Fat Tax in Denmark: Melancholy Danes Have One More Reason to be in Bad Mood
Denmark has followed Hungary's lead in imposing taxes of certain types of magical foods that make people fat:
The new tax, designed by Denmark's outgoing government in an effort to limit the population's intake of fatty foods, will add 16 kroner ($2.87, or 2.15 euros) per kilo (2.2 pounds) of saturated fats in a product.
For example, according to the AFP, the tax will increase the cost of 250 grams of butter by 2.20 kroner, to more than 18 kroner….
The new tax will be levied on all products including saturated fats -- from butter and milk to pizzas, oils, meats and pre-cooked foods -- in a costing system that Denmark's Confederation of Industries (DI) says is a bureaucratic nightmare for producers and outlets.
The predictable result was hoarding of pizza, butter, and who knows what else. Some years ago, Denmark banned trans fat, but I guess the place is still getting fatter so they had to take the nannyism up to the plus-sized department. The country has been taxing soda pop for a while too as well as candy bars for almost 100 years.
And yet such taxes haven't seemed to work. But surely this new tax will have the desired effect and the legendary thick ankles of the Jutland will become as svelte and shapely as those in sub-Saharan Africa.
More about Denmark's trans-fat-expressway to your heart (and thighs).
And Reason on obesity.
