Shalina Chatlani

(States Newsroom) 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. Florida, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas and West Virginia received approval last week. So did Colorado, which is overwhelmingly Democratic. 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

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