Chocolate Tax Under Dispute In Britain
Posted on: Thursday, 12 March 2009, 11:40 CDT
The increasing obesity crisis can be bridled with the institution of a chocolate tax like that of alcohol and tobacco, a British medical conference was told on Thursday, AFP reported.
Lead debater at the British Medical conference, family doctor David Walker, suggests that the health risks involved with chocolate consumption are vastly misjudged.
"I believe that chocolate is a major player in obesity and obesity-related conditions. What I'm trying to get across is that chocolate is sneaking under the radar of unhealthy foods," he stated.
"I would say the government taxing chocolate would not solve the obesity crisis but it might slow the rate of increase of the obesity graph."
Opponents of a chocolate tax believe it simply would not be effective.
Julian Hunt, of The Food and Drink Federation, counters the suggestion with his belief that, "Introducing regressive taxes on the foods that consumers love would result only in lighter wallets, not smaller waists."
"While good for grabbing headlines, there is no evidence to suggest that such 'fat taxes' would actually work in reality.”
He further made mention of a comparable 2003 proposition that was discarded based on the belief it would not limit obesity rates, and would affect low-income individuals hardest and be too complicated to manage.
Professor Roger Corder of The London School of Medicine said Walker was focusing on the wrong problem. "Targeting chocolate is misguided. If we targeted sugar, you'd capture all unhealthy foods," he said to BBC.
"Perhaps the general population is being duped to some extent, because all dark chocolate is being bracketed as healthy by many companies. In fact only chocolate which are high in a natural component called flavanoids are actually beneficial," he commented additionally.
Walker understands that his proposal would not be favorable.
"It would be a brave government to do it, but I think it would show a signal of intent that they really are serious about tackling obesity and foods that are potentially damaging to health,” he alleged.
Source: redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports
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