Tax Junk Food - Should we?

[Webbo]

. In the chippy around the corner from our old house (very poor area) you used to be able to feed a family for £5.

That's either a long time ago or a really small family.

I'm all up for enforcing exercise for at least an hour a day

That's not social democracy that's fascism.

[Dr The Singh]

bullshit. When my cousin was at university, he said his food bill was about 1/4 of that of other people because he was cooking his food from scratch rather than buying ready meals or take-aways.

Don't see how introducing a tax is going to solve the problem when price isn't the main issue, lack of self-control from the public is the problem.

I gave perfectly good examples and could give a hundred more, so it's not bullshit at all!!! And whose talking about take aways, obviously they cost alot more then ready meals and fresh and your cousin being a student, you could generalise about the amount of take aways they eat!!

eg pizza,

frozen meat feast, £1 at iceland

fresh, dough 50p, cheese 30p, slice of ham 30p, tomatoes 30p, other meats 50p

Take Away, my local does 2 12" for £6.99

Also depends on what you eat, I made a lamb pie for the whole family, and it cost

£5 lamb

£2 dough

80p mushrooms

£1.50 kidneys

£1.50 bits and bobs

Family size pukka steak and kidney pie was around £4

[dave the caveman]

I'm all up for enforcing exercise for at least an hour a day to make people healthier.

Surely you can't be serious?

With regards to the topic what actually constitutes junk food? Does chocolate and dessert count? Because that's what makes most people fat in this country. That and portion control. You make 'healthy' food cheaper and fatties will just eat more healthy food. In terms of weight gain there is no difference between a 10k fried chicken and chips binge and a 10k grilled chicken and rice binge.

If they only thing the government is interested in is cutting their NHS bill then just make people directly contribute towards the costs of their own treatment for illnesses caused by smoking/obesity etc. You could put food education, just like drug/sex education into the national curriculum so that no person could claim that they weren't made aware of the dangers. Fat people could be encouraged to see doctors early and placed on plans that track their progress. If they refuse to put in the effort to lose weight and they require medical assistance because of it, they pay.

[Webbo]

If education worked nobody would ever drink, smoke or leave the house without wearing a condom. It's not like junk food making you fat is a secret anyway.

There was a thing on the news this morning about post pregnant women not losing weight because the mid wife didn't tell them to.I mean, come on.

[davieG]

If education worked nobody would ever drink, smoke or leave the house without wearing a condom. It's not like junk food making you fat is a secret anyway.

There was a thing on the news this morning about post pregnant women not losing weight because the mid wife didn't tell them too.I mean, come on.

One could argue it's reckless behaviour but I guess they don't know what that means

[Bellend Sebastian]

I bought six Cadbury's Double Chocolate Mini Rolls last night and within the hour I'd eaten four of them.

The government didn't intervene once. I could easily have eaten the lot (if the missus hadn't eaten one of them).

What would prevent a child doing the same? It doesn't bear thinking about

[Wymsey]

I bought six Cadbury's Double Chocolate Mini Rolls last night and within the hour I'd eaten four of them.

The government didn't intervene once. I could easily have eaten the lot (if the missus hadn't eaten one of them).

What would prevent a child doing the same? It doesn't bear thinking about

Just bought actually 2 packs of these from Sainsbury's for a 2 for 1 offer. I am not complaining about the cost .

[Bellend Sebastian]

Just bought actually 2 packs of these from Sainsbury's for a 2 for 1 offer. I am not complaining about the cost .

Mine were from Spar who seem to be jumping the gun and implementing the tax already

[Trav Le Bleu]

I googled "fat camp" and it came up with this!

[davieG]

I googled "fat camp" and it came up with this!

Very taxing on the eyes

[davieG]

I've just prepared my dinner which consists of:

Boiled Potatoes, Swede, & Sweet Potato which I'll mash together.

Green beans, Broccoli, Carrots, Brussels sprouts and a Pork loin chop all steam cooked over the potatoes.

The chop was 75p (part of a pack) and I'd be amazed if the veg cost more than £1.

£1.75 + the gas from one hob.

10 minutes to prepare, 20/25 minutes to cook whilst I'm on the web.

Admittedly not so simple if you're preparing it for a whole family but not difficult.

[Wymsey]

I've just prepared my dinner which consists of:

Boiled Potatoes, Swede, & Sweet Potato which I'll mash together.

Green beans, Broccoli, Carrots, Brussels sprouts and a Pork loin chop all steam cooked over the potatoes.

The chop was 75p (part of a pack) and I'd be amazed if the veg cost more than £1.

£1.75 + the gas from one hob.

10 minutes to prepare, 20/25 minutes to cook whilst I'm on the web.

Admittedly not so simple if you're preparing it for a whole family but not difficult.

I swear Ritchie Norman told me on the lines of this when we were eating in the Lineker Suite on Wednesday...

[FoxyPV]

That's either a long time ago or a really small family.

That's not social democracy that's fascism.

The portions sizes were absolutely massive - a chip would do two people.

The exercise is nothing to do with social democracy, i just think far too many people don't do enough of it.

[MPH]

A rather simplistic point of view from me but I'd be happy to be taxed more on junk food if I knew the increased revenue was being utilised to subsidise healthier food making that cheaper

I'd go with this

[Benji]

Great, more tax for the normal person that doesn't eat until they fall asleep

Why do we even get salaries?