On the shelves, options for drinks seem limitless: sugary soda, sodas with artificial sweeteners, juices, lemonades, teas, lemonade with tea, sparkling waters, coconut water, enhanced water, plain water, energy drinks, sports drinks, cold coffee in a can and on and on.
West Virginia has applied for a federal waiver to remove soda from eligible purchases under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program while also adding some hot foods considered healthy under allowable purchases for recipients.
But how would that work in practice? West Virginia MetroNews, through a Freedom of Information Act request, obtained a copy of the state’s waiver request to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
West Virginia is among several states seeking changes to its supplemental food program. Nebraska was the first state in the nation to receive a waiver to move toward restricting low-income recipients from using SNAP benefits to buy soda and energy drinks.
As of March 2025, according to the waiver request, West Virginia had a statewide SNAP caseload of 146,458 households and 273,981 individual recipients.
The request says the State of West Virginia would begin communicating right away with retailers and people eligible for SNAP about how to institute the changes.
The waiver request acknowledges a possible cost to institute the changes to be be passed along to the state’s 2,118 SNAP retailers.
“West Virginia does not foresee a Program cost increase for State or Federal partners. Rather, the cost of changing systems and upgrading to comply with this waiver will be shifted to SNAP retailers operating within WV,” according to the waiver request.
The waiver request goes on to say, “WV understands that smaller retailers may have less capacity than larger retailers. The state will provide technical assistance to any retailer who requests additional information and help.”
Among the first steps is defining what drinks would be affected. Retailers participating in SNAP in West Virginia will be required to implement point-of-sale system changes allowing for real-time adjustments. The retailers would have a year to implement the changes.
That is supposed to allow for price look-up data at the time of purchase to determine whether items arc eligible under the waiver. The system allows or rejects items on a per-transaction basis, authorizing or denying each item.
Under the state’s waiver application, the drinks meant to be removed from eligibility for purchase through SNAP include regular soda, diet soda and zero sugar/calorie soda.
The waiver request says:
“Soda pop” or “soda” means any carbonated non-alcoholic beverage that contains water, a sweetening agent (including but not limited to sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, or artificial sweeteners), flavoring, and carbon dioxide gas to create carbonation. This term includes beverages with added caffeine or other ingredients but does not include carbonated water without sweeteners or flavoring.
The waiver request says some liquid cousins would not be included in the waiver request and will remain available for purchase with SNAP: milk and milk products, fruit and vegetable juice or water and water products.
The waiver request outlines the intent “to reduce the expenditure of taxpayer funds on unhealthy drink options that contribute to poor health outcomes for participants in a program that is designed to enhance the nutrition (and therefore the health) of low income families, while allowing and promoting the purchase of some hot healthy foods.”
The request outlines a range of poor health outcomes in West Virginia, including obesity and other chronic diseases such as Type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
Gov. Patrick Morrisey, a Republican, has emphasized policies in line with the Make America Healthy Again agenda promoted by U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
“We thought it was really important that we emphasize the N in SNAP stands for nutrition,” Morrisey said on MetroNews Talkline.
“So soda doesn’t have nutrition. And right now, soda is an entitlement under SNAP. So whether it’s regular soda, whether it’s diet soda, that will be excluded under SNAP.”
The governor noted that people can still buy soda if they choose to — but with their own funds.
“People can still purchase it with their own money. It’s not a prohibition, but it’s not taxpayer subsidizing of something with zero and let me repeat that, zero nutrition,” he said.
Meanwhile, the state is asking to allow some hot foods from retailer grocer delis to be allowed expenses through SNAP.
In an attempt to keep this change relatively simple for retailers, the West Virginia waiver request proposes to tie eligibility to a limited, pre-approved list of product codes or item categories to be flagged at the point of sale. Those include
- Rotisserie chicken
- Meatloaf
- Barbeque ribs
- Pulled pork or BBQ brisket
- Shepherd’s pie
- Pot roast
- Lasagna
- Baked pasta dishes
- Hot, baked or grilled fish such a salmon or tilapia (must not be breaded or fried)
- Vegetable-based soups/stews, such as minestrone, lentil, chicken, vegetable
- Lean meat & vegetable combo meals
- Steamed or roasted vegetables, such as green bean, carrots, broccoli, corn on the cob
- Whole-grain side dishes, such as brown rice, quinoa, black beans, Spanish rice or rice pilaf (as part of hot meal)
- Baked potatoes
- Egg rolls or spring rolls
- Breakfast scrambles that are egg and vegetable based
Morrisey, on statewide radio, said those additions are part of the state’s healthy balancing act.
“It’s important for people to know this, that we’re trying to get healthy foods, some hot foods, whether it’s rotisserie chicken and some of the fresh hot meals,” he said.
“That’s been a constant complaint that you’ve heard about SNAP, that they have these different programs and these different food options, but if you could get something hot that is healthier, that’s something that we’re pushing for.”
He concluded, “We’re trying to also get some of the extra benefits, whether it’s for rotisserie chicken, maybe some fresh food and proteins that people think would be very, very positive and hot food. That’s the opportunity. So we’re going to try to get rid of some of the bad and help get more of the good.”