Sugar is the new "Devil"

Sugar is the new “Devil” – by Caryn MacDonald

According to an article I recently read online http://www.fin24.com/Economy/First-sin-tax-and-now-sweet-tax-20140821 sugar is the new evil and the government is proposing introducing “sin tax” on sweetened drinks.

Now let me be quite honest and upfront right here and now...... I am a sinner..... and by that I mean I drink beer and smoke cigarettes. These items are already taxed to death and for good reason. However, I am probably healthier than most 5’4” 45-year-old women in South Africa.

I lift heavy weights three times a week, run and cross train another three times a week, as well as watch my daily calorie intake. So sometimes, I’ve earned a sugary drink at the end of the day. So much for all my “Hail Mary’s” in the gym in an effort to pay penance for my other sins, I’m now going to be taxed on my little end of the day “reward” too.

What I don’t understand about targeting sweetened drinks on which to impose a sin tax is this:

Yes, in excess, sweetened drinks are evil however, some people suffer from conditions that require them to take in a sugary drink at times. The fact is; anything taken in excess could have an adverse affect on our health.

Why don’t we all put this theory to the test. Let’s all eat just lettuce and drink just water in abundance for a month. At the end of the month, let’s compare our health with those who did some form of daily exercise, ate all sorts of things in moderation and had a sweet soda every now and then. Based on the results I am almost certain the government would need to consider a sin tax on lettuce too!

Oh and why just stop at sin taxing lettuce and sweetened drinks – what about chocolates, candy, cake, animal fat, white rice, white pasta, margarine, potato crisps, salt, mielie meal..... the list is endless! The fact is that any one of these things in excess will have some sort of contribution to obesity (or in the case of lettuce – malnutrition) in our South African society. So why then is it just sweetened drinks that are the target?

Being a health-nut myself (with the exception of my two little sins) I would love to see the supermarket shelves rid of all things that are bad for me. It would definitely make shopping quicker and easier as I would not have to spend ages reading every food label before I decided to purchase something. I could just grab this and that and be out of there comforted in the knowledge that whatever is stocked on the shelves is okay for me because the government said so. Oh! And I won’t be paying “sin tax” on my everyday purchases. And if my health did suffer for some or other reason, I could blame the government.

Instead of government trying to raise money in the form of sin tax on sweetened drinks, why don’t they just go all out and tax overweight people on the excess calories they eat every day. It can be called “fat-tax”. And if you want more food, then you have to exercise to earn it! But be careful, when you’ve earned your end of the day sweetened drink as a reward.... you just might be taxed on it.