My research paper discusses the potential effects of a junk food tax. While surfing the web, I found this article on the International Journal of Obesity. The experimenters did a study which examined the effects of warning labels and a junk food tax on food options. After raising awareness of harmful ingredients and increasing the prices of unhealthy foods, the study demonstrated the influence the government can have by enforcing these requirements. With these changes, consumers became discouraged to purchase unhealthy foods because they were aware of the risks in eating particular products and these products were also unhealthy. Cost play a huge role in the decision-making process of consumers. In regards to the law of demand, with an increase in price, the demand of the product decreases. This relates to the food industry as well. By increasing the price of unhealthy food, there is a lower demand for the food. Also, it opens the door for an increase in demand for alternatives. With fewer people wanting chips and cookies, healthier options such as tomatoes and bananas can gain a greater demand. People want to save money, so they will buy inexpensive items while pricey products remain on the shelves of grocery stores. With the growth of obesity in America, the implementation of a junk food tax can help curb obesity levels in the nation. The study revealed that the increase in price of unhealthy food caused consumers to make healthier diet decisions. The change in price caused people to consume less, intake less energy, and lose weight, providing consumers with a better opportunity to adopt healthier lifestyles.
https://www.nature.com/articles/ijo2010228
-Javen Pacion
Good afternoon, Javen. I agree with the idea of taxing unhealthy foods, because similar endeavors have been taken in the past to prevent cigarette use. It's become clear that by increasing the tax on cigarettes, the purchasing of them decreases. It's very likely that by taxing unhealthy foods people will decrease their purchases of such food. As you mentioned earlier, economic theory shows that if the price of a good increases, then the demand for that good will decrease. It's a clear inverse relationship. Furthermore, if taxes raise the price of unhealthy food, they'll be forced to turn to substitute goods. In this case, the substitute goods would ideally be the healthier foods. Therefore, a sin tax should be put on unhealthy foods, because they're similar to tobacco and alcohol in the sense that they hurt the users in the long run.
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