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With Easter just around the corner, everywhere I turn I seem to be surrounded by chocolate bunnies or meteor-sized chocolate eggs containing more little chocolate eggs, all oozing with chocolate fondant. It’s fantastic. Every year, as I wander the supermarket aisles full of shiny coloured wrapping and the unmistakeable sweet chocolaty aroma, it’s like I’ve died and gone to chocolate heaven.
So you can imagine my dismay when I heard Dr. David Walker, a GP in Larnarkshire call for a tax to be added to chocolate in the same way it’s added to cigarettes and alcohol. He believes taxing chocolate could reduce our obesity levels and is reported to have warned that chocolate has lost its status as a 'treat' and has become a harmful addiction for some people.
Admittedly, chocolate is more than just an Easter treat for me, it’s a pick-me-up when I’m down; it’s rocket fuel when I’m tired; it’s a bit of sweetness on the palate after dinner; it’s a little slice of self indulgence with a good movie. I see it as more of a way of life than a treat and I know I’m not alone. Am I addicted? Probably. Am I obese? No.
In fact, some people believe the good health benefits of chocolate far outweigh the negatives.
Founder of www.mychocolate.co.uk and self-confessed chocoholic, Hannah Saxton says: 'Good quality chocolate can be a great source of vitamins and minerals. Cocoa itself contains Vitamins A, B1, D and E as well as iron, calcium, potassium and magnesium, which is good for lowering blood pressure and can even help with the symptoms of PMT. Cocoa is also loaded with antioxidants and is, in fact, a better source of antioxidants than green tea or red wine.'
Hannah runs workshops on how to make your own chocolate and admits: 'I see how happy people are when they’re elbow deep in vats of chocolate, it’s a universal joy that’s not only good for our health, but good for our souls.'
I know one woman who would agree wholeheartedly. I recently read about Peggy Griffiths, a sweet-toothed centenarian, who is reported to have eaten 30 bars of chocolate a week for the past decade. She’s loved chocolate since she had her first bar at five years old and she looks like the healthiest granny I’ve ever seen. Her skin is glowing and she has a huge smile on her face.
Luckily, David Walkers’s motion calling for a tax on chocolate was defeated by two votes at a BMA conference. They probably realised making chocolate more expensive as a way of tackling obesity, would be like taking away Russell Brand’s Barry White albums in an effort to stop him having sex.
A small victory for the chocolate lovers among us, and an excuse to stock pile the brown stuff while we’ve got the chance because, well, who knows what might happen…
Do you think chocolate should be taxed? Talk about it here.
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