Junk food tax is one of the strategies advocated in an editorial in the 
Medical Journal of Australia last year:
Zimmet & James 2006 The unstoppable Australian obesity and diabetes 
juggernaut. What should politicians do? MJA 2006; 185 (4): 187-188 
http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/185_04_210806/zim10521_fm.html

My gut feeling is that it could have major negative consequences, and indeed 
an economist has suggested:
high-caloric "junk food" might conceivably though improbably turn out to be 
the first real-world example of a "Giffen good," a good the demand for which 
rises when the price rises because the income effect dominates the 
substitution effect. A heavy tax on high-caloric food might so reduce the 
disposable income of the poor that they substituted such food for healthful 
food, since fatty foods tend to be very cheap and satisfying, and often 
nutritious as well. However, this is unlikely because food constitutes only 
a small percentage (no more than 20 percent) of even a poor family's budget.
http://www.becker-posner-blog.com/archives/2006/10/the_fat_taxposn.html

Increasing the price of tobacco and alcohol does reduce consumption - but 
no-one has to smoke or drink, whereas everyone (including children) has to 
eat.

There is definitely a need to make healthy food choices easier choices, but 
the strategies need to be appropriate - and appropriately developed in the 
real world.
Melissa

Melissa Raven, Adjunct Lecturer
Department of Public Health, Flinders University
GPO Box 2100 ADELAIDE  SA  5001
AUSTRALIA

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Michael MacDonald" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, February 06, 2007 10:02 AM
Subject: Re: [SDOH] Updated Canada's Food Guide

Hi Greta,
As you know - it's not really a new idea -- I did a quick "google" and found 
these two interesting statements on the issue:
http://www.speakout.com/activism/issue_briefs/1332b-1.html (7 years ago!)
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060221/junk_good_tax_060221?s_name=&no_ads=
(just last year)
I'm really interested in hearing from the forum regarding the merit of this 
idea... as I'm relatively uninformed.
Cheers,
Michael

On 05/02/07, GRETA DOUCET <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Bravo Michael   Greta
> *Michael MacDonald <[log in to unmask]>* wrote:
> This brings a topic to mind that I've debated with folks on a personal
> level, but have not yet seen anything "academic" (not to say it doesn't
> exist):
> *Should there be a tax on "fast food" and "fatty snack foods" to subsidize
> healthier foods?  For example - the extra taxes from a Happy Meal at McD
> could be used to help reduce the costs of vegetables and fruits?  This 
> could
> support farmers and help people afford the healthier choices?? * 

-------------------
Problems/Questions? Send it to Listserv owner: [log in to unmask]


To unsubscribe, send the following message in the text section -- NOT the subject header --  to [log in to unmask]

SIGNOFF SDOH

DO NOT SEND IT BY HITTING THE REPLY BUTTON. THIS SENDS THE MESSAGE TO THE ENTIRE LISTSERV AND STILL DOES NOT REMOVE YOU.

To subscribe to the SDOH list, send the following message to [log in to unmask] in the text section, NOT in the subject header.

SUBSCRIBE SDOH yourfirstname yourlastname

To post a message to all 1200+ subscribers, send it to [log in to unmask]
Include in the Subject, its content, and location and date, if relevant.

For a list of SDOH members, send a request to [log in to unmask]

To receive messages only once a day, send the following message to [log in to unmask]
SET SDOH DIGEST

To view the SDOH archives, go to: https://listserv.yorku.ca/archives/sdoh.html