In just a few weeks, millions of Floridians who receive SNAP assistance will have to stop using it to buy soda, energy drinks, candy, or prepared desserts.
Nearly two dozen states, including Florida, requested waivers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to change their food assistance programs and promote healthy diets in accordance with a a $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Program established in 2025. Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska, Utah and West Virginia started their changes in January. Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Nevada, Oklahoma, and Wyoming followed in February.
Florida’s change, one of the most restrictive in the country, will come in April, the USDA said. Most of the other states’ waivers only ban soft drinks and candy.
Which foods will be banned for Florida SNAP recipients?
According to Healthy SNAP Florida and the USDA approval, Florida’s SNAP will stop covering:
Why are Florida’s SNAP standards being changed?
The USDA said in a statement that the move “is empowering states with greater flexibility to manage their programs” by restricting “non-nutritious items like soda and candy, adding, “These waivers are a key step in ensuring that taxpayer dollars provide nutritious options that improve health outcomes within SNAP.”
Critics said the restrictions will increase the social stigma for SNAP recipients, cause confusion at checkout counters, raise grocery prices for everyone, and make life more miserable for people who are unable to afford treats without SNAP and have few other options. Unhoused Americans with nowhere to store unprepared foods will also be affected, as will Floridians in food deserts without easy access to fresh food.
The changes to the food assistance programs come months after Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the chief proponent of the Make America Healthy Again movement, suggested he would work with Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins to limit access to certain foods under SNAP.
“Every American who wants to eat a donut ought to be able to eat it or drink a Coke,” Kennedy said in early 2025. “But the federal taxpayer should not be paying to poison our children. And we’re going to end that.”
When will Florida block sweets, soda, and energy drinks from SNAP?
The change begins April 20, 2026, according to the USDA.
Approval was for a two-year term ending December 31, 2027, with the option for the state to request three more extensions for a total period not to exceed five years. During that time, the state must track and report SNAP transactions and spending habits, and survey recipients to see if more Floridians are making “nutrient dense purchases” such as fresh fruits and vegetables.
What is SNAP, the former food stamp program?
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is part of the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. It provides assistance to low-income seniors, people with disabilities living on fixed incomes, and other individuals and families with low incomes to help them buy nutritious food such as breads, cereals, fruits, vegetables, meats, fish, poultry, and dairy. Recipients can also buy plants and seeds to grow food for their households to eat.
SNAP does not cover nonfood items such as pet foods, soaps, paper products, household supplies, grooming items, alcoholic beverages, tobacco, vitamins, and medicines, and may not be used to buy food to eat in the store, or hot foods.
It grew out of the nearly century-old national food stamp program started in 1939 at the end of the Great Depression. That program ended in 1943, but President John F. Kennedy initiated a new food stamp pilot program in 1961, according to the USDA. President Lyndon B. Johnson made the program permanent with the Food Stamp Act of 1964, and it was renamed to SNAP in 2008.
How much money do SNAP recipients get?
In fiscal year 2025, the average monthly benefit per person in the SNAP program was $190.59, per USDA (about $6 a day). For households, the average monthly benefit was $356.41 in total.
However, the exact amount of money each SNAP recipient receives per month depends on their income and household size, so it varies per person.
SNAP benefits cut, more restrictions added
The changes come as the SNAP program was already facing new reductions and restrictions. President Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” passed in July cut an estimated $186 billion from SNAP funding through 2034, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
The bill also created a $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Program that scores states on whether they submit SNAP restriction waivers, while making SNAP requirements more difficult for recipients to qualify.
How many people are on SNAP benefits?
More than 42 million people across more than 22 million households relied on SNAP benefits every month during fiscal year 2025, according to the USDA. Children accounted for about 39% of the people who received the benefits, according to the USDA’s report on fiscal year 2023, its latest annual data.
About 2.98 million Floridians received SNAP during fiscal year 2024, about 12.7% of the state’s population. The national average is 12.3%.
In 2023, 55% of SNAP households with children included someone employed (28% of the total), and 61% also received some other form of assistance, such as Social Security.
C. A. Bridges is a journalist for the USA TODAY Network-Florida’s service journalism Connect team. You can get all of Florida’s best content directly in your inbox each weekday day by signing up for the free newsletter, Florida TODAY.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Florida SNAP recipients will face new food restrictions. Here’s the list
Reporting by C. A. Bridges, USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida / Pensacola News Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
