Norway sugar tax proposal, Digi Mart USA News (Oslo, Norway): Former health minister Bent Høie, who helped remove the tax on chocolate and soft drinks, now wants it reinstated. He says the health benefits would be worth far more than the cost of the tax.
“We eat far too much sugar, and it has serious negative consequences for our health,” Høie told the Norwegian news agency NTB.
Høie led a committee that examined Norway’s food system and presented its work on Friday in the Marble Hall in Oslo. One of its conclusions is that too few people follow dietary guidelines, which is costly for society.
“Too much of society’s resources go toward treating diseases that could have been avoided if more people had eaten in line with the dietary guidelines,” Høie said.
The committee proposes making healthy food cheaper and unhealthy food more expensive. To do so, it recommends reviving the previous sugar and confectionery tax, which made sugary soft drinks and chocolate more expensive.
“The committee proposes increasing the tax on sugar, introducing a graduated sugar tax on chocolate and confectionery, and introducing a graduated sugar tax on non-alcoholic beverages,” the committee leader said.
Norway had such a tax until 2021, when the Solberg government, with Høie as health minister, removed it. Høie did not directly answer whether removing the tax was a mistake.
