Red states lead push for MAHA soda bans

Republican-led states are leading the charge to ban soda and candy from their food stamp programs, as Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s "Make America Healthy Again" (MAHA) movement flips traditional partisanship on its head.  

Colorado is the only blue state to seek and have a soda ban waiver approved, and the only waiver state to propose expanding SNAP benefits in conjunction with limiting its scope. 

Both parties at times have expressed interest in eliminating soda from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), but the Trump administration is the first to encourage states to do so. 

Recent attempts at soda regulation have mostly been concentrated in blue cities. Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (D) infamously tried to ban the sale of supersized sugary drinks in 2013, prompting Republicans to decry his "nanny state" tactics.   

With the healthy-eating push now under the MAHA branding, GOP states are jumping aboard. 

Kennedy doesn’t run SNAP — that falls under the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). But as the face of MAHA, Kennedy has been alongside Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins to promote soda and candy bans.   

In just the first six months of the new administration, 12 state waivers have been approved by USDA that restrict SNAP recipients from purchasing some combination of soft drinks, sugary beverages, energy drinks and candy

“We all believe in free choice, we live in a democracy ... if you want to buy sugary soda, you ought to be able to do that. The U.S. taxpayer should not pay for it,” Kennedy said during a recent press conference.   

The states that have claimed waivers are Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah and West Virginia.

SNAP dollars can be used to buy any food or beverage from a grocery store except alcohol, nutritional supplements or hot food. The idea of policing the shopping carts of low-income Americans has never sat well with anti-hunger advocates, who’ve argued it’s paternalistic and stigmatizing for low-income Americans. 

Additionally, while federal data show sugary drinks are the leading source of added sugars in the American diet, nutrition experts said there is limited evidence that shows SNAP soda bans lead to better health outcomes.  

There’s even less evidence that banning candy and dessert foods from SNAP can positively impact a person's diet. 

“Claiming that implementing these restrictions will absolutely lead to a curb in diet-related diseases, you cannot confidently say that. There is no evidence to support that statement,” said Joelle Johnson, the deputy director for Healthy Food Access at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a group that advocates for stronger nutrition regulation. 

The SNAP waivers are for pilot programs only, so they won’t immediately lead to long-term policy changes. They are a chance for states to conduct the research that’s been missing — if they want to find out. 

Barry Popkin, a professor of nutrition at the University of North Carolina School of Global Public Health, said he thinks waivers are toothless ways for states to show their MAHA bonafides. 

“None of these states are doing more than pleasing MAHA, doing what's easy. They can do this internally. They don't have to go to the politicians [and pass laws],” Popkin said, “Waivers do nothing except allow a state to say you can't buy junk food.” 

Experts said historically, Republicans who have wanted to ban soda from SNAP also viewed it as a way to trim spending on the program. Some advocates continue to view the latest push with skepticism.  

One of the groups pushing hard for state SNAP waivers is the Foundation for Government Accountability, a conservative think tank based in Florida that’s been working for over a decade to reshape the nation’s public assistance programs and significantly cut spending.  

Johnson said she is worried about a slippery slope. If fewer items are eligible for SNAP, she’s concerned GOP leaders will use that as an excuse to cut back on people’s monthly benefits.   

Priya Fielding-Singh, director of policy and programs at the George Washington University’s Global Food Institute, said there could be benefits in trying to focus SNAP purchases on healthy food.  

But it’s hard to look at a soda-and-candy ban in isolation, she said.   

The Agriculture Department slashed about $1 billion in funding that let schools and food banks buy food directly from local farms and ranchers. The White House is proposing deep cuts to fruit and vegetable benefits under the WIC program (Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children). 

The GOP’s new tax cut law is projected to cut $186 billion from SNAP in the next decade and disqualify millions from eligibility.  

"It’s hard to separate the soda ban from the larger political efforts to shrink SNAP overall. So are these bans about promoting health or are they about shrinking SNAP? And I think the distinction really matters,” Fielding-Singh said.  

She added that any moves to restrict what people can buy with SNAP should be paired with efforts to give people the “means and access and resources to eat more healthfully.”  

But so far, none of the red state waivers does that.  

Gov. Jared Polis (D) in a statement on Colorado’s waiver, called it “a big step towards improving the health of Coloradans, and reducing obesity rates, diabetes, and tooth decay" that “will help to ensure that more Coloradans participating in SNAP have access to healthy foods.” 

The Trump administration has not yet given them the green light on a separate waiver to cover hot foods from grocery stores like rotisserie chicken or soup. 

Democratic Govs. Laura Kelly (Kan.) and Katie Hobbs (Ariz.) each vetoed bills that called for their states to submit waivers to ban candy and soda. 

“I support the idea that Kansans should eat healthier. However, changes to the SNAP food assistance program should be made at the federal level, not on a patchwork, state-by-state basis,” Kelly wrote in her veto message.  

She also noted the language in the bill would have mandated businesses to stop accepting food assistance benefits for “healthy” items like protein bars and trail mix while continuing to allow Twix, Kit Kat, and Twizzlers. 

Kennedy this week said he expects more blue states to be filing waivers.   

“I was at the governors' conference in Colorado last week, and I met with a whole string of Democratic governors and they all committed to filing SNAP waivers,” Kennedy said.  

Kennedy also said those governors also committed to put forward other “MAHA legislation” but he acknowledged they may not want to be associated with the term because it’s become "kind of a partisan brand.”  

As she signed Colorado’s waiver, Rollins said healthy eating should be bipartisan. 

“This is not red or blue, Republican or Democrat,” Rollins said. “We are discussing and working with every state, so really excited to continue to work with Gov. Polis.”