The sugary drinks tax has been a resounding success. And there are those who want to extend it now to salt

At the beginning of the week, Chris Hilson, a professor at Reading University, brought together the press and presented The most ambitious report which had been done to analyze the United Kingdom sugar tax.

His data were begged: since the tax was introduced, the sugar content in the drinks 44% has been reduced. However, Hilson doesn’t want to stay there.

Why not use this approach to improve food, address the obesity epidemic and promote a healthy and sustainable diet? Why not launch, for example, a salt tax?

The salt? Indeed. Salt has been in the spotlight of doctors, nutritionists and health researchers for many years. And rightly: Reducing salt intake is one of the simpler and more profitable ways to reduce the incidence of diseases such as arterial hypertension, coronary heart disease or strokes.

The problem is that we don’t even know how much salt we consume. And we don’t know because it is very difficult to know: According to the surveys availableapproximately 70% of the salt consumed by Western populations comes from processed foods.

The “approximately” is key. It is not easy to measure at the individual level and not even biometric analyzes (such as urine) are very precise when determining consumption. But we know that, if we discount the effect of other critical factors, add salt to meals on the table It is related With a reduction of more than two years life expectancy in men and about a year and a half for women.

It is not, seen what is seen, something lower.

But what can we do? There it enters Hilson’s idea: “It is vital to extend sugar tax to all processed foods. The current tax has reduced sugar in soft drinks, but we need to see the same success in products such as milkshakes, cookies, yogurts and cereals for breakfast to improve public health,” said.

In the background, according to your team’s data, well -designed regulations in the food sector in general could translate into “a healthier environment, as well as a healthier population.”

A tax that always ends up. It is curious because salt taxes have historically been one of the most unpopular taxes. From French gabela to the Indian nationalist movementsSalt has played a very important role in the formation of contemporary political societies.

It is true that the current tax that is being considered in places like the United Kingdom It is very different to those who disappeared throughout the twentieth century. The importance and scarcity of this resource changed radically with our technical capacity. However, it is still curious that this compound is in the pillory.

As epidemics like obesity grow, more and more experts They believe that states They should take action on the matter. Above all, in well -being systems such as Europeans. The evidence shows that These types of interventions are effective. However, we are still taking the first steps in this field.

Image | Timo Volz / Victoriano Izquierdo

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