Buying soda with food stamps would be banned under Ohio House-passed bill

The House provision defines “sugar-sweetened beverages” as any beverage that contains more than five grams of added sugar, excluding any beverage that contains milk, milk products, soy, rice or other milk substitutes or any beverage that contains 50% or more of vegetable or fruit juice by volume.

If the GOP-controlled Senate concurs with the Republican House, Ohio would need final approval from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which broadly funds the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) administered by the states. In recent months, the USDA has seen a growing number of states look to cut out unhealthy options from food stamp eligibility.

State Sen. Willis Blackshear, Jr., D-Dayton, told this outlet that he opposed food stamp restrictions.

“This House Budget provision treats SNAP users as if they can’t be trusted to make their own personal choices, and would cause them to not have the same rights in making food choices as everyone else,” Blackshear said.

Stewart, meanwhile, argued that concerns of personal freedom shouldn’t be applied to personal decisions made with public dollars.

“I think if people are using their own money, they have the freedom to do whatever they want with that money,” Stewart said. “When you’re using the taxpayer’s money to buy your food, I think taxpayers have an ability to say, ‘We’re not going to buy junk food.’”

Blackshear told this outlet he’s concerned about over-regulating peoples’ diets.

“We shouldn’t be trying to micromanage or punish SNAP users, instead we need to be focusing on other solutions instead of restrictions,” he said.

According to federal regulations, food stamps can be used to buy fruits and vegetables; meat, poultry and fish; dairy products; breads and cereals; snack foods and non-alcoholic beverages; and seeds and plants.

But there are various restrictions on what SNAP beneficiaries can buy, including bans on beer, wine, liquor, cigarettes and tobacco.

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Avery Kreemer can be reached at 614-981-1422, on X, via email, or you can drop him a comment/tip with the survey below.