"Fat Tax" Really?

Yup! Denmark has enacted a tax on products such as butter and oil as a way to help curb poor eating habits for their citizens.  With this new tax, the price of a hamburger will go up about $0.15 and butter $0.40. I believe there are people in our great country who think this might be a good idea for Americans too. Well, I have a lot to say about that. First, how are they going to set limits on which foods would be taxed? Certain oils provide valuable nutrients and contain a mix of fats, how would those be judged? What about my beloved avocado? The Denmark tax is limited to saturated fat, but what about some new research suggesting that saturated fat may not be the culprit for heart disease after all? Second and most importantly, I don't believe in diets in part because real change needs to come from within; this is clearly another external mechanism dictating what we should/should not eat.  Let's shift our focus to make sure we address "how" and "why" we are eating. We cannot change only "what" we eat and expect a healthy outcome. Once we remove labels from food, i.e., "good," "bad," etc. and give ourselves unconditional permission to eat, real transformation can begin. Oh yeah, and throw out the scale!