'Soda Subsidy' Gives Tax Dollars to Beverage Companies     Text
Size   Published: Wednesday, 1 Dec 2010 | 10:58 AM ET Jane Wells
By: | CNBC Reporter  As Congress considers new ways to cut
spending, here's one idea health advocates are pushing: prevent
people on food stamps from using benefits to buy sweetened
sodas.   The food stamp program is now called the Supplemental
Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP), serving 42 million
Americans who need help. "SNAP users spend about $4 billion a
year at supermarkets on soft drinks," says Michael Jacobson of
the Center for Science in the Public Interest.  That's taxpayer
money, which he says subsidizes soft drink companies and grocery
stores, while contributing to the nation's obesity problem. In
essence, he argues that you, the taxpayer, have literally become
America's "Sugar Daddy".  What's more, those on assistance are
least likely able to afford health care, so if they do develop
problems related to obesity, their costs become your costs.
Preventing access to "su