10pc fizzy drink tax 'would curb obesity crisis'

[Northerner]

A 10PC sugar tax on fizzy drinks has the potential to reduce the number of overweight and obese adults by 24,000.

The major unpublished report, a copy of which has been obtained by the Irish Independent, was commissioned by Health Minister James Reilly and a team of experts, to provide objective evidence of the need for the sugar tax to be introduced in the Budget to help curb the obesity timebomb.

But despite the strong case for the tax, the proposal was shot down by Finance Minister Michael Noonan and his officials, who claimed fizzy drinks were already subject to a high enough levy of 23pc VAT.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/10pc-fizzy-drink-tax-would-curb-obesity-crisis-3339487.html

 

[Pumper_Sue]

Did the massive tax on fags stop people smoking? Answer no.
So why expect a sugar tax to work? 🙄

 

[robert@fm]

In any case, writers for a supposed quality broadsheet should know better than to mix their metaphors like that; bombs are defused, not curbed. 😛