Now this is just dumb - like taxing butter is going to make people eat smarter or get healthier? It's usually not any one specific type of food, it's that it's in excess, unbalanced, and without exercise to accompany the crappy food choices.
http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-10-den ... t-tax.html Denmark levies world's first fat tax
Denmark Saturday became the first country in the world to impose a fat tax after a week in which consumers hoarded butter, pizza, meat and milk to avoid the immediate effects.
October 1, 2011 by Julian Isherwood
The new tax, designed by Denmarks outgoing government as a health issue to limit the populations intake of fatty foods, will add 16 kroner ($2.87, 2.15 euros) per kilo (2.2 pounds) of saturated fats in a product.
This means an increase in the price of a pack of 250 grammes of butter, for example, by 2.20 kroner to more than 18 kroner.
"But actually I dont think the tax will make that much difference. If people want to buy a cake, they will buy it. But right now theyre saving money," he added. The new tax will be levied on all products including saturated fats -- from butter and milk to pizzas, oils, meats and pre-cooked foods -- in a costing system that Denmarks Confederation of Industries (DI) says is a bureaucratic nightmare for producers and outlets.
"The way that this has been put together is an administrative nightmare, and I doubt whether it will give better health. Its more just a tax," DI foodstuffs spokeswoman Gitte Hestehave told AFP, adding that the costs of levying the tax would be passed on to consumers.
"Now, more than ever, the illusions of division threaten our very existence. We all know the truth: more connects us than separates us. But in times of crisis the wise build bridges, while the foolish build barriers. We must find a way to look after one another as if we were one single tribe.” -King T'Challa, Black Panther
The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it. ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is. ~Winston Churchill
Too bad Danes will have to go underground for steaks, butter, and cheese. Good thing that Denmark is a small country and it's easy to travel to adjacent nations that will take advantage of this issue.
I can explain it to you but I can't understand it for you.
"Any man who thinks he can be happy and prosperous by letting the Government take care of him; better take a closer look at the American Indian." - Henry Ford
Corruptissima re publica plurimae leges; When the Republic is at its most corrupt the laws are most numerous. - Publius Cornelius Tacitus
residenttroll wrote: Discrimination is something socialist can appreciate.
not when it comes to butter......like chocolate it's a major food group!
CG, Archer mentioned chocolate, I didn't. rofllol CG would have to go underground?
what's the matter tonight RT?.....You are usually obnoxious, but tonight you are especially bad. Boyfriend left you for someone else? You still upset about making so much money you had to pay taxes on it? Stock market got you down? Come on, what's bugging you?
residenttroll wrote: Discrimination is something socialist can appreciate.
I figured someone would throw out the socialist card on this! If you read the article you'd've noticed this tidbit:
The new Danish tax, however, may not last long. The right-wing government that decided on the tax was superceded by a centre-left administration in elections last month.
Well, I'll be...it wasn't the socialists who are telling you what you can and can't eat: it's the conservatives!
"Now, more than ever, the illusions of division threaten our very existence. We all know the truth: more connects us than separates us. But in times of crisis the wise build bridges, while the foolish build barriers. We must find a way to look after one another as if we were one single tribe.” -King T'Challa, Black Panther
The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it. ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is. ~Winston Churchill
Frankly, I don't care from which side of the isle they come from, this is just another example where someone is trying to force their habits or considered life style on everyone else. I find that offensive. People ought to have a right to live their lives they way they want to without a tax penalty. I'm glad I do not live there. That is much more than I can tolerate.
That aside, I find it difficult to understand why there is fat in mammalian milk , when it is supposedly so bad for us. Right. To me, the fact there is so much fat in milk (from which butter is made) is because it serves a purpose, and evolution has deemed it beneficial to our survival. Unfortunately, our medical research based on less than a century of effort appears to know far better than nature who has spent millions of years testing and optimizing our bodies for the food we consume. Just wait and see, as it has already happened in the past, butter and various other fats have gone from being virtually lethal to beneficial, to highly undesirable, to ..? We ought to know the next perception in another ten years. Meanwhile, Denmark natives, serve as guinea pigs, thanks to politicians, sticking their nose into the life style choices of their neighbors. It's bad enough when a neighbor gets too pushy, but when it reaches a political ream and they deem it appropriate to access tax penalties, its time for a revolt.
