UN expert calls for junk food tax

Unhealthy snacks and soft drinks should be taxed to fight bad eating habits in rich countries, the United Nations’ chief nutrition expert said in a report on Tuesday.

At the same time, the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Olivier De Schutter, said the agriculture industry should be reined in, by abolishing subsidies for fatty, salty and sugary products.

De Schutter issued a long list of recommendations in his report on the links between health and malnutrition, which he submitted to the UN Human Rights Council.

The right to food includes not only the right to eat enough, but also the right to healthy and sensible nutrition, he said.

“Existing food systems have failed to address hunger, and, at the same time, encourage diets that are a source of (being) overweight and obesity that cause even more deaths worldwide than does (being) underweight,” the report said.

While 1 billion people suffer from hunger, 1.4 billion suffer from obesity caused by unhealthy eating habits.

De Schutter cited research that a 10-per-cent tax on soft drinks would decrease sales volumes by up to 10 per cent.

He said countries should follow the recent examples of Denmark, Finland, France and Hungary, which have introduced levies on unhealthy food or drinks.