BMA steps up calls for fat tax

This week is British Heart Week, and the British Medical Association has taken the opportunity to renew calls for the government to introduce VAT on high-fat foods.

A public health doctors' conference this week is set to discuss a motion by Dr Martin Breach, a member of the BMA public health committee, supporting the concept of a tax on saturated fats in a bid to reduce obesity-related disease.

Dr Breach told the BBC​ that he was hoping to win support from doctors across the UK for the introduction of VAT on products such as biscuits, cakes and processed foods, which have a high fat content.

But the calls have been criticised by some observers, who point out that consumers on lower incomes - who would be the hardest hit by a tax increase - are also those who eat the highest proportion of such food products.

"A fifth of men are obese and very nearly a quarter of women in the UK are obese and this figure is expected to rise further,"​ Dr Breach told the BBC, adding that obesity is closely linked to a range of health problems such as diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure.

With the UK government just last week announcing that it was considering forcing obese people to sign a contract pledging to reduce their fat intake in order to obtain free NHS health treatment, the discussion of a so-called 'fat tax' could not be more timely. The introduction of VAT on food would also give a major boost to the government's coffers, money which could be ploughed back into the under-funded NHS.

But despite this, the Food and Drink Federation (FDF), which represents the UK food manufacturing industry, claimed that introducing VAT on food would be bad for the UK economy.

Taxing food at 17.5 per cent would "have a serious financial effect on lower income families, where a large part of their limited income is spent on zero-rated items, increase inflation and make it harder for such families to eat healthy and varied diets, thus having a negative effect on their health",​ the FDF said in a statement.

"Introducing VAT on food would be bad for the food and drink industry which is one of the UK's largest manufacturing sectors, employs over 500,000 people, has a gross output of £65 billion and buys two thirds of UK agricultural produce. Consumers would perceive it as a large price increase,"​ the FDF added.

The UK is one of just two EU countries (the other being Ireland) not to impose VAT on food products, but it also has one of the highest rates of obesity in Europe as well - in fact, it is the eighth most obese nation in the world.