Outgoing Dutch Minister of Agriculture Carola Schouten has backed a tax on unsustainable food, with proceeds funding farmer efforts to go green. Will the idea catch on?
Senators are proposing to tax foods with ‘poor nutritional’ quality amid concerns consumers are eating ‘too many calories and too much meat’ in a bid to force the food industry to design ‘less sweet, salty and fatty dishes’.
ProVeg International is calling on national governments to end ‘unfair’ VAT on plant milks, which it claims fiscally favours dairy products over their plant-based alternatives.
Plans to tax food supplements in Ireland will place these products and their benefits out of reach for people, especially those living with age-related macular degeneration (AMD), an experts says.
The UK government has been urged to introduce a levy on all processed, unhealthy foods containing ‘excessive calories’ – a move campaigners say would reduce consumption of saturated fat and sugar.
Latest data from the United Nations reveal obesity and overweight rates are ‘increasing in all regions’. Could ‘healthy food’ subsidies and taxes on products high in saturated fat, salt, and sugar, curb the trend?
Campaigners in the UK have upped their calls for government action to limit foods and drinks high in fat, sugar and salt after a survey revealed that obesity topped smoking as the main cause of cancers. But the country’s expected new prime minister hints...
Reformulating products to reduce sugar can be a costly process. While the impact of sugar taxes on consumer behaviour is a moot point, they do provide the food sector with a financial incentive to trigger change.
‘With the right incentives, there is scope to increase the use of recycled content’
The UK government has launched a consultation to help shape its proposed plastic packaging tax, highlighting its aim to drive higher use of recycled content in packaging.
Inaction is not an option for confectionery brands if they want to survive in an age of increased regulation on sugared products, writes Neil Davidson, managing director of brand agency HeyHuman.
Industry players and a market researcher speculate how Norway’s 83% increased duty on chocolate and sugar products, which took effect on January 1 this year, will affect sales.
Portugal’s State Budget proposal for 2018 proposes a new tax on foods that have a high salt content – including potato chips, cereals and crackers – in an effort to curb the nation’s unhealthy consumption patterns.
The Irish government confirmed it plans to push ahead with the introduction of a sugar tax this April, despite industry calls for the move to be delayed.
Health taxes that add 20% to the price of products are likely to be effective, but policymakers need to be transparent about where revenues end up, according to new research.
Prices of energy drinks have doubled in Saudi Arabia this week after a sin tax was introduced last Sunday. Health warnings have also arrived in stores and on cans.
Thanks to drink manufacturers reformulating sugar out of their products, the UK’s Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) now predicts significantly less revenue from the sugar tax - but does this really signal a change in the public diet?
Every EU country is battling with obesity, but is 2017 set to be the year that many more governments move from the comfort zone of industry-led “nudge” tactics to blunt policy tools that push manufacturers to reformulate?
Qatar could see the introduction of “sin taxes” as the government seeks new ways to fund spending over the next three years, according to a ministerial report.
Dutch sustainable supply chain adviser and NGO, Solidaridad, has denied allegations of tax avoidance and wrongdoing over its links with Mossack Fonseca, the law firm at the heart of the Panama Papers scandal.
All the evidence shows that sugar taxes decrease purchases and curb obesity– but restricting price promotions and junkfood advertising could have an even bigger impact, concludes Public Health England's report to the UK government.
The cost of alcohol use to the government in England has been over-stated by public health campaigners, and in fact the revenue from taxes outweighs such costs to the tune of £6.5bn, according to a report from the Institute of Economic Affairs.
The UK government should seriously consider taxing unhealthy foods and drinks to reduce their consumption, a paper from the Food Research Collaboration (FRC) has urged.
The drop in corporation tax, promise of increased investment funding and support for British farmers in the 2015 UK budget were largely supported by British food and drink manufacturers.
Raw sugar prices are forecast to rise as much as 7% by Q2 2015, but recent trading suggests prices will come down in the longer term, according to an analyst at Rabobank.
Hungarian snacks firm Chio Magyarország – owned by German giant Intersnack – has slammed the country’s new ‘chips tax’ for ruining its chance of winning funding for new popcorn and snacks lines.
UK retailer Marks & Spencer has won a protracted legal battle against the VAT office that had classified its marshmallow teacakes as chocolate biscuits.
Marketers of fast moving consumer goods in Russia may now think
twice about using free samples to promote their products, following
a decision to tax them. Angela Drujinina reports.
Kefir and functional dairy company Lifeway Foods could set up a
manufacturing plant in Canada following strong sales growth in 2003
and a boost to its cash reserves after selling off property.
