Citing a harmful effect on businesses and consumer buying power, lawmakers in Denmark have repealed the so-called fat tax, which was charged on foods high in saturated fats, after just one year.

In a related decision, the Danish tax ministry said it was canceling plans for a sugar tax. “The fat tax is one of the most criticized we had in a long time,” Mette Gjerskov, minister of food, agriculture and fisheries, said on Saturday during a news conference in Copenhagen, the day the repeal was announced.

“Now we have to try to improve public health by other means.”

The Danish decisions to end taxes aimed at curbing obesity point up the challenges that politicians face in grappling with what has become a major public health issue. The moves were announced just a few days after voters in California defeated ballot measures that would have imposed taxes on sugary drinks.

“I’m not surprised they had trouble with a fat tax,” said Margo Wootan, director of nutrition policy at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a nonprofit advocacy group based in Washington that has worked on food tax initiatives.