title: The rise and fall of the world's first fat tax.
abstract: In 2011, Denmark introduced the world's first tax on saturated fat, but only 15 months later the fat tax was abolished. The aim of this article is to investigate the political processes surrounding the implementation and rapid abolition of the fat tax. Our findings suggest that industry and trade associations were heavily involved in the political process of formulating the fat tax. Industry representatives used certain tactics to oppose the fat tax: threatening lawsuits, predicting welfare losses, casting doubt on evidence, diverting focus and requesting postponement. After the fat tax was implemented, the food industry continued their opposition through intensified lobbyism and juridical actions at EU level. However, other factors seem to have contributed to the fall of the fat tax. The tax received criticism for being poorly designed and gradually lost popularity among health professionals, politicians and the public. In the end, the fat tax was abolished for financial reasons. This study demonstrates how politicians considered the fat tax as a funding source rather than a public health initiative, which resulted in significant shortcomings. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the massive influence by industry stakeholders was not balanced with inputs from public health professionals, who should assume a more proactive role in policy-making.
authors.affiliation: Research Centre for Prevention and Health, Nordre Ringvej 57, Building 84/85, DK-2600 Glostrup, Denmark; Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Øster Farimagsgade 5, DK-1014 Copenhagen K, Denmark. Electronic address: malb@sund.ku.dk.
authors.forename: Malene
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bødker
authors.affiliation: Research Centre for Prevention and Health, Nordre Ringvej 57, Building 84/85, DK-2600 Glostrup, Denmark. Electronic address: charlotta.pisinger@regionh.dk.
authors.forename: Charlotta
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pisinger
authors.affiliation: Research Centre for Prevention and Health, Nordre Ringvej 57, Building 84/85, DK-2600 Glostrup, Denmark. Electronic address: ulla.toft@regionh.dk.
authors.forename: Ulla
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Toft
authors.affiliation: Research Centre for Prevention and Health, Nordre Ringvej 57, Building 84/85, DK-2600 Glostrup, Denmark; Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Øster Farimagsgade 5, DK-1014 Copenhagen K, Denmark; Faculty of Medicine, University of Aalborg, Niels Jernes Vej 10, DK-9220, Denmark. Electronic address: torben.joergensen@regionh.dk.
authors.forename: Torben
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Jørgensen
mesh_terms: D003718:Denmark; D004032:Diet / Q000191:economics; D004041:Dietary Fats / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000191:economics*; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000191:economics; D019649:Food Industry / Q000191:economics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D006291:Health Policy; D006801:Humans; D011057:Politics; D011634:Public Health; D013660:Taxes / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*
chemical_list: D004041:Dietary Fats; D005227:Fatty Acids
keywords: Food industry; Food policy; Lobbying; Policy development