SNAP benefits may be used to buy the following:
Food for human consumption, including soft drinks, candy, ice cream, coffee, and spices
Seeds and plants to grow food for personal consumption by eligible households
FNS determines whether an item is an eligible food; whether it’s a staple food, an accessory food, or a prepared or heated food. Although all staple foods are eligible foods, some accessory and prepared/heated foods are not. Only accessory and prepared/heated foods that are not hot at the point of sale, and that are not intended for on-premises consumption, are eligible foods.
Guidance on what the USDA FNS considers to be SNAP eligible foods can be found in the SNAP Retailer Policy and Management Division, Policy Memorandum 2020-03.
Additionally SNAP benefits may also be used to pay for meals prepared and served by any of the following:
Authorized meal-delivery services
Communal dining facilities for the elderly or SSI households
Rehabilitation centers for drug addicts or alcoholics
Group-living units
Shelters for battered women and children
Authorized providers of meals for the homeless
Authorized restaurants serving meals to the homeless, elderly, or disabled
Pennsylvania does not have a list of restricted or supplementary foods separate from FNS.
Only homeless persons may use SNAP benefits in qualified restaurants. The CAO must issue a PA 2SP to the eligible client. The CAO must make the case record show that a PA 2SP was issued as a controlled document and include the name of the person in the household who is eligible for the qualified-restaurant program. See Supplemental Handbook, Section 810.52.
SNAP benefits may not be used for:
Alcoholic beverages, pet foods, hot foods, or hot food products prepared for immediate consumption (such as barbecued chicken).
Nonfood items, such as paper products, soap, household supplies, medicines, and tobacco products.
SNAP benefits may not be used to pay off a bill for food bought on credit or to pay in advance for foods, except for purchase from a nonprofit food cooperative (co-op).
Updated March 11, 2026, replacing March 1, 2012