Iowa HHS working with retailers to implement new ‘junk food’ restrictions on SNAP

DES MOINES — Soda and sweets soon will be off limits for purchase with taxpayer-funded food assistance benefits in Iowa, and the state said Friday it is working to implement those restrictions for the Jan. 1 implementation date.

Soft drinks, candy, gum and many other foods — most of which are generally deemed to be unhealthy — will be ineligible for purchase with SNAP benefits starting Jan. 1.

The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services said in a release Friday that the agency is working proactively with retailers to educate them about the new rules.

The restrictions were designed, HHS says, to “promote healthier eating habits among Iowans receiving SNAP benefits.”

“As obesity and chronic illness continue to rise, Iowa is taking bold steps upstream — focusing on prevention and early intervention,” Iowa HHS Director Kelly Garcia said in the release. “By limiting SNAP-eligible purchases to healthier foods, this is a practical step toward encouraging better eating habits and supporting long-term health. This change is about more than just policy — it’s about building a stronger, healthier Iowa for generations to come.”

The federal agriculture department, which jointly manages the SNAP program with states, earlier this year approved Iowa’s waiver request to restrict the foods from SNAP purchases.

The restrictions use the state’s non-taxable food items list to determine what will be ineligible for purchase with SNAP benefits. Starting Jan. 1, Iowans who receive SNAP won’t be able to use their benefits to purchase items including:

“We’re not a healthy population. And again, we’ll get back to the original intent of SNAP and that was to help supplement low income families with nutritious foods,” Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said on Iowa PBS’s “Iowa Press” in May. “We think this really lines up with the intent of what SNAP was designed for in the beginning.”

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Advocates for food assistance and anti-hunger programs opposed Iowa’s waiver request and the restrictions on SNAP purchases.

“These restrictions will do nothing to lower the cost of healthy food for Iowans facing hunger and food insecurity,” Luke Elzinga, board chair of the Iowa Hunger Coalition and policy and advocacy manager at the DMARC Food Pantry Network, said in a statement earlier this year.

Some statehouse Democrats also have been critical of the restrictions, saying they make it more difficult for low-income Iowans to purchase food.

Iowa Rep. Rob Johnson, of Des Moines, said banning the purchase of certain items for Iowans who receive food assistance will create more barriers for families and decrease economic activity for farmers and local businesses in the state.

“Let’s be clear: limiting food assistance isn’t fiscal responsibility, it’s cruel. When we take food off the tables of Iowans already struggling to make ends meet, we’re not solving problems, we’re creating them,” Johnson said in a statement earlier this year. “Instead of investing in nutrition education, access to fresh food, or affordability, Reynolds is using hungry families as a political tool. At a time when we are seeing cuts at the federal level, plus record inflation, Iowans deserve policies that lower costs, not micromanage their grocery carts.”

Tom Barton of The Gazette and Lee Des Moines Bureau Chief Maya Marchel Hoff contributed to this report.

Comments: (515) 355-1300, erin.murphy@thegazette.com

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