States Move to Ban Using Food Stamps for Soda

The U.S. health and agriculture secretaries have expressed support.

Soda in New York City in a file image. Spencer Platt/Getty Images

States are beginning to take action to ban food stamp recipients from using their food stamps for soda.

West Virginia will ask the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for a waiver that enables the state to prohibit using food stamps to buy soda, West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey announced on March 28.

“Taxpayer dollars should be targeted toward nutritious foods,” Morrisey, a Republican, said during a news conference with U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

He noted that the formal name of the food stamp program is the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

At the end of the event, Morrisey signed a letter of intent to request waivers for changes to the SNAP program in West Virginia, the governor’s office stated.

Kennedy told those assembled that the governor had recounted to him what unfolded during a recent meeting with soda companies.

“He came in with his Diet Coke, and he said, ‘Is there anything nutritious in here?’” Kennedy said. “And they were like, ‘No, of course not, but food stamps is not a nutrition program.’”

“[SNAP] is supposed to be nutrition,” Kennedy said.

“It’s not supposed to be food-like substances that are actually poisoning us ... but it takes a lot of courage to stand up to these companies the same way that it did to stand up to Big Tobacco.”

The American Beverage Association, which represents drink manufacturers, said in a statement, “SNAP restrictions won’t make anyone healthier or save taxpayer dollars.”

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins has indicated that she supports letting states implement a ban on the use of food stamps for soda.

“I look forward to receiving Governor Morrisey’s SNAP pilot request and will work swiftly to make certain West Virginia is equipped with the technical assistance and expertise to move forward,” Rollins said in a statement.

In fiscal year 2023, SNAP served an average of 42 million Americans per month, or 12 percent of the U.S. population, according to the USDA.

Some 293,550 West Virginia residents were receiving food stamps as of June 2023, according to federal data.

Eligibility for SNAP is based on the amount a person makes and the assets he or she has.

Current food stamp limits include a rule against using them for live animals and hot foods.

The USDA found in a 2016 report that recipients spent the most money on meat, poultry, and seafood, followed by soda and other sweetened beverages.

West Virginia’s action came a day after Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, a Republican, signed legislation that requires the state Department of Health to submit a waiver to the USDA that would authorize the department to bar food stamp recipients from using SNAP benefits to buy soft drinks.

“We should not force Utahns to eat certain foods, and we are not doing that, but we should also not use tax funds to subsidize choices that don’t have nutritional value,” state Rep. Kristen Chevrier, another Republican, said during the floor debate over the bill.

“We can begin to Make America Healthy Again by ending soda subsidies,” she said on social media platform X.

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders in late 2024 said in a letter to Rollins and Kennedy that SNAP is undermining the health of Americans because it is “encouraging families to eat highly processed, unhealthy junk food.”

“As Secretaries, I ask that you work collaboratively across the Administration to prohibit the sale of junk food in SNAP and end taxpayer-funded junk food,” she wrote. “I also wish to notify you of my intent to pursue a SNAP Waiver from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service that would support fresh fruits, vegetables, eggs, and protein and prohibit using SNAP for junk food.”

Kennedy said on March 28 that other governors should seek to eliminate soda as an option for food stamps.

“I urge every governor to follow West Virginia’s lead and submit a waiver to the USDA to remove soda from SNAP,” he said.