Being a SNAP-authorized convenience store has never been easy. Every year, thousands of retailers are denied authorization or have their authorization withdrawn for failing to meet SNAP eligibility requirements. Recent changes to SNAP stocking standards, allowable food definitions and enforcement efforts have made it harder than ever.
Once a c-store meets the requirements for SNAP authorization, the owner must act prudently to remain authorized. In fiscal year 2024, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) conducted 12,525 investigations. These investigations were primarily of c-stores: of the 2,711 sanctions issued in fiscal year 2024, 2,265 were against convenience stores—a 21% increase over the prior fiscal year.
The most significant enforcement tool used by the USDA to ensure retailers operate in compliance with SNAP regulations is undercover investigations conducted by USDA contractors. Most of the sanctions imposed as a result of these investigations were due to clerks permitting the use of SNAP benefits for the purchase of ineligible items.
Last year, the USDA implemented a change that greatly increases the likelihood that an undercover investigation will result in a sanction.
“Retailers used to be disqualified only if an investigator was able to purchase nonfood items at least three times,” said Jess Berkowitz, an attorney specializing in defending stores sanctioned for SNAP violations. “Now, stores are being disqualified for the sale of a single nonfood item. I have a case where an investigator’s attempts to buy nonfood items were repeatedly turned down. The investigator returned to the store four times before they were able to purchase a lighter. The store was then disqualified.”
SNAP regulations permit a six-month disqualification of a retailer that has “committed violations such as … the sale of common nonfood items.” Nothing in SNAP regulations permit the disqualification of a retailer for a single violation or for the sale of a single common nonfood item.
State-by-State Challenges
A good POS system is the best first line of defense for preventing the sale of ineligible items with SNAP benefits. Coding non-food items as unallowable for purchase with SNAP can greatly reduce the risk that a retailer will be disqualified from SNAP due to a clerk’s error.
One challenge to POS programming for c-stores operating in multiple states is that the USDA has granted waivers to 23 states to prohibit the purchase of sweet foods with SNAP benefits. The effective dates of these bans, and the items included, vary by state. Banned foods include soda, energy drinks, sweetened beverages, candy and prepared desserts. With SNAP-eligible purchases now determined on a state-by-state basis, retailers must ensure their POS systems are programmed accordingly.
Mike Wilson, chief operating officer of Omaha, Nebraska-based Cubby’s, which operates stores in Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota, knows firsthand about the difficulty of this endeavor. “We spent 500 hours carrying out Nebraska’s drink restrictions for EBT (electronic benefit transfer),” he said. “Iowa’s changes were different. Now Nebraska is doing a new one on candy. The way the states are eliminating foods is too complicated. It’s very expensive for businesses, and most are single-store operators. It’s almost as if they are trying to make stores get rid of EBT.”
The legality of these food restriction waivers has been called into question. On June 22, 2026, U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson ruled that changes to the eligible food definitions were impermissible. “Congress defined what ‘food’ is supposed to be, and it did not authorize the agency to amend or waive the definition it enacted. It did not authorize the agency to cut types of food out of SNAP entirely,” she said. This ruling applies to stores in Colorado, Iowa, Nebraska, Tennessee and West Virginia. In response to the ruling, a USDA spokesperson said, “USDA will not be backing down from the fight to Make America Healthy Again.”
Another line of defense against being disqualified from SNAP due to the sale of ineligible items is litigation. “I frequently file in federal court on behalf of store owners who have been issued sanctions for SNAP violations,” said Andrew Tapp, managing attorney at Metropolitan Law Group. “For the last couple of years, the government has settled all these cases. The stores have stayed SNAP authorized, although most owners had to pay fines equal to a small percentage of their SNAP sales.”
For the most serious SNAP violations, c-store owners are strictly liable for their clerks’ actions. If a clerk is caught exchanging cash for SNAP benefits, the store will be permanently disqualified from SNAP. Even owners who instruct their employees not to exchange cash for SNAP benefits or who do not know if such an exchange occurred are subject to this penalty. Owners whose only SNAP-authorized store is permanently disqualified are permanently disqualified from owning another SNAP-authorized store.
The Consequences of Violations
p>The majority of retailers that are permanently disqualified for trafficking SNAP benefits for cash are identified by the USDA through data mining. Retailers with unusual transaction patterns are subject to in-depth analyses to determine whether trafficking is occurring. However, the process the USDA uses to identify trafficking stores has never been tested against non-trafficking stores, resulting in one in seven stores being incorrectly charged with trafficking.
Well-stocked small stores at the edge of food deserts are at particular risk of being misidentified as trafficking stores. Once accused, there is little that these stores can provide in their defense. A store charged with trafficking has a 99% likelihood of being disqualified permanently.
