What can you buy with EBT? SNAP eligible and ineligible items

SNAP benefits on an EBT card buy food to prepare and eat at home: fruits and vegetables, meat, poultry and fish, dairy, breads and cereals, snack foods, non-alcoholic drinks, and seeds and plants that grow food. They do not buy alcohol, tobacco, vitamins, medicines or supplements, live animals (with a few exceptions), food that is hot when you pay, or anything that is not food, such as pet food, soap, paper towels and diapers (USDA, What Can SNAP Buy?, page updated June 4, 2025). That is the federal rule in every state. On top of it, a growing list of states has federal permission to block soda, candy or similar items: by October 16, 2026, eight states had passed their start dates, and eleven more are scheduled or proposed to start between November 1, 2026 and February 1, 2028 (USDA, SNAP Food Restriction Waivers, updated October 13, 2026).

This guide covers SNAP food benefits only. Cash benefits loaded on the same card (TANF and similar programs) follow different rules; see EBT cash vs SNAP food benefits.

The short list

Sources: USDA, What Can SNAP Buy?; USDA Policy Memo 2020-03, Food Determinations: Eligible Foods (July 13, 2020); USDA retailer notice, Only Accept SNAP Benefits for Allowable Items (October 2021).

Where the rule comes from

The Food and Nutrition Act defines what SNAP can buy. Its definition of “food” is “any food or food product for home consumption,” minus three things: alcoholic beverages, tobacco, and “hot foods or hot food products ready for immediate consumption.” It adds “seeds and plants for use in gardens to produce food for the personal consumption of the eligible household” (7 U.S.C. 2012(k)).

USDA’s working test follows from that: “if an item is intended for human consumption, and it is not specifically excluded,” it is an eligible food (Policy Memo 2020-03). There is no federal list of approved brands and no federal nutrition test. A bag of chips, a cake and a soda are food under federal law. Only a state with an approved restriction waiver can take them off the list (see State bans on soda and candy).

Food items people are unsure about

These all come from USDA’s food determinations memo unless another source is linked.

• Water and ice. Bottled water and bags of ice count as food, even though they may not be labeled as food.
• Cooking ingredients. Lard, vegetable oil and pectin are eligible. So are corn husks, banana leaves, grape leaves and lotus leaves used to wrap or flavor food.
• Cooking wine and extracts. Cooking wine, wine vinegar and vanilla extract are eligible, even though they contain alcohol. Drinking alcohol is not, including low-alcohol “non-alcoholic” beers.
• Hemp foods. Foods made with hulled hemp seed, hemp seed protein powder or hemp seed oil are eligible. Hemp plants, leaves and shoots are not. Anything with CBD or another controlled substance is not.
• Energy drinks, protein shakes and bars. Look at the label, not the product type. A drink or bar with a Nutrition Facts label is food. One with a Supplement Facts label is a dietary supplement, and SNAP cannot pay for it. USDA’s retailer notice says the Supplement Facts label appears on many energy drinks and shots, shakes and protein powders (USDA retailer notice). In states that ban energy drinks (below), they are out regardless of the label.
• Cold prepared food. A cold deli sandwich, a salad from the salad bar or a cold cooked chicken is eligible if you take it home. Food sold to eat in the store is not.
• Cakes and gift baskets. Birthday and wedding cakes, Easter baskets and gift baskets are eligible unless the nonfood part “clearly amounts to more than 50 percent of the purchase price.” Gift packages that contain alcohol (other than cooking ingredients), tobacco, pet food or pet toys are never eligible.
• Live animals. Live lobster, crab, clams and other shellfish are eligible. A live fish is eligible if it is taken out of the water before you leave the store. Other animals, including chickens, are eligible only if the store slaughters them before you leave. SNAP cannot pay a separate slaughter or meat-processing fee.

Worked example: the $14.99 gift basket

USDA uses this example. A basket with a stuffed bear and a small box of chocolates sells for $14.99. To be eligible, the food would have to be worth at least half the price, about $7.50. The bear is worth more than half, so the whole basket is ineligible (Policy Memo 2020-03). You would pay for it with cash or another card.

