Apr 11, 2026
Alabama is going sugar-free when it comes to Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits grocery lists. They join 22 other states (1), including Hawaii, South Carolina, Texas, as well as neighboring Florida and Tennessee (2), in introducing legislation to prohibit the purchasing of candy and soda with SNAP benefits.
Senate Bill 57 (3) was enacted on April 8 and sponsored by Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, with the amendment that energy drinks be included on the list of items, too. SB57 passed on a party-line vote of 75-27. There won't be an impact on how much money SNAP recipients will receive, and it requires the Alabama Department of Human Resources to request a waiver from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to exclude the products from the list of eligible items.
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"If they're gonna spend their money, their $500 or whatever their money may be, and they can't buy soft drinks, maybe they'll supplement it with sweet potatoes and bananas and fruits and vegetables," Rep. Reed Ingram, R-Pike Road, said after the bill passed.
But critics have shot back, arguing that the move targets those specifically on SNAP benefits.
Cleaning out junk food
"I think now the feds have seen that it needs to be cleaned up," Ingram said (4), inside the legislature. "It was not intended for candy bars and Coca Colas. It was intended for healthier, nutritional food."
Under the new policy, candy will be defined as foods that list sugar, cane sugar, corn syrup or high fructose corn syrup as the first ingredient. That includes food altered from its natural state through processes like heating, mixing, milling, canning, freezing or adding ingredients. However, items including granulated sugar, raw sugar or other single ingredient sugars are used for cooking and baking.
Drinks that list carbonated water and sugar, can sugar, corn syrup or high fructose corn syrup as the first two ingredients define soda.
The bill, which was carried by Ingram, admitted that it is a means of dealing with Alabama's high obesity rate.
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"They can still buy a diet drink or a drink that doesn't have the first two ingredients as sugar or high fructose corn syrup," Ingram said. "We're one of the worst states as far as health is concerned and obesity in the Union."
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Good ship lollypop
Rep. Kelvin Datcher (2), D-Montgomery, countered, arguing that the bill takes control away from families struggling to find affordable food staples.
"Families only get a couple of hundred bucks a month, and I don't want us to make the families or the people who create these products make them the bad guys, when we're doing things on the other side," he said, from inside the legislature. "That makes us feel a little hypocritical."
He pointed to the legislation being a direct contradiction to the Choose Act. Enacted in 2024, the Creating Hope and Opportunity for Our Students' Education Act was created to allow eligible families to use public funds for education expenses outside the traditional public school system.
Rep. Pebblin Warren, D-Tuskegee, added that there may be unintended consequences to the bill as it pertains to SNAP recipients.
"It seems as though we're trying to keep our kids healthy, we're trying to teach good eating habits, but at the same time, we're discriminating," Rep. Pebblin Warren (3), D-Tuskegee, said during debate. "We're not worried at all about the children as a whole. We're only concerned about the children getting SNAP [benefits]. That to me defeats the whole purpose of trying to help children."
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Meanwhile, organizations like Northwell Health argue that the impact of inflation on low-income American budgets is making it next to impossible for them to eat healthier.
"The result is that Americans are compensating by eating too many sugary and ultra-processed foods — which tend to be cheaper and more durable — and not enough fruits, vegetables, and other nutrient-rich whole foods," Michael Howerton wrote on Northwell Health (5)'s website. "Despite government programs encouraging and subsidizing healthy foods, the problem is only growing."
Fresh vegetable prices (6) increased by 2.8% from January 2026 to February 2026, and were 5.4% higher in February 2026 than in February 2025. Fresh fruit prices decreased by 0.2% from January 2026 to February 2026 and were 0.3% lower in February 2026 than in February 2025.
More than 41 million (7) Americans depend on SNAP per month, with the highest share of residents dependent on it in New Mexico, at 21.2%, to as low as Utah, at 4.8%.
Article Sources
We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our ethics and guidelines.
USDA Food and Nutrition Service (1); WSFA (2); Alabama Reflector (3); YouTube (4); Northwell Health (5); USDA Economic Research Service (6),(7)
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Brian Baker is an Associate Editor with Moneywise. He has been a media professional for over 20 years.
