Romania Considers Tax on Fast Food
The Romanian government has reportedly proposed a tax on fast foods high in fat, sugar and salt. Backed by the European Public Health Alliance, the health ministry has sought to create the world’s most comprehensive tax scheme that would include, not just sugary foods and beverages, but savory fare as well. Proponents have claimed that the measure would help combat rising obesity rates in the Balkan nation while simultaneously raising £860 million for government coffers.
But legislators have apparently struggled to define fast food as they consider more than 40,000 products eligible for the levy. They have already exempted popular street fare like pizza and kebabs on the ground that these items are often made from fresh ingredients, drawing further criticism from detractors who have questioned the proposal’s uneven application. In addition, the World Health Organization has noted that the plan penalizes vulnerable populations in a country where the average worker spends approximately one-half of his total income on food.
“It must be a tax that really does tax [certain foods] so as to encourage people to eat more healthily, for instance, to consume more vegetables. People in Romania don’t care very much about what is good for them and what is not and this tax could be a good way of educating them to do so – but only if it is done properly,” one nutritionist told The Lancet. “But it will not be good if it is just a tax on certain types of fast foods or outlets and ends up being just a way to raise money for the state and not a method of making people’s eating habits more healthy.” See The Lancet, March 27, 2010; The NZ Herald, April 3, 2010.
