France to impose Fat-Tax on Sugary drinks such as Coca-Cola & Fanta

[sustain...@gmail.com]

Obesity: Government's are now tackling excessive weight gain in their
populations and are targeting sugary drinks. France is bringing in
measures to ration mayonnaise and tomato ketchup in schools.

New laws come days after announcement that tomato ketchup and
mayonnaise will be rationed in schools.

20 million French people are overweight, survey says.

France is to impose a 'fat tax' on sugary soft drinks in a bid to
combat soaring child obesity.
The new tax will add just over 1p to a can of fizzy drink like Coca-
Cola or Fanta but zero-calorie 'diet' drinks will be exempt from the
charges, the government said.

The new measures - a hike of from 3 to 6 Euro cents per litre on
sugary drinks - are also expected to raise more than £100 million a
year for government coffers.

The revenue would be used to fund lower social security charges for
farm workers, the government said.

The move comes days after France also announced it would be rationing
tomato ketchup and salt in school canteens.

Under the rules, tomato sauce and mayonnaise will only be on dinner
tables once a week when chips are served and would be removed when
traditional French dishes such as roast veal are served.

Denmark also recently announced a new higher tax on foods containing
high levels of saturated fat.

French MP Gilles Carrez said of his country's latest soft drinks tax:
'This project will have both health benefits as children turn away
from sugary drinks, and revenue benefits for our core agricultural
workforce.'

A recent study found a fast-food diet of junk food is turning the
traditionally skinny French into a nation of fatties.

More than 20 million French people are now overweight and seven
million of those are clinically obese - double the figure for 14 years
ago, according to France's National Institute for Health and Medical
Research.

Despite still being officially Europe's second thinnest people, the
weight of the average French person has soared by half a stone to 11
stone 4lbs since 1997, the report found.

A French health ministry spokesman added: 'We French may be among the
least overweight in Europe but we have nothing to be complacent about.

'Obesity is rising as swiftly in France as it is in other EU countries
and action must be taken before it gets any more serious.'

Europe's fattest nation is Greece, where 70 per cent of people are
overweight, and 30 per cent are obese.

Britons are Europe's fifth fattest, behind Germany, Finland and
Ireland, according to a TNS Sofres survey of 500,000 people across the
EU.

The NHS defines being overweight as having a body mass index - your
weight to height ratio - of between 25 and 30, and obese as over 30.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2045980/France-impose-fat-tax-sugary-drinks-Coca-Cola-Fanta.html

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23995175-france-fat-tax-on-fizzy-drinks-to-tackle-obesity.do

http://eprints.ucl.ac.uk/14931/1/14931.pdf

---
Related Link:

UK Pioneers Drill-less, Painless Dental Treatment
http://www.pharmaceutical-int.com/news/uk-pioneers-drill-less-painless-dental-treatment.html