A man shops for groceries at a Chicago supermarket. South Carolina received approval to remove sugary beverages and food items from its grocery assistance program Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
COLUMBIA — Grocery assistance in South Carolina will no longer cover candy, sodas and other sugary drinks under a state plan that received federal approval Wednesday.
Gov. Henry McMaster directed the state Department of Social Services in September to come up with a proposal removing items considered unhealthy from the list of food and drinks people can purchase using aid from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as food stamps.
The plan was part of the “make America healthy again” initiative that called for states to apply for waivers limiting the use of the government benefits. South Carolina’s waiver was among six signed Wednesday morning, bringing the total list of approved plans to 18, USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins told reporters.
“We all know we’re at the point where we must do something to correct the chronic health problems that Americans face,” Rollins said.
The change is slated to take effect Aug. 31, according to the approved waiver. After an initial two year period, the state has the option to request renewals for up to three years.
Energy drinks, candy bars and beverages sweetened with 5 grams or more of added sugar — which includes ready-made lemonade, tea and sweetened coffee — are among the food items prohibited under South Carolina’s plan.
Not included are granola bars, natural fruit or vegetable juice, and sports drinks. Protein bars, cookies, crackers, muffins, pastries and baked goods are also OK, according to the September order.
McMaster called the waiver a “light-touch, common-sense approach” in a Wednesday statement. His goal was to give the state’s nearly 550,000 SNAP users flexibility in what they could purchase while still restricting “things that most people will agree should be addressed and probably should not be bought with taxpayer money,” he told reporters soon after issuing his order.
“By encouraging families to purchase healthy, nutritious food — and not junk food — we ensure federal taxpayer dollars are used to their maximum benefit and keep South Carolina at the forefront of the effort to Make America Healthy Again,” McMaster said in a Wednesday statement.
The state had a financial incentive for its proposal as well. States with an approved waiver in place will get higher scores on an application for rural health care funding, said Dr. Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
The state Department of Social Services will tell grocery store owners how to roll out the changes, according to the waiver. That will include answering questions about what, exactly, qualifies, said Krista Hanson, head of the South Carolina Retail Association.
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“Some of those are open-ended, and we want to make sure it’s consistent from retailer to retailer,” Hanson said.
For example, retailers are unsure whether certain sugary trail mixes fall under the definition of candy, Hanson said. Under the waiver, any “preparation of sugar, honey, or other natural or artificial sweeteners in combination with chocolate, fruits, nuts, or other ingredients in the form of bars, drops, or pieces,” is prohibited from purchase.
As far as implementation, the change “will have pretty big impacts on grocery stores,” Hanson said.
Store owners will need to update training to make sure employees understand the changes and can answer customers’ questions. Checkout systems will need updating, including adding whether each item in the store is qualified for SNAP under the new rule, Hanson said.
The August deadline should give grocers enough time to put those changes in place, she said. While such changes may be harder for smaller, locally owned stores to implement, Hanson said she hasn’t heard from any stores that may have to stop offering SNAP because of the cost.
This is not the first time the proposal has come up. Former Gov. Nikki Haley reversed a similar proposal to restrict what SNAP recipients could buy in 2013 after receiving pushback in public meetings across the state. And the idea came up during this year’s budget debate in the Senate, before ultimately failing to pass.
The waivers have faced pushback from advocates for the poor, who say they should have the opportunity to decide for themselves how to spend their money. Putting restrictions on what people can buy reinforces the stigma SNAP users already face, said Sue Berkowitz, director of policy for the Appleseed Legal Justice Center.
“I think it is very paternalistic for us to think that people who purchase their food with SNAP don’t do it with the utmost dignity and in the best interest of themselves and their family,” Berkowitz said.
Locally owned grocery stores that can’t afford to implement a new system for registering what qualifies for SNAP might decide to stop offering it completely, making it harder for people to get food, Berkowitz said.
“I worry about what that could do to exacerbate hunger and limit the use of SNAP benefits,” she said.
This story has been updated.
