Can You Buy Drinks With Food Stamps: Eligibility, Taxes, and Refunds

You can buy most drinks with food stamps, as long as the beverage is non-alcoholic, not hot when it’s handed to you, and carries a Nutrition Facts label rather than a Supplement Facts label. That covers milk, bottled water, juice, soda, coffee and tea you brew at home, cocoa mix, and most sports and energy drinks. Alcohol is never eligible, hot prepared drinks are out, and anything the manufacturer classifies as a dietary supplement is out too.

Drinks That Are Eligible

SNAP covers non-alcoholic beverages intended for home consumption. The eligible list is broad: milk of every kind (whole, skim, flavored, plant-based), bottled water, fruit and vegetable juices whether fresh, frozen, or canned, soft drinks, coffee beans, ground coffee, instant coffee, tea bags, loose-leaf tea, and cocoa mix. Coffee pods and single-serve cups qualify under the same non-alcoholic beverage category.¹

Sports drinks and energy drinks are eligible when the packaging carries a Nutrition Facts label. Standard Gatorade, and typical Monster or Red Bull cans, carry that label. Some versions of these same brands are reformulated as supplements and carry a Supplement Facts label instead, which makes them ineligible. Checking the label on the specific product is the only way to know.²

Seeds and plants that produce food count too, so a tea plant, an herb starter, or fruit seeds can go on your EBT card.¹

Drinks That Are Not Eligible

Three categories of beverages are always off-limits.

Alcohol comes first. Beer, wine, liquor, and any other alcoholic drink cannot be purchased with SNAP, even at a grocery store that otherwise accepts EBT.¹

Hot prepared drinks are second. A hot coffee, hot tea, or hot chocolate handed to you ready to consume is excluded. What matters is the temperature at the moment of purchase. A cold bottled coffee or iced tea from the refrigerator case is fine. The same product handed to you steaming from behind a counter is not. A bag of ground coffee or a box of cocoa mix from the shelf is eligible because you brew it at home.²

Dietary supplements are third. Anything the manufacturer labels as a supplement is ineligible, regardless of how much it looks or tastes like a regular drink.

Nutrition Facts vs. Supplement Facts

The single most common source of confusion at checkout is the label distinction. Products with a Nutrition Facts panel are treated as food and are SNAP-eligible. Products with a Supplement Facts panel are classified as dietary supplements and are not.²

This matters most with protein shakes, meal replacement drinks, and specialty energy drinks. Two nearly identical bottles on the same shelf can carry different labels. The manufacturer picks which label to use under FDA guidelines, and that choice controls SNAP eligibility. Flip the container around before you put it in the cart and look at the words at the top of the panel. “Nutrition Facts” means you’re fine. “Supplement Facts” means you’ll need another form of payment.

Sales Tax and Bottle Deposits

SNAP purchases are exempt from state and local sales tax. Retailers cannot charge tax on any item paid for with SNAP benefits. If you split a purchase between EBT and another payment method, tax applies only to the portion paid with cash, credit, or debit.³

Bottle deposits are more particular. SNAP can cover a deposit fee only if the fee is required by state law.⁴ The federal regulation defining eligible food excludes any deposit fee that exceeds the state’s required reimbursement amount.⁵ About ten states have deposit laws, with fees ranging from a few cents to 15 cents per container. If your state requires the deposit, SNAP generally covers it, and the register handles the split automatically.

Coffee Counters and Kiosks Inside Grocery Stores

A licensed coffee counter inside a supermarket, like a Starbucks kiosk, is a gray area. Whether EBT works there depends on whether the kiosk runs on the grocery store’s point-of-sale system or on its own. Even where the kiosk does accept EBT, the hot-drink exclusion still applies. A cold bottled drink from the kiosk’s refrigerator case may go through. A freshly brewed hot coffee will not. Ask at the counter before ordering if you’re unsure.

The Restaurant Meals Program Exception

SNAP generally cannot be used at restaurants, and a beverage bought as part of a restaurant order follows that same rule. A narrow exception exists through the Restaurant Meals Program, which lets certain recipients buy prepared meals and drinks at participating restaurants. To qualify, every member of your household must be at least 60 years old, disabled, or homeless. A spouse of someone who meets those criteria also qualifies.⁶

As of mid-2025, nine states run the program: Arizona, California, Illinois (limited to Cook and Franklin Counties), Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Rhode Island, and Virginia. Outside those states, or without meeting the eligibility criteria, restaurants remain off-limits for SNAP.⁶

Online Orders and Delivery Fees

SNAP works for online grocery purchases through authorized retailers, including Amazon, Walmart, and several major grocery chains offering delivery or pickup. The eligible items are the same online as in the store.⁷

SNAP cannot pay for delivery fees, service charges, or driver tips. If you order a case of water or juice, the drinks come off your EBT balance, but any charge to bring them to your door comes from another payment method.

Refunds on Drinks Bought With SNAP

If you return a drink you bought with SNAP, the refund goes back to your EBT card electronically. A retailer cannot give you cash for a SNAP-funded return. Taking cash for a returned SNAP item is treated as trafficking and is illegal for both the store and the cardholder.³

1
Food and Nutrition Service. What Can SNAP Buy?
2
Food and Nutrition Service. Food Determinations – Eligible Food (Excluding Meal Services)
3
Food and Nutrition Service. SNAP Retailer Notice – Sales Tax, Fees, and Refunds
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Food and Nutrition Service. SNAP Retailer Notice – Provisions of the Agricultural Act of 2014
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eCFR. 7 CFR 271.2 – Definitions
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Food and Nutrition Service. SNAP Restaurant Meals Program
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Food and Nutrition Service. Retailer Criteria to Provide Online Purchasing to SNAP Households