As bad as cigarettes? Australia looks to plain packaging for junk food

Warning: this post may lead to accusations that Australia is becoming a nanny state.

As the United Kingdom puts off a move toward plain cigarette packages, experts in Australia are discussing how to take health warnings even further — with plain packaging for junk food.

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The Courier-Mail reported a panel at an Australian convention on food science and technology said plain packages on chips, among other junk food, might be necessary to fight obesity.

In 2012, Australia became the first country in the world to force all tobacco companies to package their cigarettes in plain green boxes with small font and no brand logos, making gruesome health warnings the most prominent images.

But if grocery store shelves become home to warnings about obesity and heart disease, how will the public react?

New York City's attempt to ban over-sized soft drinks fizzled controversy and prompted accusations the municipal government was trying to meddle in American's lives, limiting their freedom to choose their own food and beverages.

But as the New York Times' Mark Bittman wrote in a column this spring, soft drinks contribute heavily to diseases that kill tens of thousands of Americans each year.

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Obesity rates have doubled over the past 20 years in Australia and Canada isn't impressing anyone with its fitness levels either.

If a trip to the chip aisle reminds snackers of their next trip to the doctor, will they make better choices or pig out in protest?