According to a preliminary version of the State Budget proposal for 2018 (OE2018), to which the Lusa had access on Friday, the Government wants to introduce a new tax on food that will depend on the levels of salt it contains.

Crackers, cereals and crisps will be covered by this tax "when they have a salt content of 1 gram or more per 100 grams of product" or 10 grams per kilo.

A tax of €0.80 will be levied on each kilo of these foods according to the State Budget proposal, and any crackers, crisps or cereals with less than one gram of salt per 100 grams will be exempt from thsi payment.

This new tax is added to the Consumer Excise Code (IEC) and revenues from it will be "allocated to the health promotion and disease prevention programmes managed by the Directorate-General for Health."

In January the government introduced a new tax on soft and sugary drinks and is expected to raise €80 million in State revenues from the “sugar tax” this year.

The price of a soft drink with up to 80 grams of sugar per litre rose by €0.15 and drinks with more than 80 grams of sugar per litre now cost an additional €0.30. The price rises include VAT (value added tax).