Are we heading for a bacon tax?

It may save thousands of lives – Oxford study

IMPOSING a 79 per cent tax on bacon and processed meat could prevent thousands of deaths and save the economy £ 70million in healthcare, it is claimed.

Taxing raw red meat at 14 per cent would also help reduce rates of heart disease, stroke, diabetes and cancer, a study by Oxford University shows.

But it means a typical pack of thick-sliced smoked bacon from a supermarket would rise from about £2 now to nearly £3.60. That would rise to well over £5 per pack for premium-priced bacon.

A tax would prevent 5,920 deaths per year in the UK and save an estimated 220,000 lives worldwide by 2020. Global healthcare costs would be £30.7billion lower, it predicts.

The consumption of ‘red’ meat, such as beef, lamb and pork, and processed meat is linked to a raised risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes and cancer.

So Oxford University scientists set out to calculate the level of health tax needed to make up for healthcare costs linked to eating meat in 149 regions around the world. They also estimated the impact of a meat tax on death rates due to chronic disease.

Despite the huge impact on the price of burgers, sausages, mince and steak, the scientists called on all governments to consider imposing meat taxes.

The study, published in the journal Public Library of Science ONE, suggests a tax could reduce consumption of bacon and sausages by two portions a week in high-income countries.

Lead researcher Dr Marco Springmann, from the Nuffield Department of Population Health at Oxford, said: ‘The consumption of red and processed meat exceeds recommended levels in most high and middle-income countries.

‘This is having significant impacts not only on personal health, but also on healthcare systems, which are taxpayer-funded in many countries, and on the economy, which is losing its labour force due to ill health and care for family members who fall ill.

‘I hope that governments will consider introducing a health levy on red and processed meat as part of a range of measures to make healthy and sustainable decision-making easier for consumers.

‘A health levy on red and proc-Proud essed meat would not limit choices, but send a powerful signal to consumers.

‘Nobody wants governments to tell people what they can and can’t eat. However, our findings make it clear that consumption of red and processed meat has a cost to health, the planet, healthcare systems and the economy.’

By 2020, consumption of red and processed meat is likely to cause 2.4million deaths a year worldwide and cost the global economy £219billion, the study found.

The World Health Organisation classifies beef, lamb and pork as carcinogenic when eaten in processed form, and ‘probably’ cancercausing when unprocessed.

Dr Carrie Ruxton, who speaks on behalf of the Meat Advisory Panel which represents the meat industry said: ‘Red meat provides valuable nutrients, such as iron, zinc, vitamin D and B vitamins.

‘These are often in short supply in the diets of young children, teenage girls and women, especially those in lower income households.

‘A tax on red meat would be a retrograde step, both for overall diet quality in women and girls and for health inequalities.

‘There is no high-quality evidence linking red and processed meat with heart disease, stroke or diabetes, and a risk of bowel cancer only applies when weekly intakes exceed 700g.’

‘Tax would be retrograde step’