USDA announces new SNAP retailer stocking standards, signs waivers with four states

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced at a USDA event that the department will soon publish a final rule updating how SNAP defines and classifies food retailers and what they must stock to accept SNAP benefits, and she signed waivers with four states to restrict some purchases by SNAP recipients.

"To date, including an additional four today, we are now up to 22 states who have submitted and been approved for waivers under the SNAP program," Rollins said at the event. She said the rule will require retailers to stock "more than double the healthy options" currently required and cited "28 varieties across 4 staple food programs" as a starting point.

Rollins said the changes are intended both to promote healthier choices for program participants and to preserve program integrity. At the event she asserted that USDA reviews of program data had found "200,000 dead people" listed as receiving SNAP benefits and said the department has launched enforcement operations, adding, "We've arrested almost a 125 people in the last year." Those figures were presented by Rollins as her office's findings; the department did not provide corroborating documents during the event.

The waivers signed at the event cover Wyoming, Kansas, Ohio and Nevada, Rollins said, and bring the number of approved states to 22 with "another eight in the pipeline." Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon attended and said his state had conducted stakeholder meetings and surveys that showed residents want "real food" and transparency about where it comes from.

The move also ties to a cross-agency effort to accelerate adoption of the recently released Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGAs). Rollins said USDA will manage a partnerships program, housed at realfood.gov, to work with grocery retailers, health-professional associations, food manufacturers, producers and media outlets to promote the DGAs in sectors ranging from school meals to hospitals. Rollins asked interested partners to reach out to dietaryguidelines@usda.gov (as announced on stage).

Health and Human Services Secretary Bobby Kennedy, introduced at the event, framed the updated DGAs as the result of a longer effort to address scientific gaps and said the administration was coordinating NIH and FDA work to strengthen underlying evidence. "We brought together the best nutritionists in America," Kennedy said, describing the guidelines as "real science-based dietary guidelines." Dr. Ben Carson, introduced as a national nutrition adviser, stressed implementing changes in institutional settings, describing pilot work in military and VA food programs.

Rollins linked the planned rulemaking to implementation of a provision of the 2014 farm bill, saying the rule will "deliver on section 4,002 of the bipartisan 2014 farm bill." She also described outreach plans to reach the roughly "95,000 schools" that participate in USDA nutrition programs and the "250,000 SNAP-authorized retailers" nationwide.

What happens next: Rollins said USDA will publish a final rule updating retailer stocking standards soon and that the department will continue to sign approved waivers as states move through the waiver process. The event concluded with the signature of the waivers and a short photo opportunity; officials said they would hold a press conference in another room after the program.

Notes on reporting and claims: Several enforcement and program-integrity figures cited at the event were presented by officials without accompanying documents in the public remarks (for example, the figures Rollins stated about deceased individuals and arrests). The article reports those statements as claims made at the event rather than independently verified facts.