Judge Vacates USDA Approvals Letting States Bar SNAP Purchases of Soda and Candy

U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson on Monday vacated approval letters the U.S. Department of Agriculture had issued to states seeking to bar SNAP recipients from buying sodas, energy drinks, candy and other items.

The ruling found that the department had not followed the definition of food set by Congress. The judge wrote that federal officials and states may hold a genuine desire to improve health outcomes for SNAP households but cannot violate the law or their own regulations to reach that goal. She ordered the approvals remanded to the agency.

States began rolling out the purchase restrictions on January 1. By the start of June, the USDA had granted permission to 23 states. The legal challenge originated with SNAP beneficiaries in Colorado, Iowa, Nebraska, Tennessee and West Virginia.

Eighteen additional states had already implemented or were preparing comparable limits. SNAP serves an estimated one in nine Americans and is funded by the federal government while administered by the states. The restrictions formed part of the Trump administration effort described as Make America Healthy Again.

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins posted on social media that the administration will keep fighting to Make America Healthy Again. The Trump administration has not stated whether it will appeal the ruling. Chris Bernard of Hunger Free Oklahoma said the measures offered an opportunity to claim action while stigmatizing choices made by one group of people that are common across the country.

Unless a higher court reaches a different conclusion on appeal, the federal government cannot use SNAP rules to limit purchases for nutrition purposes.