As five states roll out 'no junk food' SNAP rules, retailers scramble to update their systems and educate SNAP users

States in green have been granted federal SNAP waivers to restrict SNAP benefit purchases. (USDA map)

State food-choice restrictions on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program purchases have some grocery stores in a conundrum, trying to determine which foods are allowed and which aren't.

Beginning Jan. 1, Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska, Utah and West Virginia rolled out their new "no junk food" SNAP purchase limits, but a total of "eighteen states have adopted new food-stamp restrictions," report Jesse Newman and Laura Cooper of The Wall Street Journal. As a whole, rural Americans are more likely to use SNAP benefits, but less likely to know about benefit changes because of online access limits.

Each state has limited different items and has varied its wording of restrictions, which can be confusing. For instance, in Indiana, mini-donuts can be purchased with SNAP benefits, but candy bars cannot. The Journal reports, "Grocery executives said that determining which products are food-stamp eligible and which aren’t has become a complex undertaking."

Retailers, who are working to ensure that only SNAP-allowed items can be purchased, have had "employees sifting through state-issued flow charts, scanning product bar codes and checking ingredient lists across thousands of goods in stores," Newman and Cooper explain. Allowed items have to be cataloged and entered into computer systems as well.

Beyond the labor hours needed to update their SNAP catalogs, retailers and industry groups said "guidance from USDA and many state agencies on how to implement the new restrictions has been insufficient," Newman writes.

For states that implemented their restrictions on Jan. 1, many SNAP enrollees seem unaware of the changes. Mark Griffin, chief executive of grocery chain B&R Stores, said "his company is dealing with lines at checkout counters as clerks tell longtime customers they can no longer use food stamps to buy soda or candy," the Journal reports.

The SNAP changes are part of a federal push to help Americans make healthier dietary choices; however, opponents to SNAP restrictions point out that "limiting grocery options ignores the real causes of poor diets, such as low incomes, high food prices and access to healthy food," the Journal reports. Last month, the Trump administration unveiled new dietary guidelines that it hopes can address some of the chronic diet-related diseases in Americans.