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Soft drinks top buy of US food stamp homes: report

USDA has denied every request to ban food stamp use on junk food or sugary soft drinks, saying it will be unfair to food stamp users and create too much red tape

Published Sun, Jan 15, 2017 · 09:50 PM
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WHAT do households on food stamps buy at the grocery store?

The answer was largely a mystery until now. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA), which oversees the US$74 billion food stamp programme called Snap, has published a detailed report that provides a glimpse into the shopping cart of the typical household that receives food stamps.

The findings show that the number one purchases by Snap households are soft drinks, which accounted for about 10 per cent spent on food. "In this sense, Snap is a multi-billion-dollar taxpayer subsidy of the soda industry," said Marion Nestle, a professor of nutrition, food studies and public health at New York University. "It's pretty shocking."

For years, dozens of cities, states and medical groups have urged changes to Snap, or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, to help improve nutrition among the 43 million poorest Americans who receive food stamps. Specifically, they have called for restrictions so that food stamps cannot be used to buy junk food or sugary soft drin…

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