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Starting Thursday, low-income Americans in five states will face new limits on what they can buy with government assistance for groceries, as the Trump administration begins rolling out restrictions on soda, candy and other foods under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska, Utah and West Virginia are the first states to implement federal waivers prohibiting certain purchases with SNAP benefits, part of a broader effort encouraged by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins. At least 18 states have sought or are pursuing similar waivers.
The changes mark a significant shift in the $100 billion federal program — long known as food stamps — which serves about 42 million Americans and has historically allowed recipients to purchase nearly all foods intended for home consumption.
“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,” Kennedy said in a statement last month.
Administration officials say the restrictions are designed to combat chronic diseases such as obesity and diabetes, which they link to sugary drinks and processed foods — a central theme of Kennedy’s “Make America Healthy Again” agenda.
But health policy experts, retailers and anti-hunger advocates warn that the policy could create confusion at grocery stores, impose steep new costs on retailers and stigmatize SNAP recipients without clear evidence that it will improve public health.
Retail groups say many state programs are unprepared for the technical complexity of enforcing the new rules. The National Retail Federation predicted longer checkout lines and more rejected purchases as shoppers and clerks struggle to determine which items are allowed.
An analysis by the National Grocers Association and other trade groups estimated that implementing SNAP purchase restrictions would cost retailers about $1.6 billion upfront, with an additional $759 million annually.
“Punishing SNAP recipients means we all get to pay more at the grocery store,” said Gina Plata-Nino, SNAP director at the Food Research & Action Center.
The waivers represent a break from decades of federal policy. The Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 allows SNAP benefits to be used for “any food or food product intended for human consumption,” with limited exceptions such as alcohol, tobacco and ready-to-eat hot foods.
Previous efforts to restrict so-called junk foods or premium items were rejected by the Agriculture Department, which concluded the changes would be costly, difficult to enforce and unlikely to alter long-term health outcomes.
Under the second Trump administration, however, states have been encouraged — and in some cases incentivized — to seek waivers.
“This isn’t the usual top-down, one-size-fits-all public health agenda,” Indiana Gov. Mike Braun said when announcing his state’s request last year.
The five waivers taking effect Jan. 1 affect roughly 1.4 million people. Utah and West Virginia are banning soda and soft drinks, Nebraska is prohibiting soda and energy drinks, Indiana is restricting soft drinks and candy, and Iowa has adopted the most expansive limits, covering many taxable and prepared foods.
Advocates say Iowa’s rules, in particular, lack clarity.
“The items list does not provide enough specific information to prepare a SNAP participant to go to the grocery store,” Plata-Nino wrote in a recent blog post.
The waivers will run for two years, with the option to extend them for up to five, and states are required to study their effects. Public health experts say the approach ignores broader structural issues.
“This doesn’t solve the two fundamental problems,” said Anand Parekh of the University of Michigan School of Public Health. “Healthy food is not affordable, and unhealthy food is cheap and ubiquitous.”
