooking classes in schools. Teaching them how easy it is to cook quick, tasty and healthy meals would be far more useful.
Or just educate people that you don't need to pay a gym to exercise.
I think a better idea would be a NegaTax. Any new tax proposed carries an equal and opposite NegaTax. It's pretty fiscally neutral, would keep politicians and beaurocrats happy. And we could just ignore it. Applying it to some existing taxes like VAT would also go a long way towards reducing poverty and inflation.
It would be better to put pressure on food manufacturers to improve the nutrition of ready meals. People should learn to cook too, but the popularity of ready meals is surely a clue that people just prefer to leave the cooking to someone else. We've all become husbands from the 1950's
On the subject of cooking healthily from ingredients, do you think that supermarkets would agree with that?
How much profit is made on raw ingredients vs processed food?
When food producers are short of money one of the ways of increasing profit is to "process" it into something else like a ready to eat meal.
Its the sort of thing Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall seems to do all the time. Why sell a bunch of veggies for £1 when you can sell 20 portions of soup at £1.50 each?