A fat tax isn’t the answer

I am unsure whether introducing a fat tax to high fat foods in the UK would reduce rates of obesity. However, Mike Rayner from the University of Oxford thinks otherwise.

Rayner believes that introducing a tax on high fat foods such as confectionery and chocolate will help encourage people to eat healthier foods.

This approach doesn’t seem fair, particularly to chocolate manufacturers, who by law cannot reduce the fat content of their products below a certain percentage.

I don’t believe increasing the cost of confectionery would prevent people buying it, and a fat tax is simply not the answer. What the UK needs is a multifaceted approach which involves education of consumers.