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The Colombian government has introduced a new law to tax ultra-processed food in a bid to tackle lifestyle diseases, The Guardian reported.

Following its South American neighbours Ecuador and Peru, Colombia was introducing mandatory health warnings on foods with high content of unhealthy ingredients, such as sugar or saturated fat, the 10 November report said.

According to campaigners and health experts, who welcomed the move, it could set an example for other countries, the 10 November report said.

However, critics of the new tax said it would worsen Colombia’s struggle with inflation.

After years of campaigning, the “junk food law” was introduced in November, with the tax to be introduced gradually, the report said.

The tax on affected foods would begin at 10% immediately, increasing to 15% next year and reaching 20% in 2025.

“Countries around the world have been implementing health taxes, for example by taxing tobacco or sugary drinks, but few have extended them to processed foods,” Franco Sassi, international health policy and economics professor at London’s Imperial College Business School, was quoted as saying.

“Colombia’s model is more expansive than what we have seen before and could serve as an example to other countries.”

The tax targets ultra-processed products defined as industrially manufactured ready-to-eat foods, as well as those high in salt and saturated fat, such as chocolates or crisps, The Guardian wrote.

“The tax is applied to the same products that have the health warning label,” Sassi said. “This creates an information and a financial incentive for the consumer to avoid these products.”

Some compromises had been made with the food industry, such as excluding some traditional Colombian foods, for example salchichón sausage, from the tax, Sassi said.

The Colombian diet is high in sodium, which has been linked to an increase in cardiovascular diseases, such as strokes and heart failure, which account for almost a quarter of deaths annually, according to the report.

The average Colombian consumed 12g/day of salt– the highest rate in Latin America and among the highest in the world – and almost a third of adults in the country had high blood pressure, The Guardian wrote.

Other non-communicable diseases linked to diet and obesity, such as diabetes, were also problematic, with more than a third of deaths in the South American country attributed to diabetes occurring among the under-70s and non-communicable diseases accounting for an estimated 76% of all deaths, the report said.