Category: Groceries & Gas
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A food stamp retailer caught trafficking can face permanent disqualification and heavy fines, and USDA says it sends some cases to criminal prosecutors
A store that takes food stamps and is caught trafficking in them can lose the right to do so for good. USDA says the penalties for retailers run from a temporary removal to permanent disqualification from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP, plus fines, and that some cases go to criminal prosecutors. The…
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USDA requires a state to give a household notice before it wipes unspent food stamp benefits, a step the agency’s own memo says has to come first
A state cannot quietly erase unspent SNAP food stamp money, according to guidance the U.S. Department of Agriculture sent to every state agency. The memo says the federal law behind SNAP “requires States to provide sufficient notice to the household before expungement,” which means the household has to be told before the balance is wiped.…
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The pork price-fixing claim closing this month covers raw bacon and raw pork cuts only, not seasoned or breaded pork other than bacon, and the separate Smithfield and JBS round shut back in April
The claim window in the pork price-fixing settlement closes October 29, and it applies to a narrower list of products than many shoppers assume. The settlement administrator says the deadline for the current round of payments is Oct. 29, 2026, and the cash is tied to raw bacon and raw cuts of pork, not to…
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Food stamp purchase restrictions are targeted to begin November 1 in Montana, North Dakota, South Carolina and Virginia, four of the 23 states USDA lists as approved
Four states are aiming to start limiting what SNAP food stamp benefits can buy on November 1. USDA’s list of approved state waivers shows Montana, North Dakota, South Carolina and Virginia with a target implementation date of Nov. 1, 2026. Those four sit among 23 states on the list. The dates differ widely from state…
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Food stamp recipients up to age 64 without an exemption now face the three-month time limit in 41 states and territories holding no waiver at all, and no state has a statewide waiver left
No state has a statewide waiver from the SNAP three-month time limit anymore. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service says that as of October 1, 2026, zero states and territories hold a statewide waiver, 12 hold a waiver for certain areas only, and 41 have no waiver at all. That matters most…
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The FDA lets salt substitutes into about 139 standardized foods from December 14, with objections to the dairy standards due November 12
The Food and Drug Administration has finalized a rule that lets food makers swap part of the salt in many everyday products for a salt substitute. The change covers 139 foods that have a federal “standard of identity,” and it starts December 14, 2026. For shoppers, it could mean more bread, cheese, canned vegetables and…
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Commerce issued preliminary anti-dumping findings on Italian pasta from La Molisana and Garofalo
The Commerce Department has issued preliminary anti-dumping findings on Italian pasta, with proposed rates of 3.62 percent for La Molisana and 6.47 percent for Garofalo. The numbers are not final, and the notice that announced them says nothing about what pasta costs on a grocery shelf. The International Trade Administration published the preliminary results in…
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SNAP households that lose food in a power outage or disaster generally must report it within 10 days to ask for replacement benefits
A freezer full of spoiled food after a storm is a hit most SNAP households cannot absorb, and the clock to fix it starts the day the food is lost. Households on SNAP that lose groceries to a power outage or other disaster generally have just 10 days to report the loss if they want…
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Trump’s order directs Treasury to defer federal diesel excise taxes incurred October 5 through December 31, but does not cancel them
The one thing President Trump’s diesel order does not say is when the deferred tax has to be paid. Executive Order 14435, signed October 5, 2026, directs the Treasury Department to postpone payment of federal diesel excise taxes incurred from October 5 through December 31, 2026. It does not cancel them. The order’s text leaves…
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California regular gas averaged $6.10 a gallon and diesel $8.09 in EIA’s latest survey
California drivers paid an average of $6.104 a gallon for regular gasoline and $8.091 for diesel in the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s weekly survey for October 12, which rounds to $6.10 and $8.09. EIA posted the figures on its gasoline and diesel fuel update on October 14. Both are well above the national averages in…