New food stamp restrictions prohibiting benefits to be used to purchase sweetened beverages and candy will affect millions of Texans starting April 1.
Senate Bill 379, one of three bills under Texas’ “Make America Healthy Again” initiative that Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law last year, prohibits the use of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, also informally called food stamps, to purchase those sugary items.
“Texas is leading the way in aligning SNAP benefits with healthier food options,” Abbott said in a news release this month. “By implementing these changes, we encourage better nutrition and ensure this program helps families access nutritional food. I thank the Trump Administration and the Texas Health and Human Services Commission for their work to strengthen this program and better serve Texans.”
While the bill passed with bipartisan support, some Democratic lawmakers raised concerns about its long-term effects. Sen. Borris Miles, D-Houston, supported the bill’s goal, but said there are people in urban and rural areas who don’t have access to nutritious foods and foods that are not as healthy may be the only options to fend off hunger. Sen. Nathan Johnson, D-Dallas, said if the Legislature is really concerned about Texans getting proper nutrition, it should double the value of food stamps for things like fresh produce so benefits could buy more of the health products and give retailers incentive to stock more of it.
SNAP is a federal program that helps low-income individuals or families buy food. An individual qualifies for SNAP if they make $2,152 a month or less, and a family of four qualifies if they make $4,421 a month or less. About 3.5 million Texans, including 1.7 million children, receive SNAP assistance every month. The recent restrictions on SNAP in Texas follows cuts the Trump administration has made to the program, including reducing funding by approximately $186 billion over 10 years, as well as implementing stricter work requirements, and new restrictions on what enrollees can purchase with benefits, impacting more than 40 million people using SNAP in the U.S.
Here’s a guide breaking down how to identify restricted items, expectations for retailer compliance, and changes to SNAP eligibility.
Starting April 1, what can’t I buy with my SNAP benefits?
SB 379 bans the purchase of any sweetened drinks that contain 5 grams or more of added sugar per serving or any amount of artificial sweetener, such as regular and most diet sodas or drinks made with less than 50% vegetable or fruit juice. Under the bill, candy is banned, including candy bars, gum, taffy, nuts, raisins or fruits that have been candied, crystalized, glazed or coated with chocolate, yogurt or caramel.
Other items that Texans can’t buy with their SNAP benefits have long included tobacco, alcohol, vitamins, medicine, and other non-food items. SNAP also cannot be used to purchase certain food items, such as ready-made or hot foods, including rotisserie chicken. In the past, the governor has lifted those restrictions during natural disasters.
What can I buy with my SNAP benefits?
Beverages with less than 5 grams of added sugars that are not artificial can be purchased. Stevia, stevia leaf extract and monk fruit are not considered artificial sweeteners. Products used exclusively for cooking such as chocolate bits and sprinkles, and sweet snack items, such as ice cream, sherbet, and frozen yogurt, ice pops, juice pops, sorbet, and other frozen fruit items containing not more than 50% percent fruit juice by volume, can be bought with benefits.
Texans can continue to use their SNAP benefits to purchase fruits; vegetables; garden seeds; plants that produce food; milk; milk substitutes and other dairy products; bread and cereal; meat; fish and poultry; and beverages that have more than 50% vegetable or fruit juice by volume.
How can I tell if my food falls under the new SNAP restrictions?
Customers can find the item’s sugar content on the back of the good, where the nutrition label is attached. The amount of added sugar is typically found under the “Total Carbohydrate” category. The list of ingredients will also contain information about artificial sweeteners. The Texas Health and Human Services Commission has provided language for retailers to use to produce signage in stores, according to the Texas Retailers Association.
How are retailers supposed to enforce this change?
HHSC released a guidance document for retailers on how to comply with SB 379. The document lays out updated retailer responsibilities such as: confirming which products are restricted by the waiver definitions, updating store purchase systems and processes to stop SNAP transactions of restricted items, double-checking product packaging and labels to ensure items are categorized correctly, and training staff to understand that only sweetened beverages and candy are ineligible.
Lorna Ramage, Every Texan’s deputy director of communications, said SB 379 burdens small businesses and retailers with the responsibility of ongoing system updates and keeping up with new/existing products from the state onto small businesses and retailers.
“Texas is home to the highest number of food insecure people in the U.S. We need all the SNAP retailers we can find, especially for Texans in remote areas with limited access to retailers,” Ramage said. “We worry that these changes will lead to more Texas families going hungry, all while adding an unsustainable bureaucratic burden on Texas’ small businesses.”
What are other changes lawmakers have made to the SNAP program recently?
Effective since November 2025, Texans who receive SNAP must work or attend a work program.
Under the federal “One Big Beautiful Bill” that went into effect July 2025, able-bodied individuals ages 18 through 65 without dependents must work or attend a work program, such as SNAP Employment and Training, for at least 80 hours per month to receive benefits.
Parents and household members of a dependent child age 14 or older meet the additional work requirements. Previously, those with a child under 18 were exempt from the requirements. Veterans, people 24 and younger who recently aged out of foster care, and unhoused people are also not exempt from work requirements.
The bill restricts benefits to apply only to certain lawful permanent residents and U.S. citizens, and eliminates eligibility for others legally present in the United States such as those who have qualified for conditional entry under the asylum and refugee laws or based on urgent humanitarian reasons, such as survivors of domestic violence or human trafficking.
This article first appeared on The Texas Tribune.
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