Dive Brief:
- Four more states received approval for waivers allowing them to amend the statutory definition of eligible food under SNAP and exclude more products from the program, the USDA announced Wednesday.
- The additional states — Kansas, Nevada, Ohio and Wyoming — bring the total number of states with SNAP waivers to 22.
- The USDA also announced Wednesday that the Stocking Standards final rule, which changes food stocking requirements for retailers that want to accept SNAP benefits, is forthcoming.
Dive Insight:
The Trump administration is pushing forward with efforts it says will help consumers, especially those participating in SNAP, make healthier choices.
While SNAP participants nationwide aren’t allowed to use their benefits to buy alcohol, tobacco, hot and prepared foods, and personal care products, the waivers allow states to exclude additional items like candy, soda and energy drinks from SNAP eligibility. In May, Nebraska became the first state to receive a waiver, which went into effect in January, and since then, nearly two dozen states have also received approval.
Items barred from SNAP eligibility under the waivers vary from state to state. All four newly approved state waivers take aim at sugary drinks. Kansas and Nevada are also restricting candy.
For the updated stocking standards, the USDA says that the forthcoming rule will ensure retailers meet a higher minimum standard of staple food stocking requirements.
“For over 12 years, minimum stocking standards in retailers have been debated. This impending rule is practical, doable, and will provide families with new, more healthful choices no matter where they shop,” Dr. Ben Carson, the national advisor for nutrition, health and housing at the USDA, said in a statement.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest, a left-leaning nonprofit and consumer advocacy group, said that the proposed rule, which was published in September, did not include nutrition standards — such as limits on added sugar, sodium, saturated fat and refined grains — on foods that count toward the minimum inventory requirements. In a letter to the USDA on Tuesday, the group said it supports the proposed rule, which would more than double the number of varieties of food retailers must stock in four main categories, but urged the USDA to add nutrition standards.
“The proposed rule would allow retailers to comply with updated stocking standards by simply offering a wider variety of unhealthy ultra-processed foods,” CSPI wrote.
