By I. Edwards HealthDay Reporter<\/b>
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WEDNESDAY, April 16, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Republican governors in Arkansas and Indiana are asking the federal government for permission to ban soda and candy purchases with food stamps.<\/p>\n
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders<\/a> said her goal is to improve the health of the nearly 350,000 people in her state who use the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the Associated Press <\/em>reported.<\/p>\n \u201cTaxpayers are subsidizing poor health,\u201d Sanders said Tuesday during a news conference with U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins<\/a>. \u201cWe\u2019re paying for it on the front end and the back end.\u201d<\/p>\n In Indiana, Gov. Mike Braun<\/a> made a similar announcement alongside U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.<\/a> and Dr. Mehmet Oz, who now heads the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services<\/a>. Braun said the state\u2019s changes would focus on putting “the focus back on nutrition \u2014 not candy and soft drinks.\u201d<\/p>\n If approved, Arkansas\u2019 plan would take effect in July 2026. It would ban the use of SNAP to buy:<\/p>\n Regular, low- and no-calorie sodas<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Fruit and vegetable drinks with less than 50% juice<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Artificially sweetened candy<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Candy made with flour, such as Kit Kat bars<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n However, the plan would allow people to use SNAP for hot rotisserie chicken, which is not allowed now.<\/p>\n Indiana\u2019s plan also targets candy and soda. Braun added new work rules for SNAP users, brought back income verification rules and even ordered a review of possible payment mistakes in the program, the Associated Press<\/em> said.<\/p>\n SNAP, which helped nearly 42 million Americans in 2024 and cost about $100 billion, is overseen by the U.S. Department of Agriculture but run by individual states.<\/p>\n Benefits can be used to buy almost any food item but not alcohol, tobacco and hot meals.<\/p>\n Since 2004, six other states have tried to get federal waivers to restrict certain food purchases through SNAP. None were approved.<\/p>\n Congress would likely need to change law to allow these restrictions, experts say.<\/p>\n \u201cThey changed our food system in this country so that it is poison to us,\u201d Kennedy said. \u201cWe can\u2019t be a strong nation if we are not a strong people.\u201d<\/p>\n Critics and anti-hunger groups say the changes unfairly target low-income families.<\/p>\n \u201cThey just seem to be targeting a specific population without having data that says that they are the issue or that this is going to improve,\u201d said Gina Plata-Nino<\/a>, a deputy director at the Food Research and Action Center, a nonprofit advocacy group.<\/p>\n The American Beverage Association and the National Confectioners Association also criticized the plans.<\/p>\n \u201cSNAP participants and non-SNAP participants alike understand that chocolate and candy are treats \u2013 not meal replacements,\u201d National Confectioners Association spokesman Chris Gindlesperger<\/a> said.<\/p>\n More information<\/strong><\/p>\n The USDA Food and Nutrition Service has more on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n