What is fat or soda tax?

In order to decrease the consumption of foods that may cause obesity, fat tax or surcharge is placed upon fattening food, beverages or on overweight individuals. In various studies it is found out that as the price of a food decreases, obesity increases. Ironically in the world today, the unhealthy food is way cheaper than the healthy one. In the United States of America, three states have exceeded 35% and 22 states have obesity rates above 30%, according to 2015 data. What’s more, an April study predicted one in five adults will be obese by 2025, making it the fastest growing problem throughout much of the globe. And even while hunger remains a major problem in many countries in the world (and is worsening in South Asia); researchers concluded that there are now more obese people than underweight people.

Here is a list of countries which applied taxes to curb obesity.

FAT TAX

Japan

Metabo law was implemented in Japan which included the measurement of waist sizes of people aged between in 40 and 70 in 2008 in attempt to overcome increasing obesity rates and to keep a control on diseases like diabetes and heart strokes.

Denmark

Fat tax was implemented in Denmark in October 2011 on butter, milk, cheese, pizza, meat, oil and processed food which contained more than 2.3% saturated fat. In November 2012 it was abolished. Although the tax resulted in an additional $216 million in revenue, it also led to numerous complaints from Danish retailers that their customers were taking their business to other countries, such as Sweden and Germany, to take advantage of their lower prices.

India

In India’s state of Kerala, the government has imposed a 14.5% “fat tax” on burgers, pizza, tacos, doughnuts, sandwiches, and pasta sold at branded restaurants and food retail giants to curb an unhealthy trend that is overcoming the state.

SODA TASK

Denmark

Soda tax was implemented in Denmark in 1930’s and abolished in 2013.

France

France introduced a tax on drinks with added sugars and drinks with artificial sweeteners in 2012.

Mexico

After the introduction of soda tax on soft drinks in September 2013, the annual sales of sodas in Mexico declined 6% in 2014.

Norway

Norway has a generalized sugar tax measure on refined sugar products, including soft drinks, which is set to 7.05 kroner per kilogram.

South Africa

A similar tax was proposed in the 2016 South African national government budget for the year 2017.

United Kingdom

In the 2016 United Kingdom budget, the British Government announced the introduction of a sugar tax on the soft drinks industry to come into effect in 2018.

United States

In June 2016, Philadelphia, where 41% of children are overweight or obese, became the first major US city with a soda tax.

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