title: Grocery store beverage choices by participants in federal food assistance and nutrition programs.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Sugar-sweetened beverages are a target for reduction in the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Concerns have been raised about sugar-sweetened beverages purchased with Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This paper describes purchases of non-alcoholic refreshment beverages among participants in the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) and SNAP.
  
  
  METHODS
  Grocery store scanner data from a regional supermarket chain were used to assess refreshment beverage purchases of 39,172 households in January-June 2011. The sample consisted of families with a history of WIC participation in 2009-2011; about half also participated in SNAP. Beverage spending and volume purchased were compared for WIC sampled households either using SNAP benefits (SNAP) or not (WIC-only). Analyses were completed in 2012.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Refreshment beverages were a significant contributor to expenditure on groceries by SNAP and WIC households. Sugar-sweetened beverages accounted for 58% of refreshment beverage purchases made by SNAP households and 48% of purchases by WIC-only households. Soft drinks were purchased most by all households. Fruit-based beverages were mainly 100% juice for WIC-only households and sugary fruit drinks for SNAP households. SNAP benefits paid for 72% of the sugar-sweetened beverage purchases made by SNAP households. Nationwide, SNAP was estimated to pay at least $1.7 to $2.1 billion annually for sugar-sweetened beverages purchased in grocery stores.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Considerable amounts of sugar-sweetened beverages are purchased by households participating in WIC and SNAP. The SNAP program pays for most of the sugar-sweetened beverage purchases among SNAP households. The upcoming SNAP reauthorization could be a good time to reconsider the program priorities to align public funds with public health.
authors.affiliation: Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, Yale University, 309 Edwards Street, New HavenCT 06520-8369, USA. tatiana.andreyeva@yale.edu
authors.forename: Tatiana
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Andreyeva
authors.forename: Joerg
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Luedicke
authors.forename: Kathryn E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Henderson
authors.forename: Amanda S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Tripp
mesh_terms: D001628:Beverages / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002253:Carbonated Beverages / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002755:Choice Behavior; D003132:Commerce / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D019422:Dietary Sucrose; D063105:Food Assistance; D006801:Humans; D011203:Poverty; D014481:United States; D016885:United States Department of Agriculture
chemical_list: D019422:Dietary Sucrose