How new SNAP rules are being handled in local stores

WISNER, Neb.— If you walked into a grocery store here in Nebraska and try to buy a quick drink using your EBT card, you might not be able to anymore. The state recently changed the snap benefits to eliminate pop and energy drinks. The changes are already in effect around the state, and here's how that's affecting local grocers.

“It's all about going through, like, all all the energy drinks and all the juices, and the pop, of course, was easy to identify, but we really had to go through each vendor's list and decide if it contained extra sugars or caffeine,” co-owner of Arvin’s Food Town Karen Hass said.

In April, Gov. Jim Pillen signed into effect a project that banned the use of SNAP benefits to purchase beverages with added sweeteners or stimulants, that went into effect the first of the year.

These rules also apply to powders or concentrates. Grocers were required to go through their products to determine which ones made the cut.

This process was not a one day task for local grocers like Arvins Food Town in Wisner.

“We started making a list in November and December, of all the things that were going to get kicked out of the snap benefits,” Hass said. ”And then come January 1st, we  we went in the back room and on the POS system and literally just clicked a box and said it was not eligible anymore, so that when said it was not eligible anymore, so that when it was scanning, it was not a benefit anymore for the client.”

Hydration drinks like Gatorade and Prime as well as natural juices are still eligible for the program. Grocers were given this matrix to eliminate products from the list. Any added sugar immediately makes the product illegible.

In a press conference aired by our news partners in April, Senator Brian Hardin talked on how despite the look and taste, the drinks are not healthy.

“Let's just be really honest. Soda pop is delicious. We all like it. Is it an enjoyable thing? Yes. Can it be a pretty thing? That can is really attractive. They put some time into that, didn't they?” Hardin said. “But is it a healthy thing? And the short answer to that is no.”

The state has given many resources to the grocers in this attempt to make the state healthier.