France to put 'fat tax' on pizzas, crisps and hamburgers

France is considering plans to impose a "fat tax" by more than trebling the VAT on junk food to tackle soaring obesity levels.

Ministers are being urged by health experts to raise VAT from 5.5 to 19.6 per cent on all foods considered to be "too rich, too sweet, too salty and which are not strictly necessary".

The cost of pizzas, hamburgers, sandwiches, crisps, children's sweets and creamy coffees could soar as a result.

Although it is Europe's second slimmest nation after Italy, more than one in three people in France are overweight or obese and expanding waist lines have triggered a surge in heart disease, diabetes and certain types of cancer.

A panel of scientists also wants cigarette-style health warnings on packaging for fattening foods, and a ban on junk food advertising during children's television programmes.

Suggested wordings for warnings include: "For your health, eat at least five fruits and vegetables a day and undertake regular physical activity."

The recommendations will go before the French parliament this month, and could become law by next year.

However, experts acknowledge that "the least privileged sections of the population, who eat least well, could be most heavily penalised" by the tax increase.

A recent study found that of France's 63 million population, 19.8 million were overweight and 5.9 million of those were clinically obese.

It also found that there were 2.3 million more obese people than in 1987.

Europe's fattest nation is Greece, where 70 per cent of people are overweight, and 30 per cent are obese.

Britain has the second highest proportion of obese women at 25 per cent, compared with 22 per cent in Europe as a whole.

British men are Europe's fifth fattest, behind Germany, Greece, Finland and Ireland  -  62 per cent of UK males are overweight and 20 per cent are obese, according a survey of 500,000 people across the EU.

A French health ministry spokesman said: "Just because we are among the least overweight in Europe, we have nothing to be complacent about. The figures show obesity is rising swiftly in France and other EU countries, and we want to take action now before it gets any more serious.

"We want people  -  and particularly young people  -  to cut back on the snacking and get back to healthy habits."