observer Posted July 15, 2015 Report Share Posted July 15, 2015 Seems medics are calling for a 20% tax on foods with excess sugar content, while teachers are confiscating kids lunch boxes at school. Good idea to prevent the obesity epidemic or an example of the Nanny State ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davy51 Posted July 15, 2015 Report Share Posted July 15, 2015 ....& an excellent way to make a few bob for the government ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evil Sid Posted July 15, 2015 Report Share Posted July 15, 2015 plus a few bob for the retailers when they put the price of the products with no excess sugar up and sell them as "The Healthier alternative" and as we all know healthier options are always more expensive otherwise it can't be healthy can it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asperity Posted July 15, 2015 Report Share Posted July 15, 2015 More prodnoses no doubt after a research grant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evil Sid Posted July 16, 2015 Report Share Posted July 16, 2015 yep money to find out how much sugar is too much sugar. something that varies from individual to individual depending on their lifestyle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davy51 Posted July 17, 2015 Report Share Posted July 17, 2015 Isn't a lot of the problem brought about by adding preservatives etc to food that most people are unaware that they are eating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
observer Posted July 17, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 17, 2015 There are allsorts of conspiracy theories regarding the food companies use of sugar, in order to create addictions to their products. Whether true or not, they clearly seem reluctant to modify their products and reduce sugar and salt content. They also appear reluctant to co-operate with any easy advisory scheme, such as the traffic light labelling of food products. The principle of Gov interference in our consumption habits has been established with the tax on cigarettes; so it follows that a positive tax on "bad" foods and a corresponding subsidy of "good" foods; would enable the obesity epidemic to be tackled in a meaningfull way. Healthier diets ultimately means healthier people and less cost to tax-payers further down the line., with less pressure on the NHS. Part of the problem also, is the inability of many to prepare fresh food (despite all the cooking progs on TV); and the lazy option of junk food. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asperity Posted July 17, 2015 Report Share Posted July 17, 2015 Obs, it seems obvious that you have bought into the con that is being played here. A positive tax on bad foods? A subsidy on good foods? In whose opinion? There ain't going to be any subsidy to the consumer here. That is commercial suicide. Wake up and smell the coffee (fair trade of course :lol: :lol: ). There are legions of "experts" out there ready to spout their "findings" and looking for research grants. Ignore them and enjoy what is left of your all too short existence on planet earth. You only live once, and life is too short to spend listening to the outpourings of the, it seems, ever expanding mass of doom merchants. Salt is a necessity for the body's health, and the body excretes any excess ( you can die from a lack of salt). Sugar is energy, you can die from lack of energy. It's a matter of getting the balance right. The rent seekers are trying to frighten us into following their dictates. Don't listen to them, listen to your own common sense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
observer Posted July 18, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 18, 2015 As I said ASP; the principle has been lost with the tax on smoking; in a world of no Gov intervention fags would be a hell of a lot cheaper. Refined sugar allows for an excess of consumption, so no balance as you suggest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davy51 Posted July 18, 2015 Report Share Posted July 18, 2015 When these people say sugar does it also mean foods like certain fruit & veg that have similar to sugar in their make up ? For instance,my wife goes to one of these slimming organisations & every member has be told that fruit is excellent for weight loss until it is blended in which case natural sugar is released to be taken in by the body. Now, that means all these smoothies that people have will be full of sugar.....but hang on a minute,surely all this fruit gets blended in your stomach anyway ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
algy Posted July 18, 2015 Report Share Posted July 18, 2015 The amount of sugar butties I ate as a lad in the 1940's I should be well gone by now, they should concentrate on all the chemical additives and colours added to food that our digestive systems are not able to handle, instead of scaremongering. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asperity Posted July 18, 2015 Report Share Posted July 18, 2015 Well said Algy. Also the so called "obesity crisis" is more to do with the amount of exercise many people aren't taking than the amount of sugar they are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
observer Posted July 19, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 19, 2015 Where are you getting this "so called" obesity crisis from Asp? Aside from all the clinical stats, a walk round any shopping mall will give you the opportunity to observe the high numbers of seriously FAT people around; and fat parents with fat kids, browsing on a big Mack. Of course "lack of exercise" is a factor; if calories aren't burnt off with exercise, they'll result in stored fat; but high calorie intake continues, even without exercise, because of food addiction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stallard12 Posted July 19, 2015 Report Share Posted July 19, 2015 Very true Alg, I grew up on sugar butties, chip butties(cooked in lard)and drippin' butties - all on thick white bread with butter. The only sugar alternative was saccahrine, which was only used during the sugar shortage, otherwise sugar was used for everything. I'm 76 years old and fit as a fiddle, does that prove anything ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asperity Posted July 19, 2015 Report Share Posted July 19, 2015 Food addiction? FOOD ADDICTION??? Are you seriously suggesting that people are somehow addicted to food Obs? You know, the stuff we eat to keep us alive? okay some people over indulge and don't take enough exercise but I don't think you can call it an addiction :lol: :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazj Posted July 19, 2015 Report Share Posted July 19, 2015 ASP... you will be surprised... I honestly have an addiction to sweets. I hardly drink