A federal judge on Monday blocked the Trump administration from allowing five states to ban the purchase of sugary drinks and candy with food stamps.
The decision is a major setback for Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s “Make America Healthy Again” movement, which is focused on minimizing the consumption of ultraprocessed foods to reduce the prevalence of chronic diseases such as obesity and diabetes.
Kennedy has worked closely with Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, who has granted waiver requests by nearly two dozen states to restrict food purchases in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, the formal name for food stamps. Not all of the bans have gone into effect yet.
US District Judge Amy Berman Jackson in the District of Columbia ruled that the US Department of Agriculture lacked the authority to approve state waivers in pilot projects in Colorado, Iowa, Nebraska, Tennessee and West Virginia.
In their waivers, the states sought to change the federal definition of food to one that restricted certain products. The bans differed somewhat in each state, with all limiting the purchase of sugary drinks, such as soda and energy beverages, and some also restricting candy. The limits applied to all SNAP recipients, with no exceptions allowed.