Growing your own food

SNAP pays for seeds and plants that produce food your household will eat. USDA names tomato and green pepper seeds and plants, fruit trees, asparagus crowns, onion bulbs, and seeds and plants for cooking spices (Policy Memo 2020-03). The plant has to produce food; the supplies around the garden are not eligible either: soil, fertilizer, peat moss and other gardening supplies are on USDA’s list of nonfood items.

Food preservation equipment is excluded too. SNAP cannot buy pressure cookers, canning jars and lids, paraffin, freezer containers or wrapping paper.

Hot food and restaurant meals

Food that is hot when you pay cannot be bought with SNAP. USDA’s examples: chicken that has been broiled, fried, barbecued or roasted; steamed or fried shrimp; steamed crab or lobster; soups, stews and chili; and coffee, tea and cocoa (Policy Memo 2020-03). The same rotisserie chicken is eligible once it has cooled and is sold from the cold case. A frozen pizza you heat at home is eligible. A hot slice from the counter is not.

The law makes exceptions for certain meal providers, so a SNAP card can pay for (7 U.S.C. 2012(k)):

• meals at senior centers, apartment buildings mainly for older people, and similar places, for people 60 or older or receiving SSI or disability payments, and their spouses
• home-delivered meals for people 60 or older and people with disabilities who cannot prepare all their meals, from nonprofits or state-contracted providers
• meals served in drug and alcohol treatment programs
• meals in certified group homes for people with disabilities that serve no more than 16 residents
• meals in shelters for battered women and children
• meals for people without a permanent home, at approved nonprofit providers and state-contracted restaurants

The last exception is the basis of the Restaurant Meals Program. It is a state option. Every member of the household must be 60 or older, disabled, or homeless, or be the spouse of someone who qualifies. The state codes eligible cards; other cards are declined at participating restaurants. As of USDA’s page updated August 7, 2026, nine states run it: Arizona, California, Illinois (Cook and Franklin Counties only), Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Rhode Island and Virginia (USDA, Restaurant Meals Program). Details are in the Restaurant Meals Program guide.

Nonfood items, even at a grocery store

Unless federal law names an item as eligible, nonfood is out. USDA’s list includes cleaning and paper products, soap and toiletries, cooking utensils, gasoline, hardware, clothing, laundry starch, and egg dye labeled only for decorating eggs (Policy Memo 2020-03). USDA’s reminder to stores adds diapers, wipes, baby bottles, tampons and pads, coffee filters, napkins, toilet paper and mobile phone cards (USDA retailer notice).

Pet food is excluded because it is not intended for people, and that includes bird seed.

Infant formula and baby food are food for people, so the general test makes them eligible. Diapers, wipes and bottles are not. WIC, a separate program, also helps with formula and other foods for families with young children; see WIC and SNAP.

Fees, taxes and bottle deposits

SNAP pays for food, not the charges around it (Policy Memo 2020-03):

• Delivery fees cannot be paid with SNAP. Online, the same goes for service and convenience fees (USDA, SNAP online).
• Grocery bag fees, whether set by the state or the store, cannot be paid with SNAP.
• Sales tax generally cannot be charged on items you pay for with SNAP. If you split a purchase between SNAP and cash, the store may charge tax on the part paid with cash, but SNAP cannot pay that tax. The one exception is tax built into the shelf price and not shown separately on the receipt.
• Bottle and can deposits can be paid with SNAP only when state law requires the deposit. A deposit a manufacturer or store adds on its own cannot be paid with SNAP.
• Military commissary surcharges can be paid with SNAP.

Worked example: a split purchase

Say your cart has $40.00 of groceries, a $6.00 pack of paper towels and a $3.00 bottle of shampoo, at a store in a state with a 7% sales tax on nonfood items. SNAP pays the $40.00 of food, with no tax on it. The $9.00 of nonfood and its tax, $9.00 x 0.07 = $0.63, must be paid with cash, a debit card or EBT cash benefits: $9.63 in total. The tax rate here is illustrative; your state sets its own rate.

Buying online

Online purchasing with SNAP works in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands had not started it as of USDA’s page updated February 17, 2026. The same eligible-food rules apply online, you enter your EBT PIN on a secure screen, and delivery or other fees must be paid another way (USDA, SNAP online). How to set it up is in Buying groceries online with EBT.

