Eating fatty foods just got a little pricier in Denmark.

The country is the first to slap a tax on saturated fats. Now, residents will pay about 12 cents more for a bag of chips, 39 cents more for a small package of butter and 40 cents more for a hamburger, one Danish group calculated. Hungary also recently implemented a tax on soft drinks, pastries and salty snacks.

The movement could spread to other countries; Finland and Romania could soon follow suit. Governments around the world are desperate for cash, and the tax is one way to raise more money while appearing to take a stand on public health.

Would a "fat tax" fly in the United States? Check out the debate in the following video.

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When does the trend start to become a concern for companies like McDonald's (MCD) and PepsiCo (PEP), which owns the Frito-Lay snack food line?

Right now, there doesn't seem cause for worry. In fact, one Denmark resident thinks people will buy more of those foods just to thumb their noses at the system. "Knowing the Danes, it could have the opposite effect," he told The Guardian. "Like naughty children, when they are told not to do something, they do it even more."

Advocates in the United Kingdom say a similar tax is needed. If the UK doesn't act, 70% of the British population will be obese or overweight by 2050, the spokesman for the National Obesity System told the Guardian. About 15% of Europeans are obese.

The obesity rate is about 33% in the United States and expected to reach 50% by 2030.

The real question is whether a fat tax is any sort of deterrent. Taxes generally don't get people to change their behavior, writes Stephen Gandel at Time. And a fat tax may unfairly punish the poor, since lower-income people usually eat fattier foods than rich people.

"Raise the tax on fatty foods, and you are only making the people who are most likely to need health care less able to afford it," Gandel writes. "And as a result, fat taxes can further increase the wealth gap in the country."

One study found that a 10% fat tax on dairy products only resulted in a 1% reduction in consumption. To really make a difference, the tax would have to be sky high.