SNAP bans on soda, candy and other foods take effect in five states Jan. 1

[AZProgressive]

Source: Associated Press

By JONEL ALECCIA
Updated 10:09 AM MST, December 30, 2025

Starting Thursday, Americans in five states who get government help paying for groceries will see new restrictions on soda, candy and other foods they can buy with those benefits.

Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska, Utah and West Virginia are the first of at least 18 states to enact waivers prohibiting the purchase of certain foods through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.

It’s part of a push by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins to urge states to strip foods regarded as unhealthy from the $100 billion federal program -- long known as food stamps -- that serves 42 million Americans.

“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 in December.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/snap-waiver-food-stamps-soda-7787585c75e098d3a16aefacc32ac4f5

[Skittles]

1. you cannot have a candy bar - here, have an AR-15 instead

[Hope22]

2. And no treats for the kids.

Nothing fun or out of the ordinary. Pretty sad.

[Skittles]

3. it is indeed

I enjoy the occasional candy bar, there is nothing wrong with that.

[Hope22]

4. All we can be is thankful that we aren't haters.

Lost haters rotting from the inside out………

[Skittles]

5. "judge not lest ye be judged" is just lost on these folk

it is bizarre to me how they only seem to care when it affects THEM

[Talitha]

6. Not sure this is an exact comparison, but please bear with me.

My Wisconsin 5% food sales tax seems to have similar limits as what SNAP recipients are now restricted from buying... junk food. Basically, food is food, and junk food is junk food. Period.

Example: I went shopping today at the local grocery store for a few odds and ends... tomato paste, potatoes, a few boxes of tea, a beef roast and some wine.

All items were WI tax-free... except the wine, because it's not in the category of 'food'... same as soda, candy and other items that will soon be restricted by SNAP.

I understand that children deserve an occasional treat, but can't it be in the form of something like home-made Oatmeal Cookies instead of junk 'food'?

As always, JMHO and YMMV.

[Orrex]

7. Anyone who claims a mortgage tax credit should be forbidden to purchase candy or soda

A handout is a handout, after all.

And fuckheads who claim yacht write-offs should be barred from eating lobster.