Many manufactured food and drink products contain high levels of sugar, which causes many health problems. Sugary products should be made more expensive to encourage people to consume less sugar.
Do you agree or disagree?
Sample Answer 1
Many processed foods and drinks are packed with sugar and this leads to many health issues. I agree that, to reduce sugar consumption, sugar-packed products should be sold at a higher price.
Many people over-consume sugary products because they are cheap. For example, in the United States, many fast-food restaurants offer free refills on sodas. As a result, customers tend to have two or even three sodas at a meal. If these restaurants are required to implement a 20% tax on these drinks and stop supplying free refills, many customers probably wouldn’t order one at all, let alone have a second one. A regulation like this could be extremely effective in terms of preventing obesity among low-income people since many of them are high consumers of cheap sugar-sweetened foods and beverages.
In addition, making high-sugar products more expensive can promote healthier eating choices. This is because if the prices of these products increase to a point at which people are unable to afford them regularly, they may turn to foods that are healthier and more affordable. For instance, if a can of strawberry-flavored beverage costs 3 times the price of a box of fresh strawberries, why not choose the cheaper fresh fruits which can also satisfy a craving for sugar. Although fresh fruits also contain sugars, natural sugars are much healthier than added ones.
In conclusion, sugar-sweetened products should be made more costly to reduce sugar intake. For one thing, the over-consumption of these products is partly because of their low cost. For another, increasing their price could encourage people to choose healthier food.
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Sample Answer 2
Many people believe that food and beverages that are high in sugar should be sold at high prices to discourage people from consuming these unhealthy products. I totally disagree because I think that it is unfair to consumers charge more for these products and also because there are other more effective ways to discourage consumption of these types of goods.
The main reason why I believe these products should not be made more expensive is that it is unfair to shoppers. These types of goods, when consumed in moderation, are not a health risk and therefore it does not seem reasonable that everybody who consumes these goods should have to pay more. Furthermore, for people on a tight budget, a sweet snack is an affordable luxury. However, if prices are hiked this might put people’s favourite snack out of reach.
In addition, there are more effective ways to decrease the consumption of sugary goods. The best way is for the government to engage in public service advertising to educate the public about the need to eat these types of products in moderation. This type of approach has been useful with other vices such as alcohol and cigarettes and so it seems reasonable that it will also work for sugary products. Another effective way to decrease the consumption is to ban advertising of these types of products. I feel this will be effective because it will create less of a psychological desire to consume these types of goods.
In conclusion, I am totally against increasing the price of confectionery. This is because it is not fair to consumers and there are better ways to reduce consumption of these sugary goods.
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