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Investing.com -- Shares of major beverage companies Coca-Cola (NYSE: NYSE:KO), PepsiCo (NASDAQ: NASDAQ:PEP), and Keurig Dr Pepper (NASDAQ:KDP) experienced slight declines in the latest trading session. Coca-Cola stock fell by 0.5%, PepsiCo by 0.3%, and Keurig Dr Pepper by 0.1% following news that could impact the industry’s sales. The downward movement comes as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pushes for a ban on the purchase of soda with food stamps, a proposal that has garnered the support of some lawmakers and state governors.
The initiative, part of Kennedy’s Make America Healthy Again agenda, aims to prevent the use of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) funds for buying soda, which the policy’s advocates argue contributes to chronic disease and childhood illness. The proposal has sparked controversy, with anti-hunger advocates criticizing it as punitive towards low-income individuals by limiting their choices, and the beverage industry contesting the claims about soda’s role in obesity.
The American Beverage Association has pushed back against the proposal, with senior vice president Merideth Potter stating, "What’s unhelpful about this whole conversation is that soda is not driving obesity. We’ve become this easy punching bag." Despite such industry resistance, the movement has gained momentum, with West Virginia’s Governor Patrick Morrisey recently expressing his intention to seek federal support for implementing the ban.
While the states will require federal permission to enact such a ban, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, not Kennedy’s health department, is responsible for administering SNAP and granting waivers for program changes. This development has raised concerns among investors about the potential impact on beverage companies’ sales, should the ban go into effect and reduce the volume of soda purchased through SNAP.
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