food tax

[wendilla]

Gordon Brown thinking of putting tax on fatty foods which means that we that don't over indulge in fatty foods have to pay higher prices to help people get obese as this is not going to deter some people ,Why should I and a lot of other people have to pay this extra prices? Is he going to cut the prices of healthy eating foods ?

[Ethel]

Food is vat free except for 'luxury' foods - chocolate and so on. This has been the case for years - and I think this is just an extension of that.

I don't think food should be taxed at all.

[China Doll]

Actually I think raising the prices of fatty foods and cutting the price of healthy food is a pretty good idea.

It may not act as a deterrent but then a lot of people shop like me with a budget (of sorts) in my head and I'd certainly think twice about putting that extra bit of rubbish in the cart.

I stand firm on my opinion that all red wine should be vastly reduced in price with no effect to the quality tho. ;0)

[wendilla]

thanks for quick responses .What I am trying to get at is why we that know how to eat healthy and don't over indulge in fatty foods have to pay the price and I am certain and could safely bet on it that he won't reduce prices for less fatty food. It is similiar to people who smoke some won't give up still go bars but can go outside for a smoke.So the majority of people are not going to change there eating habits so others have to pay for it.

[Ethel]

How can he reduce the tax when there is NO tax on food, except for 'luxury' foods?

[jno]

he can't reduce prices, that's up to Tescos. He can tax things he doesn't want you to eat, and you can choose for yourself whether you eat them or not.

[wendilla]

Ethel I understand your point but he still won't do anything to help keep prices low on healthy eating foods .

[xhxmxsx]

good idea in principle i suppose but if someone really wants something that isnt considered healthy they will still buy it

[Champagne]

Actually wendila, it's pretty presumptious to assume that everyone knows how to eat well. You just have to watch programmes like "You Are What You Eat" to see that there are still a lot of ignorant people out there. Even a lot of slim, beautiful women in the world consider eating healthy to mean starving themselves! Most people don't actually know what constitutes a balanced diet.

So with growing obesity in the UK, I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing.

I'm more concerned about the article I read yesterday about cloned meat hitting our supermarket shelves soon with no labelling so the consumer can tell the difference!! Ridiculous!

[Octavius]

If there is a tax on fatty foods and you buy them, you pay the extra tax. If you don�t buy them and buy healthy food, you don�t pay the fatty tax. It seems your argument is based on indulging occasionally and having to pay the tax, or having cut-price healthy foods which are not taxed � and this is unfair �because?

Just because you go out and buy a chocolate bar and are not obese, are you saying that this is disagreeable on that basis alone?

[jno]

a balanced diet is a chocolate cake in each hand, Champagne. Everyone knows that.

[Cockney_si]

I think we should have a whip round and buy Brown and his colleagues a mirror....How about a two Jags tax ?

[wendilla]

You are all missing my point here all I am against is why when I want to buy occasionally what is classed as fatty foods do I have to pay the higher prices .Most people are still going to indulge in fatty foods it has been proved on tv at these clinics some people just won't help themselves to keep there weight down. Now I and lots of others have to help them carry on eating fatty foods and pay extra for ours.

[Octavius]

Wendilla, isn�t that what I said.

Personally I believe that if anything should be reduced in cost (or dare I say�subsidised) it should be locally (or at the very least UK) produced foods in order to promote our own ability to provide fine fettle, and secondly to reduce the influx of freeze dried and preservative-ridden fruit and veg which has travelled thousands of miles over a period of months to sit in our supermarkets.

If the only way to educate people into healthy eating is to make bad/luxury goods more inaccessible by price, then it doesn�t sound such a bad idea. No doubt though, you could still get a 99p rat-burger from McD.

[rabbitygirl]

People eat far too much rubbish. Renting a house with a lousy cooker so have eaten more ready mades and junk than would normally - and I hate it. Instead of taxing junk (or as well as) I think GB should help cut the price of salad veg for a start. If you buy all the ingredients for a good salad its one of the costliest meals out there.

Still I shouldn't shout too much about eating rubbish - I'm feeling a bit fed up so I had a big piece of lemon meringue pie for breakfast!! Feeling guilty? Nope. Everything in moderation nothing in excess and all that. Would someone like the piece thats left before my lunchtime comes around?

[johnlambert]

there are three tghings I hate
1) Warm beer
2) cheeky kids
3) Nanny state governments interfering in my life telling me how to live my life.


However, I do support this initiative and welcome it,








I dont like liars either
















or Brussels sprouts


















but I do like cats

[wendilla]

My argument is the majority of people are still going to eat fatty foods and I am going to help them get more obese by having to pay extra for mine.

[Bohne]

Is he going to cut the prices of healthy eating foods?
Probably not (great idea, though!)!
Come on, let's be honest, this is just a plan to make some extra money not to help anybody at all!