“Denmark has imposed a ‘fat tax’ on foods such as butter and oil as a way to curb unhealthy eating habits.”—-Associated Press on The Christian Science Monitor
We know heavy weight can cause health issues, but we don’t know if a $0.40 increase of price on butter would actually decrease the consumption of it. Raising weight awareness issues can be done through other methods, yet the government decided that the public will be more concerned should they pay more for products with high fat contents.
Ultimately, the government would receive a large sum of money while food producers and consumers share the burden of the tax. Personally, I don’t think this is very efficient because it is very focused on a group of people yet the whole population would have to pay a higher price, including those that only consider butter and oil as a daily necessity.
It is mentioned in the article that other countries have had similar strategies regarding unhealthy food consumption. If the policy continues, does that mean whenever the government wants the public to decrease consumption, they would put a tax on the item or service? There should be another more effective solution to the problem.