More than a third of all states will soon limit purchases of unhealthy foods and beverages using food stamps.
Since May, the Agriculture Department has approved waivers in 12 states that ban the purchase of soda, energy drinks, candy and prepared desserts using benefits provided by the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as food stamps or SNAP. Six more states have now been approved for waivers, Brooke L. Rollins, the agriculture secretary, said at a news conference on Wednesday.
“We all know we’re at the point where we must do something to correct the chronic health problems that Americans face,” Ms. Rollins said, characterizing the waivers as an example of the success of the Make America Healthy Again movement.
The restrictions on SNAP purchases will largely take effect next year, reaching more than 14 million participants in 18 states. The list of prohibited items vary by state, but the vast majority include sugary drinks like soda. Waivers typically last two years, with the possibility of extension.
Future waivers may be approved in 11 additional states, according to the National Grocers Association, a trade group. If so, bans on soda and other unhealthy foods would be in effect in most states, including those with some of the largest populations of SNAP recipients.
The wave of restrictions on unhealthy purchases using SNAP benefits is a sharp reversal for the Agriculture Department, which typically denied such requests under both Republican and Democratic administrations, including in President Trump’s first term.
The second Trump administration has struck a different tone. Ms. Rollins and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the health secretary, have written that their agencies “have a duty to fix” the obesity and chronic disease epidemics and encouraged steering “taxpayer dollars to go toward wholesome foods” using waivers.
The 18 states with approved waivers are Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and West Virginia.
Linda Qiu is a Times reporter who specializes in fact-checking statements made by politicians and public figures. She has been reporting and fact-checking public figures for nearly a decade.
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