Advocates speak out against SNAP restrictions on soda and energy drinks at DHHS hearing

Soda and energy drinks would no longer be eligible for purchase through the Supplemental Nutrition and Assistance Program in Nebraska under proposed regulations from the state’s Department of Health and Human Services.

At a hearing Tuesday, advocates said the restrictions could hurt grocery stores and stigmatize Nebraskans who use SNAP.

“Implementing the SNAP restriction waiver will lead to fewer food retailers accepting SNAP, thereby causing a significant number of Nebraskan families, including those with children, veterans, people with disabilities and the elderly, to face even greater barriers when trying to put food on the table,” said Madison Castor with Nebraska Appleseed.

Shannon McCord, who chairs the Nebraska Grocery Industry Association board and owns a grocery store in Superior, said the regulations would create additional administrative burdens for store operators.

“We are being asked to modify our point-of-sale systems to exclude newly restricted products, a costly and complex task — especially for independent and rural grocers —training employees to navigate a new set of rules, expecting slower times and bottlenecks at the checkouts, assuming blame and dealing with customer frustrations and confusions,” he said.

McCord also said the patchwork of restrictions in different states could give Nebraska retailers a competitive disadvantage. His store, Ideal Market, is less than two miles from the Kansas border, where Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed a bill directing her administration to seek a waiver to exclude candy and soda from SNAP.

“Our customers aren't going to drive to Kansas just to buy their sodas,” McCord said. “When they go, they're going to buy all of their groceries.”

More than 150,000 Nebraskans use SNAP, representing 8% of the state’s households.

The effort to remove soda and energy drinks has been championed by Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen, who said removing the items would improve the health of Nebraskans.

“We are starving in the midst of plenty,” Pillen said. “We are surrounded by an endless number of food and beverage choices that contain numerous preservatives, carbohydrates and sugars, which can lead to obesity, high cholesterol, diabetes and other chronic diseases.”

Pillen submitted a waiver request to the U.S. Department of Agriculture in April, which was approved the following month during a visit from U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins.

Nebraska was the second state to request a waiver and the first to have it approved.

Five other states have since had similar waivers approved, restricting “unhealthy” items like candy and soft drinks. In neighboring Iowa, food without sales tax exemptions, such as fruit leather, kettle corn and some granola bars, would become ineligible.

“There are no clear health standards for defining food as good or bad, or healthy or unhealthy,” Castor said Tuesday. “No evidence exists to support the claim that participation in SNAP contributes to poor diets or obesity rates.”

The Department of Health and Human Services Office of Economic Assistance will determine whether to make any changes to the proposed regulations. If significant changes are made, a second public hearing will be held. Otherwise, the regulations will go to Attorney General Mike Hilgers and then Gov. Jim Pillen for final approval.

The regulations are part of a two-year pilot program which would go into effect Jan. 1.