吉娜·普拉塔-尼诺在国会被问及含糖汽水的价值时表示，自己“不是营养学家”，而是“粮食安全专家”
2026年6月26日 美国东部时间上午9:46 / 福克斯新闻频道
作者：阿曼达·马西亚斯
共和党议员质问美国营养援助项目倡导者：“美国人需要靠可口可乐生存吗？”
得克萨斯州共和党众议员布兰登·吉尔就纳税人是否应当资助含糖汽水购买事宜质询美国营养援助项目政策倡导者，多次追问美国人是否“需要靠可口可乐生存”。
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得克萨斯州共和党众议员布兰登·吉尔周四在众议院监督委员会小组听证会上与一名美国营养援助项目政策倡导者发生争执，逼迫对方回答美国人是否“需要靠可口可乐生存”，以及纳税人资助的食品福利是否应当用于购买含糖汽水。
此次交锋发生在议员们审议补充营养援助计划（SNAP）的浪费、欺诈和滥用问题期间。该计划预算约1000亿美元，服务超过4000万美国人。听证会上，共和党人认为监管松懈导致纳税人资金被滥用，而民主党人则警告不要限制符合资格家庭的福利。
图表展示补充营养援助计划规模：低收入家庭的生命线
2025年5月6日，得克萨斯州共和党众议员布兰登·吉尔离开国会山的众议院共和党会议核心小组会议。（比尔·克拉克/CQ-滚呼公司 via 盖蒂图片社）
吉尔首先向食品研究与行动中心政策与倡导主管吉娜·普拉塔-尼诺发问，询问补充营养援助计划的资金是否应当用于购买汽水。她回应称，该计划的目的是为家庭提供“食品和饮料”。
当吉尔将问题缩小到含糖汽水时，她表示自己“乐于谈论饥饿和营养问题，但不会 dictate美国人应该或不应该吃什么”。
吉尔显然对这一答复不满意，继续追问，质问“纳税人的钱是否应当用于购买汽水”，以及美国人是否“需要靠含糖汽水生存”。
“有低血糖问题的人需要，”普拉塔-尼诺辩解道，并补充说那些“有肾脏疾病的人”可能也需要这类饮品。
食品券欺诈数据曝光：哪些州消耗的纳税人资金最多
2025年3月12日，一名顾客在伊利诺伊州芝加哥的一家杂货店购买鸡蛋。（斯科特·奥尔森/盖蒂图片社）
这位议员毫不松劲，追问道：“美国民众需要靠可口可乐生存吗？……可口可乐有什么营养价值？”
“我不是营养学家，我是一名粮食安全专家，”普拉塔-尼诺回应道。
吉尔随后辩称，“含糖汽水没有营养价值”，并批评这位证人不愿表态纳税人不应当通过补充营养援助计划资助含糖汽水的购买。
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补充营养援助计划（SNAP）帮助超过4000万美国人负担得起食品杂货。（史密斯藏品/加多/盖蒂图片社）
“我认为当人们还在挨饿时，不该把重点放在汽水上，”普拉塔-尼诺刚开口就被吉尔打断。
“我们在汽水上面花了大量纳税人的钱……这就是我要问这个问题的原因，”他感叹道。
交锋的最后，吉尔询问每天喝汽水是否健康。她回答说“最糟糕的健康后果是饥饿”，并强调她的工作重点是确保家庭能够获得食品资源。
阿曼达·马西亚斯报道商业、经济与政治的交叉领域，重点关注政策决策如何影响市场、企业和美国工人。
SEE IT: SNAP advocate defends taxpayer-funded Coca-Cola in fiery exchange with GOP lawmaker on waste
Gina Plata-Nino told Congress she is ‘not a nutritionist’ but a ‘food security expert’ when pressed on sugary soda’s value
June 26, 2026 9:46am EDT / Fox News
By Amanda Macias
GOP lawmaker presses SNAP advocate: ‘Do Americans need Coca-Cola to survive?
Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, questioned a SNAP policy advocate over whether taxpayers should fund sugary soda purchases, repeatedly asking whether Americans “need Coca-Cola to survive.”
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Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, sparred with a SNAP policy advocate during a House Oversight subcommittee hearing Thursday, pressing her to answer whether Americans “need Coca-Cola to survive” and whether taxpayer-funded food benefits should pay for sugary sodas.
The exchange came as lawmakers examined waste, fraud and abuse in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), a roughly $100 billion program that serves more than 40 million Americans. During the hearing, Republicans argued lax oversight had enabled misuse of taxpayer dollars, while Democrats warned against restricting benefits for eligible families.
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Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, leaves the House Republican Conference caucus meeting in the Capitol on May 6, 2025.(Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Gill first asked Gina Plata-Nino, director of policy and advocacy for the Food Research and Action Center, whether SNAP dollars should be spent on soda. She replied that the program exists to provide families with “food and beverages.”
When Gill narrowed the question to sugary sodas, she said she was “happy to talk about hunger and nutrition, but not dictate what Americans should or should not eat.”
Gill, clearly unsatisfied with the answer, continued pressing and asked whether “tax dollars should be used to pay for sodas” and whether Americans “need sugary sodas to survive.”
“Some of them do, who do have low blood issues,” Plata-Nino reasoned, adding that those “who have kidney issues” might need such drinks, as well.
FOOD-STAMP FRAUD NUMBERS EXPOSE WHICH STATES ARE DRAINING THE MOST TAXPAYER DOLLARS
A customer shops for eggs at a grocery store on March 12, 2025, in Chicago, Illinois.(Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Unrelenting, the congressman followed up: “Do the American people need Coca-Cola to survive?… What’s nutritional about Coca-Cola?”
“I am not a nutritionist. I am a food security expert,” Plata-Nino replied.
Gill later argued that “there’s not nutritional value to sugary sodas” and criticized the witness for declining to say taxpayers should not fund their purchases through SNAP.
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The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) helps more than 40 million Americans afford groceries.(Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)
“I think that focusing on soda when people are going hungry,” Plata-Nino began before Gill interrupted.
“We spend a lot of our tax dollars… on soda. That’s why I’m asking about it,” he lamented.
The exchange ended with Gill asking whether drinking soda every day is healthy. She replied that “the worst health outcome is hunger” and emphasized that her focus was ensuring families have access to food resources.
Amanda Macias covers the intersection of business, economics and politics, with a focus on how policy decisions shape markets, businesses and American workers.
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