Study will look at ‘fat taxes’ on unhealthy food

Sugary soft drinks and other unhealthy foods may one day be taxed if this is deemed feasible, according to a study that the Maltese health authorities plan to carry out. The feasibility study will look into the introduction of “sin” or “fat taxes” on unhealthy food and explore incentives and subsidies for healthy food, a spokesman for the Health Promotion Department told The Times. In the UK, doctors have been demanding a 20 per cent increase on the cost of sugary soft drinks as part of recommendations to stop the country’s spiralling obesity crisis. Malta too has an alarming obesity rate, with the country ranking highest in the EU in terms of the percentage of obese men and the third highest for women. The Health Department said it had never received any specific request from Maltese doctors to tax soft drinks. However, the issue was discussed with various stakeholders during workshops held in the consultation phase and launch of the Healthy Weight for Life Strategy. The strategy, published last year, lays the groundwork for the feas-ibility study to be carried out. Daniel Sammut, a family doctor and the co-author of a paper on obesity recently published in the Malta Medical...