US Health Minister Robert Kennedy Junior Today it called on the states to put an end to consumers’ ability to buy sugar soft drinks using feeding operators, resulting in the stock market shares fall.

The minister visited a school in West Virginia, along with the Republican ruler Patrickto expressI satisfied because this state adopted a A law prohibiting certain pigments in the meals offered by school canteens. On this occasion he announced that the state, one of the poorest in the US, filed ‘a request for exemption“So that the beneficiaries of these food vouchers will not be allowed to buy soft drinks with them.

The SNAP program, funded by federal resources and supervised by the Ministry of Agriculture, provides low income households a prepaid card with which they can buy fruits, vegetables, meat, dairy and also ‘Snacks and non -alcoholic beverages’as soft drinks. In 2023, More than 42 million Americans received these operators each month. The annual cost of the program exceeded $ 112 billion, according to the government.

“The message I want to send to the country today and to all other rulers is to follow the example of the Governor March and to ask for an exception to my ministry and we will give it to them,” said Kennedy.

Immediately after this statement, The shares of the Coca-Cola and Pepsico giants retreated to the New York Stock Exchange. With the closure, they lost 0.52% and 0.27% respectively.

The Minister of Agriculture Brooke Rollins supported the commander’s initiative, which he called ‘Visionary’ and he said he expects ‘I was eagerly awaited’ the exemption request.

This idea is not something new for Robert Kennedy Juniorwho had stated, before ministering, that the beneficiaries of the coupons do not want to use them to buy processed foods. “We no longer eat food, we eat food -like substances” He said today, comparing soft drinks and processed food companies with tobacco industries.