Health researchers say that such a tax would reduce obesity, just as taxes on cigarettes have cut down on smoking. They suggest that obesity could be cut by three and a half percent.
Some European nations, such as France and Denmark, have already put such taxes in to place.
Sodas specifically would be a target of such a tax, as the sugar they contain increases appetite, instead of satisfying it.
However, according to economic studies, such a tax would hurt food industries and cause mass job loss.
Politically such a move could be dangerous as well. Any kind of tax increase could be difficult to force upon Americans who are already growing increasingly unhappy with their government's attempts to take more and more control of their lives.
The US or various states has/have been "looking into" a fat tax for quite some time. Working with other obesity researchers, we discuss this quite frequently (even though we work on cell/molecular biology, genetics, neuroscience, etc.)
ReplyDeleteAnyway, our consensus is that government crop subsidies should pay for ACTUAL food like green, fruits, veggies, nuts and on and on and stop paying farmers to grow an excess of corn and wheat. If the glut of primary ingredient going into junk food becomes more expensive, junk food's price either balances out to a higher level or becomes more rare. In all honesty, do we really need $1 any-size-you-want sodas at McDonald's? While this can still be arguably bad for business, it would be less demonizing, than say, taxing every ounce of soda a penny more. Instead of targeting particular companies, this would shift the food production system. In this theoretical system, the price of good wholesome food would drop and hopefully become more readily available.
The major drawback with all of this? Americans are lazy, and they like their fast food and junk food. The government could put all kinds of laws and restrictions in place, but until there's a cultural shift in the people, things probably won't change for a few more decades.