WHO Europe policy brief: using food taxes to promote healthier diets

This brief from WHO Europe outlines how fiscal measures can create fairer food environments by promoting healthy diets. It highlights principles for designing food taxes, including alignment with nutrient profile models, strong monitoring, and protection from industry interference. The brief emphasises that well-designed health taxes on foods, particularly sugar-sweetened beverages, can improve nutrition, reduce obesity and noncommunicable diseases, and deliver environmental benefits. Subsidies on healthier foods may complement these measures, while careful policy design is needed to balance effectiveness, administrative costs, and equity.

Read the policy brief here.