Oklahoma seeks to exclude soda, candy from food stamp purchases
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt said Thursday the state is seeking federal permission to exclude soft drinks and candy from the list of items that can be purchased under the benefit for low-income Americans long known as food stamps.
Stitt made the announcement during an event at the Capitol with U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as part of the 'Make America Healthy Again' initiative.
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Toronto Star
15 hours ago
- Toronto Star
Oklahoma seeks to exclude soda, candy from food stamp purchases
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt said Thursday the state is seeking federal permission to exclude soft drinks and candy from the list of items that can be purchased under the benefit for low-income Americans long known as food stamps. Stitt made the announcement during an event at the Capitol with U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as part of the 'Make America Healthy Again' initiative.
Winnipeg Free Press
15 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Oklahoma seeks to exclude soda, candy from food stamp purchases
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt said Thursday the state is seeking federal permission to exclude soft drinks and candy from the list of items that can be purchased under the benefit for low-income Americans long known as food stamps. Stitt made the announcement during an event at the Capitol with U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as part of the 'Make America Healthy Again' initiative. Oklahoma would join several other states that already have sought federal waivers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to prohibit the purchase of items such as soda and energy drinks under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. 'If you want to drink a bottled soda, you should be able to have that right,' Kennedy said. 'But the federal government should not be paying for it with taxpayer money.' SNAP is a roughly $100 billion program that serves about 42 million Americans and is run by the U.S. Agriculture Department and administered through states. Stitt also signed an executive order on Thursday calling into question the appropriateness of mandatory fluoridation of public drinking water and the use of commonly used artificial food coloring, including Red Dye 40. Under the order, the Oklahoma State Department of Health and Department of Equality are directed to immediately stop any endorsement of fluoridation of the public water supply. Although Stitt said each local municipality will still have the autonomy to make a decision to continue the practice, which has long been encouraged as a means of promoting dental health. Under the order, the two state agencies are directed to conduct a comprehensive review of water fluoridation and make recommendations for transitioning away from the practice. Wednesdays Columnist Jen Zoratti looks at what's next in arts, life and pop culture. Stitt also said he would direct agencies that provide meals, including prisons and public schools, to discontinue the use of artificial dyes in food. 'Today we're going to get the ball rolling on making Oklahoma healthy again,' Stitt said.
Winnipeg Free Press
a day ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Kennedy's vaccine committee to vote on flu vaccines and controversial preservative
ATLANTA (AP) — U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy's new vaccine advisory committee returned to work Thursday, and the panel may vote on proposals about fall flu vaccines and a preservative in some flu shots that antivaccine groups have falsely tied to autism. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, meeting in Atlanta, also is expected to vote on whether to recommend a second version of a lab-made antibody that protects newborns against a childhood menace called respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV. The ACIP, created more than 60 years ago, helps the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention determine who should be vaccinated against a long list of diseases, and when. Those recommendations have a big impact on whether insurance covers vaccinations and where they're available. Kennedy was a leading voice in the antivaccine movement before becoming the nation's top health official. He fired the previous 17-member panel this month and replaced it with a seven-member group that includes several vaccine skeptics. At its June meetings, the committee usually refreshes guidance for Americans 6 months and older to get a flu shot, and helps propel the annual fall vaccination campaign. Presentations prepared for Thursday's meeting suggest that the panel may do much the same this year. But there's also a flu-related vote that promises controversy. It concerns thimerosal, a form of mercury that's been added to vaccines since the early 20th century to preventing bacterial contamination in multi-dose vials. Kennedy has long held there was a tie between thimerosal and autism, and also accused the government of hiding the danger. Study after study has found no evidence that thimerosal causes autism. But since 2001, vaccines manufactured for the U.S. market and routinely recommended for children 6 years or younger have contained no thimerosal or only trace amounts, with limited exceptions. Thimerosal was placed on the meeting agenda shortly after Kennedy's new vaccine advisory was named last week. Before the vote, the committee will hear from Lyn Redwood, the former president of what is now known as Children's Health Defense — an antivaccine group founded by Kennedy. Some public health experts contend the thimerosal discussion will unnecessarily raise doubt in vaccines while possibly also making them more expensive and harder to get this fall. At the panel's meeting Wednesday, Chrissie Juliano, executive director of the Big Cities Health Coalition, lamented the ouster of the former ACIP panel and the agenda of the new one. Wednesdays Columnist Jen Zoratti looks at what's next in arts, life and pop culture. Her organization, which represents large city health departments, 'is deeply concerned that many routine vaccines may soon become inaccessible or unaffordable for millions of Americans if ACIP makes changes based on ideology rather than science,' she said. 'The stakes are simply too high to let that happen.' ___ Neergaard reported from Washington. ___ The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