Once the USDA concludes that trafficking has occurred, a retailer can avoid permanent disqualification if it had a training program to prevent SNAP violations in place prior to the trafficking. If the SNAP compliance training program is deemed sufficient by the USDA, the retailer may pay a substantial fine and remain SNAP authorized. But the USDA rarely deems retailers’ SNAP compliance training programs to be acceptable.
SNAP regulations list 22 required and discretionary factors for eligibility for a fine instead of a permanent disqualification for trafficking; the USDA considers all of them. Of the 795 stores sanctioned for trafficking in fiscal year 2024, only six avoided permanent disqualification because their training programs were judged to be acceptable. (Federal courts have taken a more permissive view than the USDA when assessing whether a retailer’s SNAP compliance training program warrants a fine rather than permanent disqualification.)
Despite repeatedly finding retailers’ SNAP compliance training programs to be lacking, the USDA has been reluctant to create a training program for SNAP retailers that would be robust enough to meet regulatory standards. The USDA does provide training materials to assist owners in creating their own SNAP training programs at www.fna.usda.gov/snap/retailer/training.
p>Even though owner-created training programs rarely meet USDA standards, having a SNAP compliance training program is critical for retailers interested in reducing their risk of being sanctioned for a SNAP violation. A free training program designed to help retailers meet the 22 requirements for receiving a fine instead of a permanent disqualification for trafficking can be found at www.ebtstoretraining.com.
Taking Stock
The final Updated Staple Food Stocking Standards for Retailers in SNAP was issued on May 8, 2026, with an effective date of November 4, 2026. To be SNAP-authorized, retailers must carry at least seven varieties (up from three) in four staple food categories: dairy, vegetables or fruits, grains, and proteins. Retailers must stock at least one perishable variety in three of those categories (up from two). Each variety needs to have at least three stocking units (cans, boxes, bottles, etc.) in stock at all times.
The definition of variety has changed significantly. For a multi-ingredient item, a variety is still determined by the main ingredient: the first item listed on an ingredient list other than water, broth or stock. For certain staple foods, a single-ingredient item (e.g., chicken breast) is a different variety from a multi-ingredient food with the same main ingredient (e.g., seasoned chicken breast). A shelf-stable item (e.g., canned chicken) also constitutes a different variety.
While offering enough dairy products has long been c-stores’ biggest stocking challenge, now meeting stocking requirements in several staple food categories has become much more complicated The final rule expands the lists of varieties for the dairy, grain and protein staple food categories. In some cases, different types of the same item (e.g., flour) are each considered a different variety.
The vegetables or fruits category has remained unchanged. Different forms of vegetables or fruits still count as only one variety. Fresh tomatoes, canned tomatoes, tomato juice and tomato sauce all count as one variety.
Accessory and prepared foods still do not count toward meeting staple food requirements, but the long-standing definitions of these terms have changed.
- Snack bars (e.g., granola, protein), cheese and fruit spreads (e.g., cheese dips, jams), jerky and butter are now included with snack foods (e.g., chips, crackers), desserts (e.g., cookies, muffins, ice cream), cooking oils, sweetened beverages, condiments, sweeteners (e.g., sugar, honey) and other accessory foods.
- Prepared food can be hot or cold and is defined as 1) intended for on-site or immediate consumption, and/or 2) assembled, cooked or otherwise prepped by the retailer on-site.
- Prepared food does not include food cut or sliced by a retailer on site (e.g., deli meat) unless it is made ready for on-site or immediate consumption.
- Precut fruits or vegetables for a make-your-own salad bar are staple foods; a salad tossed by a retailer is a prepared food.
USDA contractors conduct surprise inspections of retailers’ staple food stock. A few common reasons retailers provide for being understocked are that stock was temporarily low due to refrigeration equipment malfunction, or that an owner was out of town or incapacitated, which interrupted normal restocking. The only way for an understocked retailer to avoid a USDA sanction is to provide invoices or receipts showing that the missing items had been ordered or received within 21 days prior to the store visit. Failure to meet the stocking requirements results in a six-month disqualification.
Retailers that are forced to stock unpopular varieties prone to spoilage solely for the purpose of SNAP authorization might consider stocking units with long shelf lives or placing stocking units in the freezer. For example, dried beans, dried peas, dried lentils, multigrain pasta, dry oats, dry corn kernels, rice, powdered milk and coconut milk can all last for years when stored properly. Placing corn meal in the freezer can extend its shelf life from one year to two or three years. A stocking unit is the package that a product is usually sold in, which is subject to a retailer’s discretion; there is nothing preventing a retailer from selling 8-ounce boxes of UHT milk individually even if other retailers typically sell these items by the case.
Perishable varieties are commonly found in the dairy and vegetables or fruits categories. For a third perishable variety, retailers might consider bread, eggs or fresh meat.
Retailers dependent on unpopular items for their SNAP authorization should regularly conduct visual inspections of these items to ensure they remain on the shelf. Some retailers have lost their SNAP authorization because theft resulted in a stocking deficit.
