POTATO chips and other salty snacks are on top of the Department of Health (DOH) list of items that are proposed to be covered by sin taxes.

In a radio interview Thursday, Oct. 31, 201, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said they are primarily looking at subjecting potato chips to additional excise tax in a bid to make them less accessible to the public.

“We can start with what are practical and are often consumed by the public but are really salty,” said Duque.

“High in our list are potato chips, among others. They are really salty. We can probably start with them,” he added.

High salt intake is directly linked to non-communicable diseases, such as hypertension, end-stage renal failure and cardiovascular illnesses.

Duque, however, pointed out that the proposal is still at a very early stage as the DOH still has to consult the Department of Finance (DOF) and Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

“This will be a long discussion between the DOH, DOF, DTI and other stakeholders. We will be following the process and subject this to studies,” he said.

Sin taxes are taxes imposed on non-essential products that are deemed bad for the health.

Duque said he believes there won’t be much resistance if they target junk food since these are deemed as non-essential food.

The Health chief noted that sugar-sweetened beverages, which are also deemed bad for health, are subjected to additional taxes.

Duque said thy were also eyeing other measures to encourage low salt diet.

“Taxation is one mode. But education and information dissemination is another. We need to make them understand that their health will be compromised if they continue with a high salt diet,” said Duque. HDT / SUNSTAR PHILIPPINES