• Monday, August 08, 2011
• Inter Press Service

The introduction of some of Europe’s most far-reaching taxes on unhealthy foods has sparked renewed debate about the effect of such levies on poor people. The taxes, which were passed by the Hungarian parliament in July and will take effect on Sep. 1, apply to a range of foods with high salt and sugar levels, including chocolates, ice creams, energy drinks, biscuits and crisps.

Supporters have hailed the levies as the most far-reaching of their kind in Europe and say they will help improve diets. The government says the tax will raise 74 million euros a year and plans to use the money to help finance healthcare.

But some doctors have warned that such taxes will not only be ineffective in reducing obesity and promoting healthy eating but will disproportionately affect the poor.

Dr Eduard Adamescu, a specialist in diabetes and metabolic and nutritional diseases in neighbouring Romania, points out that even broader taxes on unhealthy foods proposed last year in his country failed to get through parliament.

The draft legislation, which would have been the most extensive in the world and included charges on fast food products and fats, was eventually dropped.

Ministers admitted they feared the effects on a population which spends the majority of its average wage of less than 300 euros a month on food, and that already bad diets among poor people would become even worse.

Dr Adamescu, who works at the Nicolae Malaxa Hospital in Bucharest, told IPS: 'Poor people in Romania eat very fatty foods at home. If those products are taxed they will turn to even cheaper products and will have an even more nutritionally unbalanced diet.'

Food industry leaders have said the same. Romania’s Food Industry Federation head Dragos Frumesu explained to local media: 'Romanians eat junk because they are poor. A tax will not stop them, they will just choose even cheaper products.'

Studies in other countries have suggested the same. A report commissioned by French authorities when a possible levy on unhealthy foods was being considered in 2008 was prefaced by the statement that it could 'most heavily' affect the poor. In the U.S., which has one of the highest obesity rates in the world, lawmakers in a number of states have mooted so-called ‘fat taxes’.

Critics, including some doctors and nutritionists as well as groups working with the poor, have opposed the levies. They argue poor people are more likely to eat high-calorie foods laden with sugar, fat and salt because they are cheaper than healthier options such as vegetables and grains. The World Health Organisation (WHO) says it recommends a full evaluation of any such taxes before they are implemented.

© Inter Press Service (2011) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service

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