Earlier this month, Utah became the latest of a growing number of states to ban the use of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, or food stamps, to buy soda. I interviewed Utah State Representative Kristen Chevrier (R-UT), who authored HB403 prohibiting SNAP soda purchases, to learn more about the effort and why it’s an important piece of the Trump administration’s mission to “Make America Healthy Again.”
As Chevrier explained, although Utah Governor Spencer Cox, a Republican, signed the bill into law in March, it still had to get approval from the federal government. Because SNAP is a federally funded program administered by the states, any regulatory changes must be approved by D.C. – specifically the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Department of Agriculture.
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins signed waivers approving HB403’s soda purchases ban on June 10, paving the way for Utah to join Nebraska, Indiana, Arkansas, Idaho, and Iowa. The ban will go into effect on January 1, 2026. The bill passed the Utah House 54-14 and the Senate 15-13.
The bill defines soft drinks as “a nonalcoholic beverage that is made with carbonated water and that is flavored and sweetened with sugar or artificial sweeteners.” Any drink containing milk, milk products, soy, rice, or other milk substitutes, or beverages that are over 50 percent fruit or vegetable juice by volume are excluded from the ban.
Chevrier told me that the goal of her bill was to “help restore the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to its proper function,” which she said is to “provide nutritional assistance to our vulnerable neighbors, helping to improve overall health outcomes, and reducing future costs to taxpayers.” HB403 was Chevrier’s first bill this past legislative session.
The data shows that Chevrier’s bill is urgently needed. According to a 2015 NIH report, adults on SNAP had significantly higher rates of obesity and were more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than the general public.
Elected Democrats and liberal special interest groups have long opposed any restrictions on the SNAP program, often attempting to appeal to Americans’ sense of personal responsibility and the freedom to make individual choices. Chevrier, a Utah leader in the MAHA movement, says she is all about personal freedom and responsibility – when American taxpayers aren’t footing the bill. As she explained, every American is still free to buy soda with their own money.
Conservatives have also pointed out the hypocrisy of Democrats suddenly claiming to care about “freedom” and “making your own decisions” when it comes to taxpayer-funded SNAP benefits, but not when it came to issues like mask mandates and COVID-19 lockdowns or school choice.
Others on the left have called restrictions on SNAP purchases paternalistic and stigmatizing. To that claim, Rep Chevrier said: “when a program is designed for a specific purpose, using monies allocated for that program for other things is inappropriate.” In this case, SNAP is designed to ensure Americans have the nutrition they need to survive – not to pay for soft drinks.
Secretary Kennedy has expressed a similar sentiment. “I call on every governor in the nation to submit a SNAP waiver to eliminate sugary drinks—taxpayer dollars should never bankroll products that fuel the chronic disease epidemic,” he said following the signing of Utah’s waiver.
“President Trump has given our nation a once in a generation opportunity to change the health trajectory for our entire country,” Rollins added in a statement. “On my first day as Secretary, I sent a call to states to innovate, and Governors Jim Pillen, Kim Reynolds, Mike Braun, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Laura Kelly, Patrick Morrisey, Jared Polis, Brad Little, Spencer Cox, and Greg Abbott have stepped up and taken action. I look forward to signing even more waivers in the days ahead as we continue to restore the health of America.”
Chevrier says that she and her colleagues are looking at additional ways to further improve the SNAP program and subsequent legislation could come forward in future legislative sessions. Utah has also already banned fluoride in its drinking water and prohibited certain dyes and chemicals in school lunches this year as part of the state’s support for MAHA.
Some states have gone even further than Utah. Arkansas’ waiver, effective July 1, 2026, restricts the purchase of soda, fruit and vegetable drinks with less than 50 percent natural juice, unhealthy drinks, and candy. Idaho’s waiver, effective January 1, 2026, prohibits the purchase of soda and candy with SNAP benefits.
While conservative states have made major inroads in the effort to ensure taxpayer-funded nutrition programs aren’t used for nutritionally bankrupt foods and beverages, they still face some major hurdles – namely the money and influence of snack and soda companies. As AMAC Newsline reported earlier this year, SNAP soda purchases alone account for $10 billion in annual revenue for soft drink companies – a massive incentive for those companies to ensure their products remain SNAP eligible.
Nonetheless, with MAHA champions like Rep. Chevrier leading the way at the state level and support from officials like Secretaries Kennedy and Rollins in Washington, the future of American health looks undeniably brighter.
