Fat Tax For Chocolate Milk Discussed
Written by Stuart Stevens | Wednesday, 27 May 2009 | There is 1 comment
A fat tax on certain foods is not necessarily the way forward
The American government is seriously considering taxing chocolate milk in order to raise huge amounts of money to pay for the extra health care in America brought on by increasing numbers of obese individuals. In the same way that cigarettes are taxed to alleviate the health burden that smokers cause, lawmakers are keen to do something similar for those people who they say consume too many unhealthy calories.
According to the United States Senate Finance Committee a tax on sugary drinks would generate around $50 billion over a ten year timeframe which could be used for initiatives and campaigns to stop children becoming obese. However the American dairy industry said that this tax was unfair and that chocolate flavoured milk as well as other flavours such as strawberry should not be considered to be the same as high calorie sugary drinks. They said that children need calcium which is present in the milk and that lumping them together with drinks like Pepsi, Coke and Fanta was stupid.
Mr. Jerry Kozak from the National Milk Producers Federation and Connie Tipton Chief Executive Officer of the International Dairy Foods Association both condemned this obesity initiative saying that it was misguided and foolish.
At Ukmedix News will reckon that it is pretty unlikely that flavoured milk will end up being taxed in America however the fact that American lawmakers are talking about ‘fat taxes’ is a good step because it shows that they are realising the financial burden that obesity places on a nation. A fat tax on certain foods is not necessarily the way forward but money needs to be invested in getting both American and British people to eat healthily and to exercise.
Ignoring the problem will result in huge productivity losses and increased health care costs in the long term. Government investment in obesity programs for children might not pay dividends for 20 to 30 years but it is an investment which is greatly needed.
