Report on the pertinence and feasibility of a nutritional tax

The objective of the paper was to assess the costs of medicare associated with the consumption of food products that are high in fat and salt, and the effectiveness of a tax on such products to change behaviour and promote a more balanced diet. Some key insights from the paper:

• “The establishment of a tax for exclusively nutritional purposes would face a number of difficulties: Very heavy administrative costs for companies and authorities, as well as legal, technical, economic and social obstacles, especially in terms of justification. The mission repels this option and rather recommends to go back to available fiscal measures” (translation from the French).

You can find the whole paper here.