Public Policy towards Food Consumption

Abstract

Governments around the world are increasingly concerned about the rise in diet-related chronic disease and there has been increased interest in policy interventions targeted at changing eating habits. In this paper, we discuss the ways in which food markets might fail to deliver the optimal outcome and how this may justify government intervention. We consider how well different types of policies - information campaigns, taxes and regulations - are able to counteract these market failures and we consider some of the implementation issues associated with targeting different consumers and anticipating firms' strategic responses. © 2010 The Authors Fiscal Studies.