What can I buy with EBT in Tennessee
In Tennessee, food stamps (SNAP) can buy groceries you take home, including fruit, vegetables, meat, dairy, and bread. They cannot buy alcohol, tobacco, hot prepared food, or household supplies. Any soda or candy date on this page is copied from the USDA waiver table. If that table does not list the state, we do not invent a ban.
Simple answer
USDA says a court stopped this state's food waiver.
Tennessee: A court order on June 22, 2026 stopped the soda, energy-drink, and candy waiver. USDA says it may not proceed.
Soda and candy
Tennessee: A court order on June 22, 2026 stopped the soda, energy-drink, and candy waiver. USDA says it may not proceed.
FNA SNAP food restriction waivers, updated 2026-10-13. Last checked 2026-10-16.
Restaurant meals
USDA's Restaurant Meals Program page does not list Tennessee. Prepared hot food is not a SNAP item there, unless a later approval says otherwise. We did not find one on October 16, 2026.
To use it, everyone in the SNAP home must be 60 or older, disabled, homeless, or the spouse of someone who qualifies. Source: the USDA Restaurant Meals Program page, last checked 2026-10-16.
Where to use the card
USDA publishes a live store map. We did not copy the stores onto this page. The downloadable file is a history file for 2005 through 2025, so it is not a live nearby list.
SNAP Retailer Locator, updated 2026-09-11.
Last checked: October 16, 2026
Sources
- FNA What Can SNAP Buy Page updated 2025-06-04.
- FNA SNAP food restriction waivers Page updated 2026-10-13.
- FNA SNAP Retailer Locator Page updated 2026-09-11. We link the map and do not copy the store list.
What changed
- October 13, 2026. FNS updated the food-restriction waiver table. Soda and candy limits on these pages come only from that table.
- September 11, 2026. FNS updated the retailer locator page. The downloadable file is a history file, so the live map is the one we link.
- June 4, 2025. FNS updated the eligible-foods page.