US health chief Kennedy urges banning poor from using aid to buy soda
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The declaration sent stocks of soft drink makers, including giants Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, reeling.
PHOTO: AFP
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WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump’s health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr called on March 28 on the state authorities to ban people from using assistance known as food stamps to buy sugary drinks.
The declaration sent soft drink makers’ stocks reeling.
Speaking at an event in West Virginia alongside Republican Governor Patrick Morrisey, Mr Kennedy said the state – one of the poorest in the US – had submitted a waiver request to prevent food stamp recipients from using the aid to purchase soft drinks like Coca-Cola and Pepsi.
“The message that I want to give the country today, and all the other governors, is get in line behind Governor Morrisey and apply for a waiver to my agency, and we are going to give it to you,” he said.
Publicly funded, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Programme (Snap) provides low-income households with a payment card that allows them to purchase fruits and vegetables, meat, and dairy products.
The programme also allows for the purchase of “snack foods and non-alcoholic beverages”, including soft drinks, according to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), which oversees it.
More than 42 million Americans benefited each month from the programme in 2023 at an annual cost of more than US$112 billion (S$150 billion), the USDA said in a recent statement.
Shares of soft drink giants Coca-Cola and PepsiCo fell on the news, closing down 0.5 per cent and 0.3 per cent respectively.
Known for his vaccine-sceptic stance and distrust of institutions
