Commission investigates Danish 'fat tax'

On 5 February 2015, the European Commission initiated a formal investigation procedure against Denmark’s so-called ‘fat tax’, which was introduced in 2011 and abolished in January 2013: the European Commission suspects it could be considered as illegal state aid.

The goal of the investigation would be to determine whether food producers who were not forced to add an extra fat tax on their products received illegal assistance.

The tax was levied on meat, dairies, oils and other foods with at least 2.3% of satured fat. The Commission argues that all products with saturated fats should have had the fat tax added.

When abolishing the tax, the government put forward it had created administrative burdens it created, a dramatic rise in border trade and uncertainty among consumers on the real costs of food products.

A full article from Euractiv on the investigation can be read here.