Maria Dunbar
April 16th, 2015

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Denmark is often hailed as one of the world’s healthiest countries. A pioneer in taxing foods that are bad for us, the world has taken note as it has targeted saturated fats and soft drinks. However, there is one tax where it stands alone: nuts.

Knæk Afgiften (crack the charge), a campaign trying to abolish the tax, has for some time been trying to establish why the government would target such a healthy food group.

“I learned about the tax through my job and discovered that nuts are taxed more than sweets and soft drinks,” its founder Mads Lønnberg, a nut importer, told the Copenhagen Post.

“Nutritional experts agree that nuts are healthy, and Denmark needs to be healthier. The food regulations shouldn’t encourage people to eat unhealthily. Increasing numbers of Danes care about their health and they are always shocked when I tell them how skewed the system is.”

Nutty rules
The nut tax was created in 1922 and increased in 2009. Denmark lumps nuts together with sweets and doesn’t differentiate when it comes to charging VAT on food. So nuts are accordingly more expensive than they need to be.

“We would like to use different measures to inform the public about these taxes and food rules,” contended Lønnberg.

These measures include videos in which a dealer pushes non-taxed nuts like they are drugs (to be released this weekend) followed by a nutnomination campaign on social media to follow.

“You nominate others to crack a nut for a healthier food system in Denmark,” he continued. “We’ve managed to get a few celebrities on board.”

The goal of the campaign is to obtain a political reaction and they already have a meeting with the tax minister coming up.

First steps
Lønnberg describes himself as a person who cares about leading a healthy lifestyle and regards this campaign as a first step in a series of actions to create a healthier Denmark.

So if you’re nuts about nuts but think the price is steep, you should sign their petition.