New Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) restrictions in Texas that take effect on April 1 could lead to confusion and questions as implementation begins.
Texas is one of 22 states approved for SNAP food restriction waivers.
The two-year program that starts April 1 will restrict the sale of sweetened drinks and candy. This impact reaches more than 3.5 million people statewide and about 250,000 people in Bexar County.
While not all-inclusive of the rules detailed under the Texas SNAP Restriction waiver, here are some of the top questions and categories of impacted products.
Texas SNAP definition changes
The Food and Nutrition Services of the U.S. Department of Agriculture allowed Texas to redefine “food,” specifically as it applies to “any food or food product for home consumption.” That’s where “sweetened drinks” and “candy” came into the equation.
According to a 2016 survey through the Food and Nutrition Service of the USDA, “sweetened beverages” made up about 9% of all SNAP purchases. Another 2% was spent on candy.
Sweetened drinks and candy are no longer SNAP eligible in Texas, as of April 1, 2026. However, even within those terms, there is additional clarification needed.
Sweetened drinks definition
Texas tightened its definition of “sweetened drinks” to cover more than just obvious sugary sodas. Under the updated rules, a sweetened drink includes any nonalcoholic beverage made with water that contains at least five grams of added sugar or any amount of artificial sweetener.
There are a few notable exceptions. Drinks made with milk or milk products are not included, and the same goes for plant-based alternatives like soy or rice milk.
Beverages that are made up of more than 50% fruit or vegetable juice are also excluded from the definition.
Understanding artificial sweeteners
If you’re not familiar with the various artificial sweeteners, here’s a starting guide. You’ll find these under the “ingredients” section of a food label.
Common examples that would trigger the restriction include:
- Sucralose (Splenda)
- Aspartame (Equal, NutraSweet)
- Saccharin (Sweet’N Low)
- Acesulfame potassium (Ace-K)
- Neotame
- Advantame
Those are all synthetic sweeteners. Plant-based options like stevia and monk fruit are treated differently and are not included in this category.
Understanding the added sugar limits
Artificial sweeteners aren’t the only thing that can make a drink ineligible. The rule also sets a clear threshold for added sugar.
Any beverage with five grams or more of added sugar per serving falls under the “sweetened drink” category and cannot be purchased with SNAP benefits.
That’s where things can get confusing. This isn’t about total sugar. It’s specifically about added sugar, which is listed separately on nutrition labels. A drink could have naturally occurring sugars, like those found in fruit or milk, and still be allowed. But once sugar is added during processing and hits that five-gram mark, it crosses the line.
The easiest way to check is to look at the “Added Sugars” line on the label. If it shows five grams or more per serving, it would be considered a restricted sweetened drink under the new Texas SNAP rules.
How to read the labels
There are two important places to look when you’re reading the labels to see if a food or drink is SNAP eligible under the new restrictions.
First, look at the nutrition facts. This is where sugars and added sugars will be displayed. You’re looking for drinks with less than 5 grams of added sugar.
Second, to find if there is an artificial sweetener, you’ll want to look for the ingredient list.
Drink example comparisons
Now let’s look at a few examples and comparisons. The graphic below shows a popular brand of soda. There’s the regular version, the zero-sugar version, and the diet version.
The regular soda loses eligibility with the 65 grams of added sugars. While the zero-sugar and diet versions meet the “fewer than 5 grams of sugar” threshold, they both contain aspartame, an artificial sweetener. That makes them ineligible.
While we were creating comparisons, we did find that several brands of prebiotic sodas were below the added sugar threshold and didn’t contain artificial sweeteners.
Sports drinks are another popular category to take a look at, especially since there can be a fine line between sports drinks and dehydration treatment. For the most part, sports drinks like Gatorade or Powerade will not be SNAP eligible due to the sugar content or the artificial sweetener. However, the SNAP rules do allow “medical grade electrolytes,” such as Pedialyte, to be purchased.
What’s the difference? The SNAP guidance reads that medical-grade electrolyte drinks mean “beverages used for illness related to dehydration and do not include any beverage marketed primarily as a sports drink.”
Understanding what is and isn’t candy
Under the Texas SNAP waiver, “candy” has a very specific definition. It’s defined as any confection made with natural or artificial sweeteners.
That includes more than just your typical candy bar. Examples listed in the rule include:
- Candy bars
- Gum
- Hard candies and drops
- Taffy
- Candied or glazed fruits
- Chocolate- or yogurt-covered nuts and raisins
- Nuts roasted with a sweetener
With candy, you don’t need to look for added sugars or ingredients since there aren’t thresholds as there are with drinks.
There are a few important exceptions. Items used mainly for cooking, like chocolate chips or cake sprinkles, are not considered candy under this rule.
The same goes for certain snack items defined separately under the Texas administrative code, which can include products like granola or snack bars, even if they contain sugar.
Are other snacks impacted by Texas’ SNAP restrictions?
The new Texas SNAP restrictions focus on sweetened drinks and candy, but many foods commonly considered “snacks” are still eligible.
Texas defines snack items separately, and most of them remain covered under SNAP, including:
- Breakfast bars, granola bars, protein bars, and similar items, unless they’re clearly labeled and marketed as candy
- Snack mixes and trail mixes
- Nuts, as long as they are not candied, glazed, chocolate-covered, or roasted with added sweeteners
- Popcorn
- Chips, crackers, pretzels, pork rinds, and corn nuts
- Sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds
- Ice cream, sherbet, and frozen yogurt
- Ice pops, juice pops, and sorbet, as long as they contain 50% or less fruit juice
For comparison, a can of salted mixed nuts would be SNAP eligible. Honey-roasted nuts likely would not be, since they would be “nuts roasted with a sweetener.”
Who’s responsible for Texas’ SNAP restrictions?
When it comes to what can and can’t be purchased, the responsibility doesn’t fall on the shopper. It’s primarily up to retailers and their systems to enforce the rules at checkout.
The retailer’s responsibilities include:
- Confirm which products are restricted
- Update store systems to be compliant with new rules
- Disallow transactions of restricted items
- Confirm packaging and labels are correctly categorized
- Train staff to understand new SNAP restrictions
Stores that accept SNAP use point-of-sale systems that are programmed to recognize eligible and ineligible items. If a product is flagged as restricted, the system will automatically prevent it from being purchased with SNAP benefits.
That said, shoppers may still run into confusion, especially early on. Product classifications depend on how items are coded in the system, not just how they’re marketed on the shelf. Two similar-looking products could be treated differently at checkout based on their ingredient profile or category.
For shoppers, the best approach is awareness. For retailers, the responsibility is accuracy.
Resources:
- News release: New SNAP Purchase Restrictions Take Effect April 1
- Retailer’s guidance: SNAP food restriction waiver requirements
More SNAP coverage on KSAT: