Denmark introduces "fat tax"

[longfingernails]

news.sky.com/home/world-news/article/16081190

We should do the same - and use the money to pay for an income tax cut.

Transfats are not butter or meat, though.

Another one who thought butter was better than non-butter spreads/ingredients..?

If it was a tax on sugar I could understand it. There is a need for fat in a human diet, there is no need for sugar.

Denmark is a Nanny state though. High tax, zero incentives to stay there hence the amount of young Danish people who emigrate as soon as they can.

I've also thought a tax on sugar would make more sense. The trouble with any system that tries to identify 'junk food' by broad-brush indicators like fat content is that it ends up penalising butter, nuts, olive oil or avocados (which can't be reformulated) but lets highly processed foods through which may have replaced the fat with something that's no better for the body.

The whole transfat thing came about as companies tried to replace 'bad' fats like butter with something cheaper that did the same job.

Cogito, this campaign is gaining ground worldwide. It will eventually succeed, just as the "global warming" campaign has succeeded, when once people said it would stand no chance of convincing the masses.

Socialist worldwide are at the helm, just as with global warming. Our social engineers and planners lost teh election, but they will be back (with a vengeance). The Danes said that other countries were studying teh "fat tax". I wouldn't be surprised if some of our social engineers are salivating at the thought of more taxes on the public for eating what they call "unhealthy" foods, while cutting taxes on GM foods. It's happening across the world, it'll come to a town near you, the social planners will make sure of that.

Here is the socialist "carbon tax" in New Zealand and its effect on meat and dairy farmers.
premier.vic.gov.au/media-centre/media-releases/1729-food-producers-slugged-by-labors-carbon-tax.html

They are even after eggs, meat and dairy are not enough. They won't stop until they have put a "sin tax" on all food except GM food.

townhall.com/tipsheet/erikajohnsen/2011/07/25/its_so_obvious_-_sin_taxes_will_solve_all_our_problems!_or_something

This is from PETA. They are outliers at the moment, but their influence will grow.
www.huffingtonpost.com/bruce-friedrich/a-sin-tax-on-meat-would-i_b_844179.html

The socialists created "bin taxes" for our bins, in order to "save the planet". They are dreaming up "sin taxes" on food as well, and they say it will "save the planet".

www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41355211/ns/technology_and_science-science/t/fix-global-warming-how-about-meat-tax/

townhall.com/tipsheet/erikajohnsen/2011/07/25/its_so_obvious_-_sin_taxes_will_solve_all_our_problems!_or_something

Abraham Lincoln, one of the greatest Republicans of all time, knew all about the planners. He said
"you can fool all of the people some of the time, some of the people all the time, but you can't fool all of the people all of the time".

You can't fool the blogger for America's townhall.com. It will be America's conservatives who challenge the planners. Sarah Palin will put a stop to their schemes.

As far as I'm aware, the main behaviour-modifying taxes we have in the UK are on petrol, fags and booze. Even with public finances as stretched as they are I don't see any credible proposals to tax particular foods or the contents of bins. Food purchases are not subject to VAT and certain processed foods are taxed differently viz the 'are Jaffa Cakes cakes or biscuits?' case Of course there will be proposals.... doesn't mean they ever make it onto the statute books. A carbon tax in a place like NZ which has a non-industrial economy and wants to maintain an international image of 'clean and green' makes perfect sense.

New Zealand was the first country in the world where the experiment of "privatisation" was tested out. The effect on the small population was monitored, before the same scheme was rolled out to the larger UK and worldwide.

The socialist "carbon tax" plans are being tested in New Zealand in teh same way. The effect on farmers is monitored, before the EU rolls it out. The socialist Danes are leading the charge in Europe and eventually the EU will impose it across the EU, just as they have done with their "carbon targets", which have partially caused our staggering energy price increases.

The planners can't change "hearts and minds" overnight, they can't impose laws that quickly, but they will eventually tell us "you gave only 50 days to save your gut", just as they told us "we have only 50 days to save the planet".

'I don't see any credible proposals to tax particular foods or the contents of bins'

Yes, the Tories scrapped the socialist 'bin tax' and their 'bin police'. Hope never dies. As that great English Conservative, Churchill, may have said "don't let the buggers grind you down". I am not sure, but I think he may have had the planners in mind.

Not sure the kiwis would appreciate your description of them as 'world guinea pig'. Maybe they just have some good ideas that the rest of us end up copying. Actually, I'd quite like a bin tax. Living in a household of 2 that generates so little rubbish we only put the bin out once a month, they'd probably end up owing me :)

Yes, but now you are thinking like an "I'm alright, Jack", "let them eat cake" socialist. Fortunately, Eric Pickles does not think like that. He scrapped the £100 'bin taxes' on pensioners and all citizens.

