by: Leslie Bonilla Muñiz
Indiana Capital Chronicle
Beginning Jan. 1, more than half a million low-income Indiana residents won’t be able to use government food assistance to buy sugary drinks or candy. And state officials are preparing retailers and participants for the changes.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, is the nation’s largest anti-hunger initiative. But leaders in Indiana and beyond aim to reshape what recipients can buy, citing poor public health metrics.
The changes, dubbed “Smart SNAP,” are part of the “Make Indiana Healthy Again” plan launched in April by Gov. Mike Braun’s administration. That included an executive order directing FSSA to request federal permission to make the changes. The U.S. Department of Agriculture approved the waiver in May.
Those are defined as non-alcoholic beverages with natural or artificial sweeteners. Concoctions with milk or milk substitutes — soy, rice and so on — don’t count, and neither do drinks exclusively sweetened with real fruit or vegetable juice.
That means soda, energy drinks, sports drinks like Gatorade and sweetened iced tea are banned from SNAP uses, but unsweetened iced tea, fruit juice or electrolyte replacement drinks like Pedialyte are still covered, according to FSSA.
Candy bars, marshmallows, fruit strips, popcorn and mints are banned, per FSSA, but ice cream, fruit itself and potato chips are still allowed.
Who will be on the front lines to explain to customers checking out what can and cannot be purchased? The minimum wage cashiers at dollar ad convenient stores
Retailers must update their point-of-sale systems to exclude the soon-to-be restricted items, train staff on the changes and submit proof to FSSA.
More than 570,000 Hoosiers used the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, to help pay for groceries in September, according to the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration.
They were issued a collective $111 million in benefits that month, or an average of about $195.00 per person.
The benefit is 100% federally funded and administrative costs are split 50% with states — for now.
Indiana will likely be on the hook for more SNAP costs in the future, under President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
Those changes could cost Indiana up to $264 million more annually, according to FSSA estimates.