Sodium reduction Population exceeding recommended sodium limit Americans consume more sodium than is recommended. The following are average daily intakes by age, relative to recommended limits.
so. And, as far as consumer choices go, cost is already the most powerful and pervasive nudge of all – so Sassi and his colleagues are working on a new model for aligning value-added taxes with health goals. “In the UK, everyone focuses on the soft drinks industry levy, which is a tiny proportion of what people pay in taxes on their food and beverages,” Sassi explains. “96–97% of it is VAT, and the way the government leverages VAT on food and non-alcoholic beverages is very differentiated and has nothing to do with health. The proposal that we’ve made and that we’ll be working on over the next three years is to repurpose existing consumption taxes on food and beverages in a way that is truly aligned with health objectives.”
They are not the only ones. In December 2021, the EU Council introduced something similar in its proposal for updating the bloc’s rules on reduced VAT rates. According to the agreement, as of 2030, EU member states should be able to lower or remove taxes on products and services that contribute to attaining environmental or sustainability objectives. On the other side, they will no longer be able to apply reductions or zero rates on polluting products like fossil fuels. There’s also evidence that food taxes that target more than a single mineral or macronutrient are far more effective than a simple salt tax ever could be. Launched in the same year as Denmark’s fat tax, Hungary’s ‘chips tax’ (on pre-packaged food and
Ingredients Insight /
www.ingredients-insight.com
beverages high in salt, sugar and caffeine) managed to decrease the consumption of processed foods by an estimated 3.4% without prompting significant unhealthy substitutions. In fact, according to Spoon Guru, it pushed up unprocessed food consumption by 1.1% (figures as of 2015).
Of course, even that is a tiny levy compared with
VAT, which is a primary source of tax revenues in many countries. “If we classify all foods based on a nutrient profiling model, we can set higher tax rates on the less healthy foods and lower tax rates – or even exempt – the healthier foods,” continues Sassi. Without treasuries having to make any extra funds available, healthier foods would automatically be subsidised. Once again, diets could define tax regimes. This time, though, everyone might benefit. “What manufacturers need to see is a clear shift in demand towards healthy products,” concludes Sassi. “If there was a big shift, they would make a lot of money by reformulating their products and putting healthier ones on the market. What they need from government is really a strong push towards changing consumer attitudes. Governments can create a culture that really emphasises the health dimension of food as something desirable. We could have a win- win situation, if the focus was really on creating demand for healthier products.” Therefore, with the right societal nudge, the next revolution could be bloodless – or, in fact, positively healthy. ●
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