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Re:Sugar and fat affect your brain by hombre_fatal on Thursday January 12, 2023 @01:43PM (#34358418)
Seems wrong to go after the consumers when we can question why we let companies line their own pockets by selling vices so successful that they are destroying everyone's health, yet so normalized that we don't think to question why we let megacorps do it.

I also think it's a scale thing. Selling grandma's cookies at the grocer? Fine. Megacorp optimized junk (and nothing else) sold at every 7/11 on the continent? Perhaps not so excusable.

Re:Sugar and fat affect your brain by yetihehe on Thursday January 12, 2023 @02:07PM (#34358773)
> Megacorp optimized junk (and nothing else) sold at every 7/11 on the continent? Perhaps not so excusable.

It's excusable because it's just tasty food, which theoretically we are supposed not to eat too much. The problem is that this food became more tasty, convenient and sometimes cheaper (at least in time-value) than normally cooked food and we as a society don't even have enough time and knowledge to cook proper healthy food.

> (and nothing else)

Because it's cheap. There are many places where you can buy healthy food but it's more expensive.

Re:Sugar and fat affect your brain by bilegeek on Thursday January 12, 2023 @02:09PM (#34358810)
It's also double-dipping; excessive subsidies via taxes, then add ANOTHER tax to offset the cheap prices caused by subsidies? Just have less insane subsidies!

(Yes, subsidies are necessary, national food security etc.; but a LOT is just from lobbying and corruption. Never gonna reduce them because of that, but we can dream.)

Re:Sugar and fat affect your brain by dfxm12 on Thursday January 12, 2023 @03:18PM (#34359698)
It's important to note that often, these taxes aren't imposed on consumers directly, but on distributors. Distributors and retailers just choose to price gouge rather than make a fraction of a cent less per ounce sold.

Even with that in mind, it's easy to say "why do we let megacorps do it"? Well, we don't, not necessarily. They just have the financial and legal resources to impose their will. A pigouvian tax is probably the easiest tool most levels of the US government has to restrict successful vices. Look at that link again. See how much money Coke, Pepsi, etc. were spending in Philadelphia and San Francisco to fight taxes that have solid legal standing. Localities taking action need to make sure they're bulletproof legally, or else the action will be reversed.

Re:Sugar and fat affect your brain by juve1996 on Thursday January 12, 2023 @05:04PM (#34360910)
What other way do you regulate this without impacting consumer choice?