Disqualifying sugary drinks, such as soda, from purchase under the food-stamp program would have little impact on consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages, say USDA researchers. They said that food-stamp participants “are no more likely to consume” sugary drinks than other poor people, once age, sex, race, marital status, education, income and presence of children in the household are taken into account. “These findings are consistent with other [USDA] research on overall diet quality,” the department says. Attention has focused on sugary drinks because Americans get nearly 21 percent of their daily calories from beverages, compared to 12 percent in 1965, and because of concern the beverages are a factor in obesity.
Food stamps cover slightly more than half of monthly food purchases for the average household enrolled in the program, says the USDA. Participants might simply buy the drinks with their own money, said the researchers. An earlier USDA study said a 20-percent increase in price would reduce daily consumption of sugary drinks by just 37 calories for an adult. Another approach would be to make nutritious food more affordable. “Incentive programs must be funded at the start, whereas tax-based policies collect revenue. Further work is needed to assess whether the net benefits of an incentive-based policy outweigh the net benefits of a tax-based policy,” said USDA.