Updated Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) rules go into effect on Monday in Florida with many unhealthy items no longer available for purchase under the program, including soda, energy drinks, and candy.
The change to bar SNAP beneficiaries from using taxpayer dollars to purchase junk food formally went into effect on Monday, April 20, 2026, in the Sunshine State.
Under the new rules, basics such as meat, poultry, seafood, fruits, vegetables, bread, coffee, tea, and more are available for purchase through the welfare program.
However, key junk food items are now unavailable for purchase through the program. This includes soda, “ultra-processed” prepared desserts, and candy. Notably, recipients will still be able to purchase carbonated water that is naturally flavored as well as a few other carbonated beverages with the following stipulations, per Click Orlando:
- does not include carbonated water that is plain or naturally flavored;
- does not include any beverage that is over 50 percent vegetable or fruit juice by volume;
- does not include a beverage with less than five grams of added sugar.
A beverage flavored with added sugar or artificial sweeteners is also off limits. Energy drinks — or a beverage containing at least 65 milligrams for every 8 oz — and marketed specifically for increased energy are also a no-go. Coffee, however, is still on the good list.
Healthy SNAP also clarified what is meant by “ultra-processed” desserts. This includes:
…snack cakes like Twinkies, Ho Hos, and Swiss Rolls, packaged sweets like Sno Balls, Oatmeal Creme Pies, Market Pantry Golden Crème Cakes, and Baker’s Treat Cup Cakes. This includes cookies like Chips Ahoy!, Keebler Chips Deluxe, Famous Amos Chocolate Chip Cookies, Market Pantry Chocolate Chip Cookies, Oreos, Benton’s Original Chocolate Sandwich Cookies, and Great Value Twist & Shout Cookies. This also includes store brand varieties of prepared desserts that meet the defined restrictions.
These limits will stay in effect for two years, and officials will track the results.
Other states have also implemented SNAP restrictions in pursuit of the Trump administration’s Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) agenda, including Hawaii, Missouri, North Dakota, South Carolina, Virginia, and Tennessee. In a December 10 press release celebrating the move, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. thanked the 18 governors around the nation who were “leading the charge on SNAP reform to restore the health of Americans — especially our kids.”
“Their courageous leadership is exactly what we need to Make America Healthy Again,” Kennedy stated. “We cannot continue a system that forces taxpayers to fund programs that make people sick and then pay a second time to treat the illnesses those very programs help create.”
Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska, Utah, and West Virginia were among the first states to follow HHS nutritional guidelines for SNAP.
Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins also praised the move, making it clear that the Trump administration was working to restore the SNAP program back to its “true purpose,” which she identified as “nutrition.”
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