Dr Oliver Mytton and Dr Mike Rayner of the Department of Public Health at Oxford are the lead authors of paper in the BMJ summarising the evidence on health-related food taxes.
The researchers conclude that taxes on unhealthy foods do have the potential to improve health. They suggest that a taxation level of around 20% (equivalent to VAT) could have a meaningful reduction in disease within populations.
However, they say the evidence base needs strengthening to better predict the wider effects of introducing some of these taxes – such as ‘fat taxes’ or ‘junk food taxes’ – and understand what foods consumers might switch to.
Beyond their analysis in the BMJ of the existing evidence, Dr Mytton and Dr Rayner believe that the urgency of the health problems related to poor diets in the UK demands action now. They believe a tax on sugary drinks would be a safe and reliable option to improve health.
Dr Rayner said: “Obesity has rocketed recently and if anything our diet is getting worse. We need to take steps to tackle this problem as a nation. It’s affecting our health and it’s affecting our wallets through the increased burden on the NHS and the taxpayer.
“David Cameron said that he wanted to look at fat taxes last October. He should now commission an independent review of the existing evidence that looks at the options for taxing unhealthy foods.”
The Oxford team argue that government intervention such as taxation can be justified when the market fails to provide the ‘optimum’ good for society’s well-being, as with the duties on alcohol and tobacco, for example.
Dr Rayner added: “It is basic economic theory that raising the price will change consumption, and we already use the taxation system in this way to influence behaviour. We have taxes on unhealthy goods such as tobacco and alcohol. And we don’t have taxes on books as they can be seen as a public good to be encouraged.
Source: Oxford University
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