Arkansas to proceed with SNAP ban on candy and soda

Arkansas is proceeding with its ban on using Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for candy and soda purchases, set to begin on Wednesday. Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced the move, citing an urgent need to address chronic diseases like obesity, diabetes, and heart disease, and the associated healthcare costs.

This decision comes despite a federal judge's ruling last week that similar restrictions in other states were unlawful. U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson vacated the USDA's approval of pilot projects in Colorado, Iowa, Nebraska, Tennessee, and West Virginia, stating the agency failed to follow its own regulations and cited an incorrect statute. The Arkansas program operates under the same regulations that were invalidated.

Governor Sanders acknowledged the ruling but stated Arkansas is moving forward, asserting, "we won’t wait around while our people get less and less healthy and we spend more and more taxpayer dollars trying to fix the problem." The governor's office referenced research from Stanford University suggesting that restricting sugary drink purchases with food stamps could reduce obesity and type-2 diabetes rates, though overall research on the health impacts of such restrictions remains mixed.

Grocery stores in Arkansas will be responsible for enforcing the new rules. Steve Goode, executive director of the Arkansas Grocers and Retail Merchants Association, noted that this represents a significant change for businesses, though some members in other states have already implemented similar measures with acceptable results. Arkansas has contracted a third-party vendor to provide a list of banned items to retailers and has developed an app for SNAP beneficiaries to determine item eligibility.