Is a choc tax the last option in the box for tackling obesity?

Published on Friday 13 March 2009 20:52

CHASTISED for chomping chocolate. What are the chances you'll soon be paying a tax for pigging out on sweeties, much as you're taxed for pouring alcohol down your gullet?

The choc tax plan, by Lanarkshire doctor David Walker, was defeated at the British Medical Association's Scottish local medical committee conference in Clydebank this week – for now.

But before the thought of breaking the bank for a bar of chocolate brings on a premature heart attack, consider this. The Food and Drink Federation (FDF) – "the voice of the UK food and drink industry, the largest manufacturing sector in Britain" – is already on the case. So the chances are Dr Walker's efforts will be shelved. No doubt a relief for chocoholics across Scotland, but could this form of lobbying be affecting our health?

An FDF spokesman said: "Regressive taxes on the foods that consumers love would result only in lighter wallets, not smaller waists."

Possibly. But is it cynical to think the federation is more interested in ensuring its members – including Nestl, Cadbury and Haribo – don't lose money as we choose to leave their products off our shopping lists?

After all, the FDF aims to help its members "maximise their competitiveness" and "communicate industry's values and concerns to government, regulators, consumers and the media".

To do this, it has set up a health and wellbeing steering group to work with the government to respond to our concerns about rising obesity levels. It has also commissioned the Foresight project, Tackling Obesities: Future Choices, and found that 60 per cent of adult men, 50 per cent of adult women and about 25 per cent of all children under 16 could be obese by 2050.

But the good news, the study concludes, is that tackling obesity has striking similarities to tackling climate change. "Many climate change goals would also help prevent obesity, such as measures to reduce traffic congestion, increase cycling or design sustainable communities," it says.

So you don't have to stop eating chocolate to get skinny, you just have to get on your bike.

Alternatively, you could work for Cadbury, Danone, Kellogg's or any other similar ethical corporation. These companies will help you shed weight with their Healthy Eating Toolkit, "designed to provide practical guidance for companies looking to promote healthy eating in their operations as part of an integrated employee wellbeing programme".

And what about "obesity charities" that take taxpayers' money in government grants while having ties with lucrative diet companies? Last year, the Obesity Awareness and Solutions Trust (Toast) carried out a parliamentary inquiry into obesity while it was taking cash from the weight-loss programme LighterLife.

It is also interesting to note that the National Obesity Forum, described on its website as "an independent charity, working to improve the prevention and management of obesity", gets professional and financial support from weight-loss plan Slim-Fast and the low-calorie sweetener Canderel.

Do we have an obesity problem? Yes. Women may get through a 1lb box of chocolates containing 2,500 calories – the recommended daily intake for a man – during one episode of Desperate Housewives.

Will we have to pay heavy taxes to tackle the problem? Not if the industry gets its way.

&#149 Marisa de Andrade is a journalist and broadcaster, completing a PhD in sociology at Strathclyde University on the communication strategies of pharmaceutical companies.