SNAP soda ban triggers intense 'lobbying frenzy' by 'Big Soda'

As secretary of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS), former Democrat turned MAGA Republican Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is pushing a restriction for SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits: not allowing them to be used to purchase soda. And according to NOTUS reporter Taylor Giorno, the soda lobby is pushing back.

"Tensions over food stamp restrictions are bubbling between the soda industry and the Trump Administration, splitting Republicans and driving a lobbying bonanza," Giorno explains in an article published by NOTUS on May 12. "Health advocates and some states have, for years, tried to have the federal government approve state waivers to stop soda from being purchased with Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, which bolstered the grocery budgets of more than 41 million people in the U.S. last year…. Iowa, Nebraska, Arkansas and Indiana have already submitted waivers to ban soda from SNAP, a U.S. Department of Agriculture spokesperson told NOTUS."

Giorno continues, "Several other states are reportedly weighing waivers or SNAP bans on soda and, in some cases, candy, although there are currently no restrictions on those products. This has triggered a lobbying frenzy by Big Soda, which has criticized the SNAP soda ban — and invoked the ire of the MAHA (Make America Health Again) movement in the process."

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The American Beverage Association — which represents Coke, Pepsi and other soda companies — increased its lobbying budget to $790,000 during the first three months of 2025.

Merideth Potter, senior vice president of public affairs for the American Beverage Association, told NOTUS, "We want to work with policymakers, with those who want to work together on this issue. We just disagree. And…. we'll push back on being singled out and the face of or the singular cause of obesity, because it's just not true…. There is a perception that this is about the money."

Potter added, "It's not about the money. It is about singling out our products and our workers and the industry we represent."

The SNAP program is administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, now headed by Secretary Brooke Rollins. During a meeting of Trump Administration officials in late April, Kennedy described Rollins' interactions with the soda lobby.

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RFK Jr. recalled, "Secretary Rollins had the soda industry come and knock on her door very much, very loudly, and they said to her, 'Well, the SNAP program is not supposed to be about nutrition.' She pointed out to them that there is no nutrition in a soda. And she said they said, 'Well, it's not supposed to be about nutrition.' And she said to them, 'The name of the program is Supplemental Nutrition Assistance. It is about nutrition.'"

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Read the full NOTUS article at this link.