Heritage Action supports Representative Self’s amendment to remove soda from SNAP eligibility. The vote on this amendment to H.R. 7567, the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026, will be included as a key vote on our legislative scorecard.
According to the USDA, 11 percent of all Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) spending goes toward sweetened drinks and candy, with an estimated $8.9 billion in SNAP funds going to soft drinks alone in 2025. The program, known until 2008 as food stamps, exists to provide assistance to families who lack the means to purchase an adequate amount of nutritious food, not to line the pockets of soda companies. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr and Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins have both championed state-level waivers to limit soda purchases with SNAP funds as part of President Trump’s Make America Healthy Again agenda.
Taxpayer-funded soda creates costs for Americans at the point of sale and later by contributing to rising obesity rates, causing greater public health costs. Consumption of sugary drinks is linked to many chronic health conditions, including obesity and diabetes. And a majority of SNAP recipients are on Medicaid or another government health program. In effect, taxpayers are paying for both the disease and the cure. Soda provides zero nutritional value yet still accounts for nearly 10 percent of all SNAP purchases. Individuals are free to choose what to purchase with their own money, but taxpayer funds should not continue to subsidize poor health and big soda corporations.
The amendment from Representative Keith Self (R-TX) would add soda to the list of items ineligible for purchase with SNAP dollars.
Heritage Action supports Representative Self’s amendment to remove soda from SNAP eligibility. The vote on this amendment to H.R. 7567, the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026, will be included as a key vote on our legislative scorecard.