Alaska: hunting and fishing gear

Households in remote parts of Alaska, where stores are very hard to reach and families depend on hunting and fishing for food, can use SNAP for nets, hooks, fishing lines and rods, harpoons and knives. The state issues them an identification card that shows they qualify. SNAP still cannot buy firearms, ammunition, explosives, gasoline, motor oil, or gear for transportation, clothing or shelter (7 U.S.C. 2012(k); Policy Memo 2020-03). See the Alaska page.

State bans on soda, candy and other items

Since January 1, 2026, some states have removed soda, candy and similar items from the list of what SNAP can buy. They do it through federal “food restriction waivers,” which USDA approves for an initial two-year period under Section 17(b) of the Food and Nutrition Act (USDA memo, Clarifications on Food Restriction Waivers and Retailer Compliance, December 30, 2025). Each state writes its own definitions, so “candy” or “sweetened beverage” does not mean the same thing everywhere. Check your state’s page for its exact list.

The table uses USDA’s target implementation dates and its own short summaries, from the SNAP Food Restriction Waivers page updated October 13, 2026.

Five waivers were stopped in court. On June 22, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, in Aragon et al. v. Rollins et al., vacated USDA’s approval of the waivers for Colorado, Iowa, Tennessee, West Virginia and Nebraska, and ordered that they “may not proceed” (USDA, SNAP Food Restriction Waivers; Federal Register, October 2, 2026). In Colorado, Iowa, Tennessee and West Virginia, federal rules apply: SNAP covers soda and candy. Nebraska then asked again, proposing the December 1, 2026 and March 1, 2027 dates shown above. USDA is taking comments until November 2, 2026 and, as of October 16, 2026, had not published its decision, so federal rules apply there until it does.

Indiana’s own definitions show how the details work. Its ban covers sugary drinks, including sodas, sports drinks and energy drinks, and candy such as chocolate, gummies and hard candy. Its candy definition leaves out anything that needs refrigeration (Indiana FSSA, Smart SNAP).

Which state’s ban applies when you shop

The ban follows the store, not your card. Every store in a waiver state must apply the ban to every SNAP purchase, including shoppers from other states and online orders picked up at or delivered from that store. Online orders shipped from a warehouse follow the rules of the state that issued your EBT card. Stores already authorized for SNAP get a one-time 90-day grace period after a state’s start date; after that, a store found selling banned items gets a warning letter on the first offense and can be removed from SNAP on the second (USDA memo, December 30, 2025).

So a Missouri cardholder shopping across the river in Illinois can buy soda with SNAP there, because Illinois has no waiver. A Kansas cardholder shopping in Oklahoma cannot, because Oklahoma’s ban has applied since February 15, 2026.

The full state-by-state story, with each state’s definitions, is in SNAP food restriction waivers.

If the register takes, or refuses, an item

If a store accepts SNAP for an item that is not allowed, the store is the one at risk: USDA says it can be fined or disqualified from SNAP (USDA retailer notice). Exchanging SNAP benefits “for cash or consideration other than eligible food” is trafficking under federal rules, and so is buying a drink just to dump it and return the container for the deposit (7 CFR 271.2).

If a register refuses an item you believe is eligible, look at the label first (Supplement Facts or Nutrition Facts) and check whether your state has a restriction. Questions about a label go to the product’s manufacturer, USDA says. To report a store, use USDA’s Report Fraud page.

Sources

• What Can SNAP Buy?, USDA Food and Nutrition Administration, page updated June 4, 2025
• SNAP RPMD Policy Memorandum 2020-03, Food Determinations: Eligible Foods (Excluding Meal Services), USDA, July 13, 2020
• Only Accept SNAP Benefits for Allowable Items, USDA SNAP retailer notice, October 2021
• 7 U.S.C. 2012, Definitions, U.S. Code (govinfo)
• 7 CFR 271.2, Definitions, eCFR
• SNAP Food Restriction Waivers, USDA Food and Nutrition Administration, page updated October 13, 2026
• Clarifications on Food Restriction Waivers and Retailer Compliance, USDA, December 30, 2025
• State of Nebraska SNAP Demonstration Project, Federal Register, October 2, 2026
• Smart SNAP, Indiana Family and Social Services Administration
• SNAP Restaurant Meals Program, USDA Food and Nutrition Administration, page updated August 7, 2026
• Stores Accepting SNAP Online, USDA Food and Nutrition Administration, page updated February 17, 2026