Denmark taxes Fatty foods.

Viv.
Unless I've found the wrong bill, there was one introduced by Keith Vaz, a T2 diabetic, last week 18 April)

That leave be given to bring in a Bill to establish a programme of research into diabetes prevention; to require manufacturers of soft drinks to reduce the sugar content of soft drinks by 4 per cent; to make provision for a mechanism through which manufacturers of soft drinks are required through reinvestment of part of their profits to support the research programme from 2012; and for connected purpose

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full text of speech , which mentions the 'fat tax' in Denmark and the soda taxes in Hungary and France.
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/p ... 8-0001.htm

Thanks, Phoenix. I'll email Keith Vaz directly, and ask him if he's signed our petition

Viv 8)

duranie said:

Personally, I'd have no problem with processed foods that have a high fat content being taxed....but I also feel we need to make healthy options more affordable - by this I mean fruit, veg, fresh meat & fish. Obesity is only going to keep on increasing whilst we make the high trans-fat, processed diet so much more affordable for those who don't know any better. Any taxation gained from this should be re-invested into educating people on how to eat a more balanced diet - let's not overlook the majority of people AREN'T diabetic and it's OK for them to eat carbs as part of a balanced diet - as well as the healthy fats found in things such as Olive Oil & advocados for example.

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The only issue I see with this is that if you are insulin resistant, then surely anything which raises blood glucose levels too much is going to cause a weight gain? I wish doctors would listen to people who come into the surgery and say, "I am doing your healthy diet, and it's making my weight worse". Now, I admit, there are people out there who won't try, and DO eat too much, and ARE having problems cooking meals on a budget. But this may not be true of everyone. Perhaps doctors should do a quick test on everyone who makes that claim which would help to catch some before they start heading down towards being T2. My feeling is that there are many people out there already resistant, but they only get discovered once that boarder has been crossed. And if the figures aren't something which is monitored, how will we know?

If someone wants to make a decent tax to improve the public diet, he could increase the tax on the wealthy to provide subsidies for berry farmers to hire (your own citizens, perhaps) to increase production...

If "they" wait a few years, We'll all see evidence that fats are NOT the real issue.Problem comes with fast foods, which are very high carb as well as high fat.
Hana

Let's put it this way: eating a full pound of hamburger, plus most of a package of sharp cheddar cheese, recently brought my blood sugar DOWN from 105 to 80 after 45 minutes. Which is actually typical. (I get higher readings 6-9 a.m. the next morning from doing stuff like that, but usually not over 140, and that time it was 120-odd) But eating just 320 calories of "light yoghurt" (which is actually corn syrup) brought me up to 176. So I'm thinking that fat is not really MY most unhealthy food at the moment.

I think we need to find the bill and read it and find out whether it is a tax on fat or a tax on junk food.

I'm all for a tax on burgers, fries, takeaways, pasties, cupcakes and regular Coke, Pepsi, Red Bull etc. But if someone wants to eat cheese, they should have healthy cheese not cheese with fat removed and replaced with chemicals. Likewise those virtually fat free yogurts are all fructose.

Then I think the low carbers have to get up a petition.

My diet is 70-80% fat by energy (51% - 64% by weight), so I'd be punished heavily by such a tax, despite the fact that it's exactly this diet that's:

1. Allowed me to attain BG control better than most non-diabetics
2. Caused me to lose 60lbs
3. (Hopefully) reduced my risk of CV complications