4 ms·

It would be so cool to have a high tax on sugar (and saturated fat). It has at least as much damaging effect as weed. I know it's not the perfect solution but i

by xiphias 10y ago

It would be so cool to have a high tax on sugar (and saturated fat). It has at least as much damaging effect as weed. I know it's not the perfect solution but it would force companies who want to sell in shops to decrease using it.

redtuesday 10y ago
The people could also just eat healtier, right (if they can afford it, that is)? "All things are poison and nothing is without poison, only the dosage makes a thing not poison." But I guess if sugar etc. would get a high tax, the tax money could be used to better educate the people which could possibly turn them away from too much sugar. And if we are at it, remove mc donalds, burger king etc. from the school grounds and sell healtier food.
- benevol 10y ago
  > The people could also just eat healtier Or we could consider sugar "food pollution" (which it actually mostly is) and regulate it like air and water pollution.
- xiphias 10y ago
  It's not as easy as you think. I try to eat healthy (low sugar, no trans-fat, low saturated fat), but generally if I see ,,no sugar'' advertised on something, I know it has high saturated fat content, and if I see ,,0% fat'', I know it's something full of sugar.
ktRolster 10y ago
>It would be so cool to have a high tax on sugar To some degree we have that, with tariffs on sugar coming into the US, which raises the price high enough that everyone uses alternatives.
- PeterisP 10y ago
  Well, having a tax on one form of sugar while subsidizing another (HFCS) means that in practice, you have a sugar subsidy that makes it economic to add bad calories because it's cheap.
- Retric 10y ago
  High fructose corn syrup is a heavily subsidized sugar. It's even in the name fructose is a sugar. PS: Glucose and fructose are both C6H12O6 with slightly different shapes.
teslabox 10y ago
> It would be so cool to have a high tax on sugar (and saturated fat). ... Except that saturated fat has been exonerated of the charges leveled against it by the charlatans. Now the experts acknowledge that hydrogenated vegetable oils (trans-fats) are different than naturally-saturated fats. It is convenient for their business models to allow people to continue thinking that the drying oils (which react spontaneously with oxygen to form a hard film) are safe to eat.

by xiphias 10y ago

redtuesday 10y ago

The people could also just eat healtier, right (if they can afford it, that is)? "All things are poison and nothing is without poison, only the dosage makes a thing not poison." But I guess if sugar etc. would get a high tax, the tax money could be used to better educate the people which could possibly turn them away from too much sugar. And if we are at it, remove mc donalds, burger king etc. from the school grounds and sell healtier food.

benevol 10y ago
> The people could also just eat healtier Or we could consider sugar "food pollution" (which it actually mostly is) and regulate it like air and water pollution.
xiphias 10y ago
It's not as easy as you think. I try to eat healthy (low sugar, no trans-fat, low saturated fat), but generally if I see ,,no sugar'' advertised on something, I know it has high saturated fat content, and if I see ,,0% fat'', I know it's something full of sugar.

ktRolster 10y ago

>It would be so cool to have a high tax on sugar To some degree we have that, with tariffs on sugar coming into the US, which raises the price high enough that everyone uses alternatives.

PeterisP 10y ago
Well, having a tax on one form of sugar while subsidizing another (HFCS) means that in practice, you have a sugar subsidy that makes it economic to add bad calories because it's cheap.
Retric 10y ago
High fructose corn syrup is a heavily subsidized sugar. It's even in the name fructose is a sugar. PS: Glucose and fructose are both C6H12O6 with slightly different shapes.

teslabox 10y ago

> It would be so cool to have a high tax on sugar (and saturated fat). ... Except that saturated fat has been exonerated of the charges leveled against it by the charlatans. Now the experts acknowledge that hydrogenated vegetable oils (trans-fats) are different than naturally-saturated fats. It is convenient for their business models to allow people to continue thinking that the drying oils (which react spontaneously with oxygen to form a hard film) are safe to eat.