Slow Food home | About us | Foundation | Editore | Sloweb | Press Office | Store     Sloweb     Home | Sloweek | Voices from the Slow world | Slow Talk | News | Watch & Listen             Introducing the Junk Food Tax 14 Jan 10 - Sloweb Romania may be the first country to introduce a tax on junk food as early as March of this year, in an effort to fight obesity and increase the level of funding for its crisis-hit health system, Romanian authorities announced on Tuesday. One in four Romanians suffers from obesity with diet-related diseases increasingly becoming a problem among the younger population. The country’s public health system suffers from chronic lack of funding with authorities warning that 2010 may see problems in financing some medical infrastructure and medicine. "We intend to introduce a tax on fast food, soft drinks and candies in order to support national health programs," Health Minister Attila Cseke announced during a press conference in Bucharest. Full details of the tax still need to be developed, but it is expected that a special nutrition commission at the ministry level will be in charge of designing the tax. If approved, the levy would apply to producers of fast-food products, certain snacks and crisps, confectionery and soft drinks, and is estimated to bring around one billion euros (1.45 billion dollars) to the ministry's budget. The announcement comes soon after Taiwan’s plans to become the first country to introduce a tax on junk food in an attempt to reduce obesity rates and encourage healthily eating. Such taxes have been considered in other countries, including France and Australia, but were not followed through due to concerns about the additional cost to consumers and the difficulty in coming up with a suitable scheme.   News archive from Terramadre News archive from Slowfood Foundation for Biodiversity News archive from University of Gastronomic Sciences News archive from Watch & Listen           News     United States - 01 Sep 10     Eataly in New York     The philosophy and campaigns promoted by Slow Food over the past twenty years to strengthen regional, tasty and sustainable food, and reconnect consumers with the origin of their food, have...           News archive     Brazil - 17 Aug 10     Gastromotiva     Terra Madre chef and Slow Food convivium empower disadvantaged youth to enter culinary careers ...     Russia - 16 Aug 10     Biodiversity Hangs in the Balance     Slow Food joins the protest against destruction of Europe’s largest repository of rare fruit ...     United Kingdom - 13 Aug 10     Food Justice     Slow Food UK praises social justice report’s call for action ...     Philippines - 10 Aug 10     Against the Grain     The Indigenous Taguibong people in the Philippines continue to practice the traditional rice threshing and milling methods of their ancestors ...     Georgia - 05 Aug 10     Meeting in the Birthplace of the Vine     First Terra Madre Georgia held with a focus on wine and small producers ...     Italy - 03 Aug 10     Strengthening the Indigenous Voice     Slow Food enters into a partnership to advocate for indigenous groups around the world ...     Archive previous news   Slow Food 2010 - All rights reserved - P.iva 91008360041 - Powered by Blulab