Bill would restrict beverage purchases

Beverages purchased with public assistance dollars would be limited to milk, water and 100 percent fruit juice under a bill heard Feb. 10 by the Health and Human Services Committee.

LB267, introduced by Omaha Senator Gwen Howard, would require the state Department of Health and Human Services to apply for a waiver from the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture to restrict beverages that may be purchased with Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits to milk, plain water and 100 percent fruit juice.

Howard said consumption of sugared beverages is a leading cause of childhood obesity, which has quadrupled in children ages 6 to 11. Prohibiting the purchase of such beverages with SNAP benefits would help ensure that taxpayer dollars are being used to purchase nutritional food, she said.

“SNAP is a program meant to supplement nutrition,” Howard said. “Soda is not food and is certainly not nutritious.”

Laura Wilwerding, testifying on behalf of the Nebraska chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, supported the bill.

Consumption of soda has increased 500 percent in the last 50 years, Wilwerding said, and rates of diabetes, obesity and other health problems also have increased dramatically during the same time period.

Obesity rates are particularly high among low-income children, she said, adding that obesity rates at affluent schools in Lincoln are approximately 8 percent, while the rate at schools with a greater proportion of low-income students often is over 30 percent.

“We are seeing kids with hypertension and cardiovascular disease,” Wilwerding said. “It certainly makes no sense to be subsidizing the purchase of soda and energy drinks with taxpayer dollars.”

Bob Rauner of the Nebraska Academy of Family Physicians and the Nebraska Medical Association also supported the bill, saying Nebraska shouldn’t wait to see what works in other states.

Nebraska could be seen as an important test case for limiting beverage purchases with SNAP benefits, he said, adding that a broader waiver application by Minnesota was denied and only New York City currently has a waiver application pending with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

“This is such a big problem with so many issues that we need multiple pilot [programs],” Rauner said.

Kathy Siefken of the Nebraska Grocery Industry Association testified in opposition to the bill, saying it would hurt Nebraska businesses while not achieving the goal of curbing childhood obesity.

Grocers in towns that border other states would lose business, she said, because SNAP recipients would shop where their choices aren’t restricted.

“Nebraska will be an island that no SNAP recipient will ever want to visit,” Siefken said. “It will push people away.”

Kate Bolz of Nebraska Appleseed also testified in opposition.

No strong evidence exists that restricting options leads to better nutritional choices, she said, adding that studies suggest SNAP recipients are no more likely than any other population to make poor nutritional choices. In addition, Bolz said, administering the waiver would require HHS staff time and resources during difficult economic times.

“We are concerned about the concept and the potential costs of this waiver,” she said.

The committee took no immediate action on the bill.