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Food Stamp List of Approved Items

If you are currently receiving food stamps or are applying for food stamps, it’s important to become familiar with what you can and cannot buy using your EBT Card. There is a food stamp list of approved items that is created by the United States Department of Agriculture that shows what you are allowed to buy with your food stamps. Using your EBT card to buy food that is not on the approved list can get you in serious trouble, including possible jail time if you are caught and prosecuted. In this article, we will walk you through the food stamp list and what you can and cannot buy using your food stamps card. To begin, we are going to first address what you CANNOT buy with your EBT card:

"Food Stamp List of Approved Items"

What you CANNOT buy with Food Stamps

The items listed below are prohibited from being purchased using your food stamps money:

Alcohol
Cigarettes
Lottery tickets
Pet food
Toiletries
Vitamins
Medicine
Foods that will be eaten in the store
Hot foods

We have received questions about other products that people want to know about and have answered those questions in this article, including questions about Diapers, Energy Drinks, Coffee, Sea Food, Steak, Deli food and more.

Eligible Food Stamp List

You can use your card to buy foods you are going to take home to prepare and eat. This includes:

Breads and Cereals
Fruits and Vegetables
Meats, Fish and Poultry
Dairy Products.
Seeds and plants which produce food for the household to eat.

How to Stretch your EBT Money

Lots of our readers complain about how much they run out of food stamps money before the month is over and how sometimes, the money does not even make it to the middle of the month. If you are one of those people, there is something you can do about it. The video below shows how one food stamps recipient has found great ways to stretch her EBT dollars for her family by shopping smart and knowing what to buy and which brands to focus on. Watch the video below to learn her secrets to stretching her food stamps dollars.

Here is a list of other articles about food stamps you may be interested in. Some of them are answers to questions from our readers:

List of Grocery Stores that Accept EBT
Does Whole Foods Accept EBT Food Stamps?
Can you Buy Pet Food with Food Stamps
Can You Use Food Stamps on Amazon?

We hope you found this Food Stamp List of Approved Items article helpful. Remember that food stamp is about helping you buy food you can prepare at home for you and your family. The United States Department of Agriculture, which manages the program always likes to stress that the program is about helping people in need of food assistance purchase nutritious food.

When in doubt about whether a particular item is approved or not, remember to ask yourself if this food item is to be taken home and prepared or is it already prepared and ready to be eaten. If you have any questions about shipping at whole foods with EBT or WIC or any questions about food stamps in general, please tell us in the comments section below.

Kwame Kuadey

Kwame Kuadey writes about personal finance and the social safety net. His career started in banking but he caught the entrepreneurial bug and has spent the last decade building successful businesses, including an Inc. 500 Company. Kwame believes everyone has the power to improve their quality of life by seeking knowledge and taking action. In 2012, Kwame founded Empower Media to help low-income households improve their financial situation. His expertise is in topics relevant to low-income households, including government benefits and assistance, banking products, access to credit, plus tools & resources to help reduce income volatility and build wealth. Kwame has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Entrepreneur, Inc. Magazine, Washington Post, ABC, and NPR.

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