There is an unpalatable truth about the foods we crave: they are generally bad for us. Our evolutionary history has left us longing for sugars and fats, exactly the sort of energy-dense substances that stopped our ancestors from starving in lean times.
Those ingredients, now cheap and plentiful, are fuelling a worldwide rise in obesity and type 2 diabetes. The issue resurfaced in the UK last week with the publication of a report into public health, and on childhood obesity in particular. Now a bitter war has broken out between politicians and health experts on the merits of a tax on high sugar products such as soft drinks. I can understand the clamour — and such a move may shock us into cutting consumption — but a sugar tax does not quite hit the sweet spot.
In a high-income country, a levy substantial enough to deter abusers is likely to be unfair on those who exercise restraint. But it would also see the government flexing its fiscal muscles over an ingredient that is neither poisonous nor addictive; crowd out discussion of other undesirables such as saturated fats and salt; absolve manufacturers of the need to change their products; and, most worryingly, convey the impression that government can exonerate consumers from personal responsibility.