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> The solution is to tax added sugar (including for sub-ingredients) per gram, and a flat tax for any food containing artificial sweeteners. 1c per gram of suga
by SrslyJosh 5y ago
> The solution is to tax added sugar (including for sub-ingredients) per gram, and a flat tax for any food containing artificial sweeteners. 1c per gram of sugar, or 20% for anything containing artificial sweeteners seems reasonable.
A sugar tax would mostly impact the people who have the least choice in what they buy, due to poverty and/or the availability of healthier foods. (See: food deserts)
Better to work on the affordability and availability of healthy food than try to penalize people for buying stuff that's cheap and ubiquitous. If you want to apply sticks, apply them to large retailers like Wal-mart and Target instead of to individuals.
- NonContro 5y agoBut that's exactly the behaviour we want to encourage, when we consider so many poor people in America have a huge calorie surplus (ie. are obese or overweight). If 1kg of Oreos (41% sugar) costs $3.60 instead of $3.19, people will spend the same but just consume 11% less, or manufacturers will recreate the recipe to have less sugar. Both of those outcomes are good. The money collected can be used to subsidise community kitchens, or raw fruit and vegetables.