alcohol, 99% of the food I eat is healthy and home cooked - very rarely do I eat a ready meal or takeaway... and I gave up smoking easier than I can give up sweets.... don't be so dismissive of something you have had no experience about. I could quite easily spend over £10 a day on sweets and eat bags of haribos and multipacks of Chocolate very easily one after another I am enrolled on the current fit-to-tackle scheme run by the Wolves and Livewire (Thanks to Gary for putting the link on the website a few months ago ) and it is working wonders with regards to the exercise part (apart from a dodgy Achilles at the moment) I have lost well over a stone in weight in just over a month.... the exercise bit is relatively hard work, the healthy food eating is a doddle, but I still crave sweets Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asperity Posted July 19, 2015 Report Share Posted July 19, 2015 A sweet addiction is NOT a food addiction. We all need food to survive, and to suggest that there is such a thing as FOOD ADDICTION is plain crazy. We need food to live, end of story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazj Posted July 19, 2015 Report Share Posted July 19, 2015 I never said it WAS a food addiction, I was merely pointing out that anything can become an addiction...one guy I read about was addicted to sausages, spending hundreds of pounds on them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
observer Posted July 20, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 20, 2015 Whether one is addicted to nicotine, alcohol or sugar (in food), it's an addiction Asp. Fat folk are fat because they have a large calorie intake and don't burn it off with exercise. To get rid of the fat, you have to exercise if possible, but certainly have to reduce food (calorie) intake by eating a healthy diet. Fizzy drinks and junk food just aren't healthy; but one needs to ask why folk are attracted to processed and junk food, rather than fresh food. The answer will lie in the additives used, one of which is sugar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asperity Posted July 20, 2015 Report Share Posted July 20, 2015 People are attractedto junk food because they either don't know how to prepare a healthy meal or can't be bothered. I'm amazed at the numbers of people who get their Sunday dinner at the local chippy. The call for a sugar tax is coming from the usual suspects, you know the ones who insisted that the smoking bans weren't the thin end of the wedge? Well now they've got their feet in the door and are pushing as hard as they dare. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
observer Posted July 20, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 20, 2015 If your arguing that we should have NO Gov interference in our lifestyle choices Asp, that would include cigarettes and alcohol; and I can respect that point of view. However, the fact that we elect MPs to debate laws in Parliament, that do infringe on our personal freedoms; from not killing foxes to not killing people, from driving with a seat belt to not speeding; means inevitably that we'll have laws that restrict individual freedom of choice. Having outlawed a particular activity, the bonus for Gov is, that it allows, in many cases, a new revenue stream to be created. It also, at the same time, creates the levers of control to prevent injurious activity, injurious to the individual and injurious to the tax-payer in the longer term, through increased medical demand. The medical lobby, have been pushing for such lifestyle bans for some time; and whilst we can complain of lifestyle fascism, it's basically how modern Gov operates, the medics want us all to live forever or reduce their work load - take your pick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stallard12 Posted July 20, 2015 Report Share Posted July 20, 2015 I'm going to be very brave in a minute. I think that Asp and Bas are both right, it should be phrased an addiction to overeating or an addiction to bad food. Now for the brave part, my wife has been fighting her weight for some time and she knows it, however, if there is a bag of chips (crackers) and dip around, she can't leave them alone. If she knows that there is a 'doggy bag' from last nights meal-out in the refrigerator, it won't last past nine am. If that kind of stuff is not around, she will try to stay on her diet. Obviously when it comes to food, she has no willpower and I guess that's a form of addiction. I will now turn off the computer and tell her that Warrington Worldwide has gone bankrupt !!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evil Sid Posted July 20, 2015 Report Share Posted July 20, 2015 Tin hat should be with you shortly provided fed ex flight on time. I must adjust my "diet" before long or else i will have to put another notch in mt belt to stop the trousers falling down. currently buying 34 waist jeans and trousers down from 38 waist of a few years back. got that bad that winter leathers now only fit where they touch. What do i eat to get this marvelous result. practically anything i want. however having just one meal a day and no snacks between helps as does the worry over mother, wife,dog etc. on the plus side will soon be back to the same waistline i had when i was a fit and healthy twenty year old (32 waist) instead of the slightly less fit and nowhere near as healthy fifty eight year old that i am now. :sad: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asperity Posted July 20, 2015 Report Share Posted July 20, 2015 Obs, I do not vote for an MP so that he can tell me how to live my life. Government should restrict itself to looking after the security of the country and keeping citizens safe from criminals and ensuring that the health service and schools are properly funded. The problem is that since they handed over the bulk of legislative work to the world government agencies they find that all they have left to do is interfere with our lives. Hang the lot of them!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
observer Posted July 20, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 20, 2015 I have some sympathy with that point of view, particularly with the examples of the smoking ban in pubs, which probably most MPs don't frequent, and in any case they can smoke in the Commons bar; or in the case of the fox hunting ban, which basically amounted to a class based attack on the perceived gentry. To rub salt in the wound, HMG take over £9billion a year revenue from smokers, so whilst condemning it, still retain it's legality. As for obesity, common sense should allow folk to pursue a healthy diet and exercise; but the problem is, common sense isn't that common. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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