McMaster joins RFK Jr.’s push to ban junk food

S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster took to social media this week to announce his plan to ban junk food and sugary drinks under the state’s federally funded SNAP nutrition program.

“America is getting healthy, and South Carolina will do her part,” McMaster said in an Aug. 6 post. “In the next few days, I will issue an executive order directing the Department of Social Services to place common-sense limits on purchases made using SNAP benefits, formerly known as ‘food stamps.’”

The move came two days after U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. held a public event celebrating the six states that have received federal permission to make junk food purchases ineligible — West Virginia, Florida, Colorado, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas.

“For years, SNAP has used taxpayer dollars to fund soda and candy — products that fuel America’s diabetes and chronic disease epidemics,” Kennedy said in a release. “These waivers help put real food back at the center of the program and empower states to lead the charge in protecting public health.”

In another high-profile health move this week, Kennedy, a Trump appointee, also made news when he canceled about $500 million in federal grants and contracts for mRNA vaccines — a technology he calls “dangerous” but that research has consistently shown to be safe and effective.

In S.C., with the legislature out of session, reaction to McMaster’s announcement was muted.

But one Democrat, Charleston Sen. Ed Sutton, told Statehouse Report he couldn’t help but notice the double standard — noting that every time he visits the governor’s mansion, they’re serving sugary sodas with public dollars.

“If we’re going to ban that stuff, let’s do it across the board,” he said. “If it’s not OK for a hungry family, it shouldn’t be OK for a bunch of politicians in Columbia.”

As of press time, no further details were available about precisely what food and drinks would be banned under McMaster’s plan.