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Should junk food be taxed?
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Replies
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What's the debate here? Junk food is already taxed. It's a food tax.1
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The proposal (not mine) is that junk food (however defined) should be subject to an additional tax like alcohol or cigarettes or (in some places) prepared foods/restaurant foods.
I'm not aware of a "food tax," but some places exempt food (or many foods) from sales tax and some do not but have lower levels of tax. And some don't. But the proposal is an additional tax.1 -
It is the financial management skills of those who spend any taxes collected that concerns me after having watched their results for the past 40 years.3
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Oh, is this now a general political thread?0
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No0
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No. Taxes are ridiculous and go to unnecessary things as it is. We don't need to be giving the government more excuses to tax us.1
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Hopefully not
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jen_mccusker wrote: »Yes put tax on sugar products eg chocolate, fizzy juice etc. We as adults chose for ourselves what to eat but when doin shopping mums n dads have budgets they are goin to pick the cheaper stuff to feed their kids not there fault the food with high saturated fat etc is what is cheaper in supermarkets. It's sad day when bar of chocolate is cheaper than a bunch of apples. If a mum or dad gives kid 50p for shop there's nothing to buy healthy at that price for that price so they buy a sweetie instead. And it may cut down on over weight adults and kids.
Do you have some price examples showing a lower cost for a bar of chocolate vs a bunch of apples? Even if it is, is that really a valid comparison? If I buy a bunch of apples, I am buying fruit for my kids lunch for the week. If I am buying a chocolate bar, I am not expecting it to last more than one sitting. Therefore I expect to pay more for multiple servings of any food.
A more appropriate comparison would be if you had an example showing a single chocolate bar cheaper than a single apple.
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WinoGelato wrote: »jen_mccusker wrote: »Yes put tax on sugar products eg chocolate, fizzy juice etc. We as adults chose for ourselves what to eat but when doin shopping mums n dads have budgets they are goin to pick the cheaper stuff to feed their kids not there fault the food with high saturated fat etc is what is cheaper in supermarkets. It's sad day when bar of chocolate is cheaper than a bunch of apples. If a mum or dad gives kid 50p for shop there's nothing to buy healthy at that price for that price so they buy a sweetie instead. And it may cut down on over weight adults and kids.
Do you have some price examples showing a lower cost for a bar of chocolate vs a bunch of apples? Even if it is, is that really a valid comparison? If I buy a bunch of apples, I am buying fruit for my kids lunch for the week. If I am buying a chocolate bar, I am not expecting it to last more than one sitting. Therefore I expect to pay more for multiple servings of any food.
A more appropriate comparison would be if you had an example showing a single chocolate bar cheaper than a single apple.
It depends how large the chocolate bar is, whether I (not the Nutrition Facts) determine; if it's just 1 serving or not!0 -
DeficitDuchess wrote: »WinoGelato wrote: »jen_mccusker wrote: »Yes put tax on sugar products eg chocolate, fizzy juice etc. We as adults chose for ourselves what to eat but when doin shopping mums n dads have budgets they are goin to pick the cheaper stuff to feed their kids not there fault the food with high saturated fat etc is what is cheaper in supermarkets. It's sad day when bar of chocolate is cheaper than a bunch of apples. If a mum or dad gives kid 50p for shop there's nothing to buy healthy at that price for that price so they buy a sweetie instead. And it may cut down on over weight adults and kids.
Do you have some price examples showing a lower cost for a bar of chocolate vs a bunch of apples? Even if it is, is that really a valid comparison? If I buy a bunch of apples, I am buying fruit for my kids lunch for the week. If I am buying a chocolate bar, I am not expecting it to last more than one sitting. Therefore I expect to pay more for multiple servings of any food.
A more appropriate comparison would be if you had an example showing a single chocolate bar cheaper than a single apple.
It depends how large the chocolate bar is, whether I (not the Nutrition Facts) determine; if it's just 1 serving or not!
While I agree that a chocolate bar may ultimately be divided into more than one serving (I often buy expensive dark chocolate bars with exotic flavors and break off a piece at a time to enjoy with my wine over several days), the comparison is still not apples to apples (pun intended).2 -
Okay that was, the best ever intended pun!1
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1 lb. Apples ~1.18 USD
1 lb. Cocoa (unrefined) ~1.50 USD
1 lb. Hershey's Chocolate (I went cheap) ~47.90 USD
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WinoGelato wrote: »
I found another one on Amazon for 35 USD, hope it's not used.0 -
WinoGelato wrote: »
I found another one on Amazon for 35 USD, hope it's not used.
Wow. Well, there you go. I thought I must be misreading...
This is in the UK?0 -
WinoGelato wrote: »
I found another one on Amazon for 35 USD, hope it's not used.
Uh...
A 6 pack of 1.55oz bars is $3.16 at Wal-Mart, so 1 lb would be $5.44. I've bought bars of chocolate that would go for $48/lb, but they're a lot more awesome than Hershey's
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California tried this about 10-15 years ago and it was a disaster. They essentially said that sales tax had to be paid on "snacks" but not "food". If you bought a Hershey milk chocolate bar at the checkout counter it was taxable but if you bought a Hershey's milk chocolate BAKING bar it wasn't taxable. Then, various groups of people argued over what and wasn't a "snack". For example, granola bars were breakfast for some people but snacks for others. They finally dropped the whole thing because it was logistically impossible to enforce.0
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WinoGelato wrote: »WinoGelato wrote: »
I found another one on Amazon for 35 USD, hope it's not used.
Wow. Well, there you go. I thought I must be misreading...
This is in the UK?
Yes - US distribution - price online varies between 25-55 USD.0
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