Sodas and chips are displayed at a convenience store in the Astoria neighborhood of Queens in New York. As of this month, 12 states, mostly Republican and in the South, have opted to limit SNAP recipients from purchasing foods such as soda and candy. (Photo by Shalina Chatlani/ Stateline)
At least 12 states have received federal approval to restrict recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, from using their benefits to purchase certain foods such as soda and candy.
The states receiving waivers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture are overwhelmingly Republican. Colorado, Florida, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas and West Virginia received approval last week. The feds granted waivers to Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska and Utah earlier this year.
SNAP served on average nearly 42 million people a month in fiscal 2024, with about 12% of the U.S. population receiving benefits.
The trend is part of U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s agenda to “make America healthy again” by inviting states to apply for waivers to change SNAP rules to limit what types of food recipients can buy.
Kennedy said in a statement that SNAP has used taxpayer dollars to “fuel America’s diabetes and chronic disease epidemics.”
“These waivers help put real food back at the center of the program and empower states to lead the charge in protecting public health,” the statement said.
Critics of these waivers say the policy could harm people in places such as food deserts, where healthy options are limited, and take away recipients’ power to make their own food choices.
Craig Gundersen, a professor in the Department of Economics at Baylor University, told Stateline that these changes could harm the integrity of the program.
“One of the main reasons why SNAP is such a successful program is because it gives dignity and autonomy to recipients. It gives dignity to recipients by allowing them to shop in the same manner as their neighbors, friends and family, and it gives autonomy to recipients by saying to families: You are the best ones to make decisions for your families about what to purchase,” Gundersen said.
Gundersen said he worries the restrictions could stigmatize SNAP, which he called one of the best programs for fighting food insecurity.
Stateline reporter Shalina Chatlani can be reached at schatlani@stateline.org.
