EL PASO, Texas (KFOX14\/CBS4) – Starting April 1, millions of Texans who rely on SNAP benefits will no longer be able to use those benefits to buy soda, sweetened drinks, or candy.<\/p>\n
Texas Health and Human Services Commission approved Gov. Greg Abbott\u2019s push to change the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, a move that was first approved in August of last year. <\/p>\n
Under the new rules, SNAP participants will be barred from purchasing candy, gum, and sugary drinks containing five grams of added sugar or artificial sweeteners.<\/p>\n
Ed Bowlin said the restrictions will limit what SNAP participants can buy with their EBT cards at the beginning of the month. \u201cThey will not be able to purchase certain sweetened drinks and certain sweetened candies,\u201d Bowlin said.<\/p>\n
Some items will still be eligible, including certain products that contain milk, such as chocolate milk, and medical-grade electrolyte drinks such as Pedialyte. <\/p>\n
Bowlin also advised shoppers to check labels for allowable juice options. \u201cLooking for labels that say unsweetened for any kind of fruit or vegetable juice that’s more than 50% fruit or vegetable is still allowed to be purchased,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Abbott has said the new SNAP guidelines are intended to ensure taxpayer dollars are used to purchase foods that provide real nutritional value.<\/p>\n
Celia Cole, CEO of Feeding Texas, said it is uncertain whether the restrictions will change what people consume. \u201cSo it’s unclear whether just restricting how snap benefits can be used is gonna have any real impact on people’s consumption patterns,\u201d Cole said. \u201cIt’s like a misconception that it’s a supplemental benefit. It’s a very diverse population that’s served by snap.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bowlin, the director of SNAP state strategies, said it will take time and evaluation to determine whether the changes have an effect. \u201cI think the biggest misconception is that they’ll have a big impact and we don’t know for sure,\u201d he said. \u201cThe idea of the restrictions in Texas is it’s a Demonstration project to try to understand if these things make a difference, and in order to do that You really need to study and evaluate what changes actually were made,\u201d He added that \u201cmany folks are on SNAP for limited periods of time, six to eight months.\u201d<\/p>\n
RELATED: These five states ban SNAP purchases of soda and candy as part of health initiative<\/a><\/p>\n