I wouldn't mind a fat tax on those items if they were to make healthy foods cheaper, especially locally grown fruit and veg.

'Living in a household of 2 that generates so little rubbish we only put the bin out once a month, they'd probably end up owing me '

The planners have thought of that, that's why they are making the bins smaller. Their net is widening, you will be made to "save the planet".

They've only got your interests at heart. Nanny state Big Brother Loves You.

I'd have thought looking forward to getting a cash reward for my low-waste lifestyle would be a purely capitalist motivation Claig. Wouldn't it be in the grand tradition of the much-maligned Poll Tax to want to pay for services proportional to what I use? :)

Making the bins smaller? Give over. You want to try cornflakes for breakfast Claig and lay off the scotch.

A bag of 10 donuts costs a pound

The cheapest bag of 6 apples costs £1.50 (I bought 15 red delicious apples last week and it cost me over SEVEN pounds!

When people tell me that it is cheaper to eat healthily, I laugh in their faces.

Cogito, they have sucked you in. They have conned you. There is no such thing as a free lunch. They won't tax you less. They won't make apples and veg cheaper.

I know you are a Tory, but please stop reading Polly Toynbee and start reading the truth in the Daily Mail, the paper that stands shoulder to shoulder with the people.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1264390/Get-ready-smaller-bins-bigger-fines-recycling.html

But HGOTN... you could scoff that bag of doughnuts, suck down a few thousand calories without it touching the sides and, half an hour later, you'll be starving hungry again. That's why there's an obesity crisis. Cheap calories leads to overeating. Make soup with a nourishing 70p bag of lentils and it'd keep you going all day because it's satisfying. There are lots of ways to eat healthily and cheaply.

Hecate is right. There is nothing bad about 3littlefrogs' DD eating pasta, rice and red meat. In fact it is very healthy. That's why the planners say the opposite.

Eric Pickles doesn't follow their advice. Fortunately, he won't be introducing one of their "fat taxes" anytime soon. I wouldn't be surprised if a man of his outstanding common sense and empathy with the public, reads the Daily Mail.

Claig... no-one has sucked me into anything thank you and I don't read the Guardian or the Daily Mail and don't intend to start any time soon. I don't throw much away because ...well.... I don't throw much away Don't buy many packaged goods to speak of that would generate wrappers because it's mostly overpriced. I pay the same council tax regardless of my bin contents so I have no incentive to behave differently. If someone was to offer me a discount on the council tax for being a 'person that doesn't throw much away' I'd say thank you very much.

I'm not saying it's a good thing! I'm saying it's disgusting! It is simply not right that you can get a bag of donuts (£1), a multipack of crisps (£1.50), a huge bar of chocolate (less than a quid?) and a tub of icecream (£2?) for less than it would cost you to fill up with veg and stuff. I don't buy all that crap, but I don't think it is a good idea that the crappest stuff is the cheapest. And it is. pack of 10 'fish' fingers, for a pound. actual proper fish a fiver, at least, if not more. crappy sausages - a quid. proper good quality sausages made with good lean meat? at least £3. fatty horrible mince> £2 good quality lean mince? £5.

It simply does cost so much more to eat healthily.

And I obsessively make soup. my freezer is stocked full of the stuff. But since I never remember to label it, we have the fun of trying to guess what it is

horrible 'value' pies full of additives and fat and what not - 79p for 4

make your own? £5? £6?

I defy anyone to tell me it is cheaper to eat healthily. No wonder many of the poorest people don't eat well.

We live in a community. Why should large families be penalised for throwing more rubbish away. Why should families be penalised for eating healthy meat and dairy instead of GM food. We live in a great country and pay taxes for our services. Don't accept second best, don't be beguiled by the best plans of mice and planners, listen to Pickles and read the Daily Mail.

Who are these 'planners' saying pasta, rice and red meat are unhealthy exactly? The low-carb freaks at the Atkins foundation may have a problem with pasta and rice but most reputable dieticans will tell you that carbohydrates are fine. PETA may think all cows should be abolished on principle but, again, dieticians will tell you that red meat in moderation. There was an 'anti-fat' movement 20 years ago that's largely gone by the wayside. 'High Fibre' was all the rage for a while. Fads have come and gone, but the bottom line advice that has not really wavered in 60 or 70 years has been.... get a good balance of different foods, don't overeat and take some exercise.