- Utah's HB569, aiming to restrict SNAP purchases of ultra-processed foods, was put on hold for now.
- Lawmakers express concerns over federal definitions and implementation challenges for retailers.
- The bill's future remains uncertain with the legislative session ending March 6.
SALT LAKE CITY — A bill that would have barred people from using food stamps to purchase "ultra-processed" foods may not advance this year, after changes led to opposition from some Republican lawmakers.
HB569 was introduced earlier this week and originally defined ultra-processed food as "food containing additives and that is high in saturated fat, sodium or added sugars." But the sponsor, Rep. Kristen Chevrier, R-Highland, said she was still working on more precise language to define what food would be prohibited under the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, or SNAP.
That updated language was introduced Friday, but rather than using a different definition for ultra-processed food, the new version of the bill would simply mirror the federal government's definition.
The catch is, the feds have yet to adopt an official definition, leaving some lawmakers worried that they won't like where Washington lands.
"I'm not ready to support it yet," said Rep. Ray Ward, R-Bountiful, during a meeting of the House Health and Human Services Committee Friday. "A cut-off for me is going to be a definition, so we know for sure what we're talking about before we pass a policy about it."
Rep. Nelson Abbott, R-Orem, said he was worried about ceding power to the federal government and said the state should wait for federal guidance to be released before moving ahead with plans to regulate purchases.
"We don't know what they're going to do," he said. "They may come out with a definition of ultra-processed food, and it may apply to SNAP, and then at that point we can decide, do we like their definition that's already being applied?"
Utahns Against Hunger also expressed concern that many cheap dietary staples could be considered to be ultra-processed, making it harder for low-income Utahns to afford food.
"These are things, yes, sometimes like chips, etc., but could also include packaged breads, boxed macaroni and cheese, ramen noodles," said Neil Rickard, the organization's child nutrition advocate. "Things that I often get told that poor people should be eating, basically."
Chevrier's bill was introduced less than two months after a similar policy took effect in Utah barring SNAP recipients from purchasing soda with their benefits. That bill was sponsored last year by Chevrier and earned the state praise from U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy.
"We've seen a huge increase in obesity, diabetes and cancer in our young people, and particularly in our low-income population," Chevrier said while presenting her bill Friday. "That is what we're trying to address here. It's to bring SNAP back to its mission. ... I really do want us to do something to make this better."
While some of Chevrier's colleagues were not on board with her update, the original version of the bill seemed to worry several retail groups who said it would be difficult to implement. Last year's soda ban for food stamps was relatively simple to put in place, but restricting soda is much easier than covering ultra-processed food more generally, according to Dave Davis, the president of the Utah Retail Merchants Association.
"The difficulty level associated with soda is a fraction of what we're talking about here," he said.
Large grocery stores often stock tens of thousands of different products, according to Utah Manufacturers Association COO Josh Brown, who said there are concerns about accurately identifying which food items are ultra-processed.
Davis compared implementing a soda ban to completing a single axel jump in figure skating.
"This is a quintuple axel that we're trying to pull off here," he said.
The committee voted to hold the bill for now to give Chevrier more time to work on it. There's still a chance the bill moves forward in the next couple of weeks before the session ends on March 6, but committee chairwoman Rep. Katy Hall, R-Ogden, acknowledged time is running out and the issue may need to wait for next session.
"We know there's something needed," she said. "Our kids are unhealthy, our people are unhealthy and we know what you're working toward here."
