Starting Thursday, shoppers in Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska, Utah and West Virginia who use the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to pay for groceries will face new restrictions on certain foods, including soda and candy, under state waivers that take effect Jan. 1. The changes are designed to narrow what SNAP can be used to purchase after the states sought permission to bar specified items through the federal program.
The effort is part of a wider push associated with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has criticized a system that funds foods regarded as unhealthy and then requires additional spending to treat illnesses linked to diet, and with Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins. In December, Kennedy said in a statement that “We cannot continue a system that forces taxpayers to fund programs that make people sick and then pay a second time to treat the illnesses those very programs help create,” according to the report.
The restrictions target diet-related chronic diseases, including obesity and diabetes, that the Kennedy effort says are associated with sweetened drinks and other treats. In interviews and public comments described in the coverage, supporters frame the waivers as efforts to influence purchasing in ways they believe could reduce long-term health costs and burdens.
Retail and health policy experts, however, raised concerns about how the restrictions will work in practice for SNAP users and for stores that must apply the rules at the point of sale. The National Retail Federation predicted that the changes could lead to longer checkout lines and more customer complaints as recipients learn which foods are affected, and a University of Michigan nutrition expert said the situation would mean customers being rejected at the register. “It’s a disaster waiting to happen of people trying to buy food and being rejected,” Kate Bauer said, according to the report.
Some industry trade groups also warned about the financial and operational burden of implementing SNAP restrictions. A report by the National Grocers Association and other trade groups estimated that implementing the restrictions would cost U.S. retailers $1.6 billion initially and $759 million each year going forward. At the same time, the anti-hunger advocacy group Food Research & Action Center argued that the approach shifts costs onto households and into retail pricing. “Punishing SNAP recipients means we all get to pay more at the grocery store,” Gina Plata-Nino, SNAP director for the group, said.
The SNAP waivers also mark a departure from federal policy that has generally allowed benefits to be used for “any food or food product intended for human consumption,” with specific exclusions including alcohol and ready-to-eat hot foods. The reporting said the 2008 Food and Nutrition Act authorized waivers, but that earlier waiver requests had been denied after USDA research concluded restrictions would be costly and complex, and might not change purchasing habits or reduce health problems like obesity.
Under the second Trump administration, states have been encouraged and even incentivized to seek waivers, and they responded. Indiana Gov. Mike Braun said when he announced his state’s request that, “This isn’t the usual top-down, one-size-fits-all public health agenda,” and that the state was focused on “root causes, transparent information and real results,” according to the report.
The specific bans differ by state. Utah and West Virginia will prohibit SNAP purchases of soda and soft drinks, while Nebraska will bar soda and energy drinks. Indiana will limit soft drinks and candy, and Iowa—described as having the most restrictive rules to date—will restrict taxable foods including soda and candy as well as certain prepared foods, according to the report.
Advocates said the scope and details of those restrictions were not clear enough for recipients, particularly when the changes extend beyond a straightforward household list. Plata-Nino wrote that “The items list does not provide enough specific information to prepare a SNAP participant to go to the grocery store,” and she added that “Many additional items — including certain prepared foods — will also be disallowed, even though they are not clearly identified in the notice to households,” according to the report.
For some users, the changes may affect how they plan purchases as well as how they feel treated at stores. Marc Craig, 47, of Des Moines, told reporters he has been living in his car since October and said the new waivers would make it harder to figure out how to use the $298 in SNAP benefits he receives each month. Craig also said the restrictions increase stigma at the cash register, telling reporters, “They treat people that get food stamps like we’re not people.”
Under the Agriculture Department’s description of the waivers, the restrictions in the five states will run for two years, with an option to extend them for an additional three. Each state is required to assess the impact of the changes, while health experts cited in the reporting said the waivers risk ignoring broader drivers of health for SNAP recipients. Anand Parekh, a medical doctor and chief health policy officer at the University of Michigan School of Public Health, said in the report that “This doesn’t solve the two fundamental problems, which is healthy food in this country is not affordable and unhealthy food is cheap and ubiquitous.”