DEERFIELD BEACH, Fla., April 10 - eDiets.com, Inc. (Nasdaq: DIET), leveraging the Internet and technology to bring diet, fitness, and healthy lifestyle solutions to market, today announced the results of its recent survey that gauged consumer responsiveness to the "fat tax." As part of an anti-obesity initiative, the "fat tax" was designed to discourage consumers from purchasing high-fat/low-nutrition foods. According to the survey, over 75% of consumers would support the "fat tax" -- or "twinkie tax" as it is sometimes called -- if the revenues were used to make healthier foods less expensive or to make healthcare premiums more affordable.
Although more than half -- a full 57% -- of the survey respondents indicated they consume junk food at least once a week and some everyday, 38% said that a sales tax imposed on "junk food" would not affect their purchasing habits.
The survey also revealed that "junk foods" have a pecking order among consumers. While 27% of respondents cited fast food as "the worst offending 'junk food,'" when asked which food items they were most likely to give up if the "fat tax" were imposed, soda and potato chips ranked among the highest, followed by candy bars, hamburgers, and ice cream.
Anti-obesity proponents like the World Health Organization (WHO), the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), and the Washington, D.C.-based Institute of Medicine (IOM), are all in favor of the "fat tax," believing it would be a proactive response to a food industry and consumer culture that increasingly promotes high-fat/low-nutrition foods as being the cheapest, tastiest, and most convenient.
"I support any initiative designed to make healthy food more affordable and junk food less appealing," said Susan Burke, eDiets.com Chief Nutritionist. "In kind, by offering consumers convenient online access to custom-tailored diet plans, fitness programs, and a personalized food delivery service, eDiets.com is doing its part to help people adopt a healthier lifestyle."
About eDiets.com
Headquartered in Deerfield Beach, FL, eDiets.com, Inc. (Nasdaq: DIET) is a premier online diet, fitness, and healthy living destination offering 24/7 professional advice, information, products and services to those seeking to improve their health and longevity. In addition to offering more than 20 personalized online nutrition and fitness programs and around-the-clock expert and peer-based online support services, eDiets.com members enjoy direct access to a wealth professional advice, information, and motivation from the company's network of health industry experts in a variety of fields, including nutrition, fitness, and motivation, among others. Founded in 1996 and with more than two million membership subscriptions sold to date, eDiets.com operates Web sites at http://www.eDiets.com, http://www.eFitness.com, http://www.eDiets.de, http://www.eDiets.com.es, http://www.FreshCuisine.com, and http://www.GleeMagazine.com, and publishes a family of industry-leading opt-in electronic newsletters that reach millions of health-conscious consumers nationwide.
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Statements which are not historical in nature are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties which could cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those which may be expressed or implied by such statements. These risks and uncertainties include, among others, that the Company will not be able to obtain sufficient and/or acceptable outside financing (when and if required), changes in general economic and business conditions, changes in product acceptance by consumers, a decline in the effectiveness of sales and marketing efforts, loss of market share and pressure on prices resulting from competition, volatility in the advertising markets utilized by the Company, the termination of contractual relationships with the Company's brand partners which license certain brand components and other proprietary information for the Company's subscription programs, regulatory actions affecting the Company's marketing activities, and the outcome of litigation pending against the Company. For additional information regarding these and other risks and uncertainties associated with eDiets.com's business, reference is made to the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2005, and other reports filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All forward-looking statements are current only as of the date on which such statements are made. The Company does not undertake any obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements.
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