Jordan Hess, a native of Utah, holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s from George Washington University in political management. He gained Capitol Hill experience working in the US Senate for four years and at The Heritage Foundation for three. He currently resides in Utah doing government affairs work and is actively involved in political campaigns.
As a very low income senior I was on food stamps. Now that I reached my FRA I will get $1700 a month and no longer qualify. I also sold my house and downsized into a much smaller mobile home in a park so I can afford things and not pay huge property taxes here in Oregon. I stood in line with my healthy groceries and watched women with the latest iphones, obviously expensive manicures and 3 kids hanging onto them use food stamps to buy huge steaks, lobster tails, and a LOT of junk and processed foods. All of this crap food should not be covered on food stamps. Just the basics, more like the WIC program. I also know two people who make well over $100K a year and their families are still on Medicaid. I had to renew my benefits every single year and I was honest, obviously the state doesn’t care about people who lie. DOGE needs to fix the program so that people who claim Medicaid and food stamps who are paying taxes on incomes well above the low amount which qualifies you for federal benefits through state are caught and booted off the program. Especially the fraudsters who should be prosecuted and have to pay back what they stole.
I am so pleased to learn of this! I have watched families use MY TAX MONEY to purchase items that were so totally unhealthy! Their children wound up being obese with frequent trips to the dentist (also on MY TAX MONEY)! Thank you to every legislator who steps up to the plate and puts SNAP back to where it belongs – bringing nutritious foods to families in need.
It’s a GOOD START; but what about also forbidding chips, cookies and candy?!
It’s obvious that people on government subsistence vs the folks who pay their own way is to look at how full their shopping carts.are. In the beginning it was just food stamps, a temporary measure for basic food items.
But as only government can do, turned welfare into the permanent bloated segment of society with taxpayers footing the bill. There seems no incentive to get people off welfare as in the past, food stamps were replaced by credit card like payments to make the system less embarrassing for it’s recipients. Food subsistence was not meant to be a lifetime entitlement, but here we are. Politicians know people will tend to vote for those who give them free stuff and they’ve turned these programs into a basic entitlement with no reason to get off. Restricting certain items such as soda is a start, but I’m sure there are other items as well.
I have thought for years that food stamps should be like WIC. Can only be used for nutritious foods and now with the debit card how easy that would be to limit the kinds of food that are able to be purchased with this tax payer funded program
Food stamp spending was doubled under Biden. Just cut it.
All 50 states should do the same thing. Why should taxpayers pay for junk food and sodas for others when a lot of them can’t afford to buy it for ourselves and NOT on welfare (food stamps).
bravo! no booze or cigarettes either
60 years of welfare state gave us fatherless children, fodder for prisons, lawlessness on the street, failing in schools and a behemoth that lives off distributing it. Not one race baiter points out how dehumanizing and demeaning this is, they live off the misery of their own who is blind to it. Now we want to cure obesity and blame the food maker for it, but leave everything as is, please , spade is a spade, calling it a shovel will not change a thing.
This is a good start, but much more needs to be done!
I am a retired grocery checker. It is about time that soda is removed from the food stamp program. Candy and chips need to be the next targets. There are too many people who work the system and there are too many tales I could tell about the purchases made. I just pray that healthier habits come from these changes.
Why stop at soda? Why not include chips candy fruit loops et cetera?
This never should have been allowed in the first place.
The food stamp debacle has a simple solution. The only foods available to the able bodied would be twenty lb bags of beans and rice , condiments and a pressure cooker. You would see a mass exodus from snap into real jobs. Rice and beans will keep you alive but dietary boredom would provide strong motivation to change.
it’s wonderful having MAHG. don’t understand for the Ssa people can’t reserve food stamps if ssa is 1383 and yet try to keep up with other bills to live and have no money to go out or cant save over 2,000 if people want to take a trip or want to buy a home without having to make payment forever, same with a vehicle. just sounds like congressmen corrupt to keep American citizens slaves.
Yes !!!!!!!
Think these people get sick from JUNK Food &
Us (Tax) payers pay for:
their (SICKNESS}}
How are you suppose to clean the post on your car battery?
So YooHoo is safe till they come for the Corn Syrup!
Long overdue for dental health and obesity help. Taking out Flouride plys have on demand high sugars spells addiction to sweets for life plus cavities!
Since this is all about concern for people’s health, I’m assuming everyone here agrees with Mayor Bloomberg’s 2012 ban on jumbo sodas.
ALL vendors, suppliers, producers
once product left Farms nationwide