{"id":601875,"date":"2026-04-23T16:11:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T16:11:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/601875\/"},"modified":"2026-04-23T16:11:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T16:11:10","slug":"nebraska-seeks-to-ban-candy-purchases-with-snap-benefits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/601875\/","title":{"rendered":"Nebraska seeks to ban candy purchases with SNAP benefits"},"content":{"rendered":"

LINCOLN, Neb. (WOWT) – Nebraska will soon make a request to federal officials to ban purchases of candy with food assistance benefits.<\/a><\/p>\n

The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services announced Thursday it will submit a request to the USDA to expand the state\u2019s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program<\/a> (SNAP) Healthy Choice Waiver. The change would make candy an ineligible purchase, according to a release.<\/p>\n

The restriction will take effect Nov. 1, 2026, once approved.<\/p>\n

The current Healthy Choice Waiver<\/a> already prohibits the purchase of soda and energy drinks with SNAP benefits. This policy took effect in the beginning of this year.<\/a><\/p>\n

Nebraska DHHS reports in the release that excessive consumption of sugar can contribute to health conditions such as heart disease, obesity, type 2 diabetes, kidney disease, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and dental decay.<\/p>\n

“Research from the USDA<\/a> has shown that SNAP participants have a higher prevalence of obesity than both income-eligible and higher-income nonparticipants. That same study found that SNAP participants, on average, consume more added sugars and fewer fruits and vegetables than non-participants,” the release states.<\/p>\n

The DHHS also cited a study from the University of Minnesota<\/a> that found that restricting sugary foods leads to an increase in healthier purchases and a decrease in sugary food purchases.<\/p>\n

The state will send information to SNAP participants, retailers and community members outlining the changes before the implementation date. More information will be shared on the SNAP Healthy Choice Waiver web page.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cDHHS continues to strengthen our Healthy Choice Waiver by adding candy to the list of items ineligible for purchase with SNAP benefits,\u201d said Shannon Grotrian, director of the Office of Economic Assistance, in the release. \u201cThis step supports healthier SNAP purchasing decisions and reflects the Department\u2019s commitment to improving health outcomes for Nebraskans.\u201d<\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

Watch breaking news unfold on our livestream. Download the First Alert 6 streaming app<\/a> to your TV or find us in your favorite streaming platform<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 WOWT. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LINCOLN, Neb. (WOWT) – Nebraska will soon make a request to federal officials to ban purchases of candy…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":601876,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[261876,14430,261880,35920,261879,4,450,108073,261878,32847,140123,126847,8112,299,261877,19749,36469,451,261882,64489,40237,55353,2806,3,261883,1052,3859,93486,16650,19755,27094,2151,261881,168738,13201,452,453,12839],"class_list":{"0":"post-601875","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-breaking-news","8":"tag-amanda-gerhson","9":"tag-assistance","10":"tag-ban-candy","11":"tag-banned","12":"tag-beneifts","13":"tag-breaking-news","14":"tag-breakingnews","15":"tag-candy","16":"tag-casserole","17":"tag-chips","18":"tag-department-of-agriculture","19":"tag-dhhs","20":"tag-diet","21":"tag-food","22":"tag-ginger-ale","23":"tag-gluten-free","24":"tag-groceries","25":"tag-headlines","26":"tag-ineligable","27":"tag-jim-pillen","28":"tag-junk-food","29":"tag-low-income","30":"tag-nebraska","31":"tag-news","32":"tag-nov-1","33":"tag-prices","34":"tag-program","35":"tag-purchases","36":"tag-request","37":"tag-restricted","38":"tag-salsa","39":"tag-snap","40":"tag-snap-candy","41":"tag-submit","42":"tag-sugar","43":"tag-top-stories","44":"tag-topstories","45":"tag-usda"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/601875","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=601875"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/601875\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/601876"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=601875"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=601875"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=601875"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}