Plans for ‘soda tax’ abandoned

There will be no ‘soda tax’ in Belgium after all, De Tijd reports. The office of health minister Laurette Onkelinx has confirmed that the tax on sugar-heavy soft drinks, first mooted in May, has now been abandoned, adding that in Denmark the initiative had been scrapped while the French seems to yield little results. "We have chosen to work more proactively and to seek agreements with the drinks industry," the office said. The Flemish institute for the promotion of health and disease prevention (VIGeZ) has expressed its disappointment, arguing that no comprehensive study had been conducted on the merits of such a tax.