Kansas SNAP recipients won’t be able to buy candy, soda with benefits for long
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- Kansas SNAP recipients will be barred from buying soda and candy with benefits.
- USDA approved waiver; Kansas restriction takes effect Feb. 15, 2027.
- Opponents say rule could limit healthy access and confuse retailers and recipients.
Starting next year, Kansans who receive food assistance will no longer be able to use their benefits to purchase soda or candy.
Gov. Laura Kelly announced on Wednesday that the U.S. Department of Agriculture approved the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, restriction waiver that Republican lawmakers compelled the Department for Children and Families to submit.
Kelly, a Democrat, vetoed a 2025 bill that would have barred needy Kansans from using SNAP benefits to purchase sugary food and drink. But GOP lawmakers added the provision into the budget bill that eventually became law.
“I have always supported policies that incentivize healthy eating, including axing the state sales tax on food to put more money back in Kansans’ pockets,” Kelly said in a statement. “Going forward, I would encourage the USDA to develop a nationwide eligibility strategy to reduce confusion and uncertainty for retailers and recipients alike.”
USDA approved Kansas’ waiver application in a batch with requests from Nevada, Ohio and Wyoming, bringing the number of states with soda and candy restrictions to 22. Missouri’s restrictions will go into effect Oct. 1.
Kansas’ new restrictions won’t go into effect until Feb. 15, 2027, according to Kelly. State records show that roughly 188,000 Kansans receive monthly SNAP benefits.
“I’m glad to see this waiver finally moving forward,” said House Speaker Dan Hawkins, a Wichita Republican who’s running for insurance commissioner.
“I’m all for helping someone who’s down on their luck but if taxpayer dollars are going toward food assistance, it only makes sense they should support real nutrition, not pop and candy,” Hawkins added in a press release.
Senate Minority Leader Dinah Sykes, a Lenexa Democrat who’s also running for insurance commissioner, said in a statement to The Star that the waiver approval serves to punish people without improving their access to healthy foods.
“For a lot of our communities, the only grocery store is a Dollar General that doesn’t carry fresh produce,” Sykes said.
Democrats have also raised concerns about which products would and would not be considered candy under the SNAP waiver. State food and sales tax laws define candy as “a preparation of sugar, honey, or other natural or artificial sweeteners in combination with chocolate, fruits, nuts, or other ingredients or flavorings in the form of bars, drops, or pieces.”
Only confections that include no flour and require no refrigeration are considered candy under that definition, which Kelly said will be used as the basis of the new SNAP restrictions.
When she vetoed the SNAP waiver bill in 2025, the governor issued a statement calling the candy definition “nonsensical.”
“Under the definition in that waiver, Kansas businesses would be mandated to stop accepting food assistance benefits for protein bars, trail mix, and other food products many would consider ‘healthy,’” Kelly said in her veto message.
“Meanwhile, items like Twix, Kit Kat, and Twizzlers would still be eligible for purchase using food assistance benefits.”
