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This month saw the publication of the National Food Strategy, a government-commissioned review led by “Food Tsar” Henry Dimbleby.

The wide-ranging report covered everything from the environmental impact of food production to eligibility for free school meals, but the proposal attracting the most attention is a new £3 per kilogram tax on sugar and a £6 per kilogram tax on salt in processed foods from supermarkets and prepared restaurant meals.

Supporters of these new taxes and similar measures point to the cost of Britain’s obesity crisis and believe that taxes can encourage companies to reformulate their products into healthier alternatives.

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister has signalled his scepticism at the idea of raising food prices for ordinary families and other critics are concerned that it will ruin the taste of popular foods while doing little to change our eating habits.

To discuss the pros and cons of the National Food Strategy, we have assembled an expert panel.

Panelists:

Daniel Pryor (Chair) is the Head of Programmes at the Adam Smith Institute.

Christopher Snowdon is the Head of Lifestyle Economics at the Institute of Economic Affairs.

Kate Ferguson is the Deputy Political Editor at The Sun.

Darwin Friend is a Policy Analyst at the TaxPayers’ Alliance.