What year did SNAP start allowing prepared hot food purchases from grocery stores?

1. The rule that matters: “hot at the point of sale”

Federal SNAP guidance explicitly excludes foods that are “hot at the point of sale” from eligibility; that wording remains on USDA materials and is the operative phrase that prevents buying hot rotisserie chickens, soup from a self-serve bar, or hot pizza slices with SNAP ^[1]. Advocacy materials and consumer-facing guides repeat the same restriction, noting grocery-store hot prepared foods are ineligible even if sold inside a supermarket ^{[5] [6]}.

2. Origins and longevity: a restriction more than 60 years old

Lawmakers and advocates described the prohibition as an “outdated restriction” in 2025, repeatedly tracing it back more than six decades to SNAP’s origins; Senator Michael Bennet and Rep. Grace Meng explicitly said the governing law has prevented hot, ready-to-eat foods from being purchased for “over 60 years” ^[2]. That historical framing explains why the rule persists: it’s embedded in statute and longstanding program guidance ^{[2] [1]}.

3. 2025 policy activity: bills and state-led experiments

In spring 2025 Congress saw bipartisan reintroduction of the Hot Foods Act, which would remove the federal prohibition and allow SNAP recipients to use benefits to buy hot prepared foods like rotisserie chicken or hot sandwiches ^{[3] [7]}. Simultaneously, USDA signaled willingness to work with states on targeted waivers or pilots — senators commended “state-led efforts” to expand certain hot-food purchases — indicating policy change might come either through federal statute or state demonstrations ^[2].

4. Exceptions already in place: Restaurant Meals Program and state variations

SNAP already contains limited exceptions: the Restaurant Meals Program (RMP) allows certain populations (elderly, disabled, homeless) in participating states to buy hot restaurant meals with SNAP, and several states operate variations or pilot expansions that blur the national prohibition ^[8]. Consumer guides and aggregators list state-level differences and RMP participation, showing that while the general rule forbids hot grocery-store foods, practical exceptions exist ^{[8] [6]}.

5. What the Hot Foods Act would change — and who’s pushing it

The Hot Foods Act, introduced in early April 2025, targets the statutory ban so SNAP could cover hot in-store-prepared meals sold for takeout — examples given by sponsors include rotisserie chickens, soups and hot sandwiches ^{[3] [4]}. Sponsors framed the change as modernization to reflect current shopping habits and to help those who lack time or ability to cook; convenience-store and foodservice trade groups have publicly supported the idea as commonsense modernization ^{[3] [4]}.

6. Limits of current reporting and what’s not in the sources

Available sources do not mention that Congress passed a law in 2025 changing the hot-food rule at the federal level; reporting through April–May 2025 describes bills and waivers but not final statutory repeal ^{[3] [2]}. Available sources do not provide a firm effective year when grocery-store hot food purchases became universally allowed because, as of the cited material, they remained generally prohibited except by narrow programs or pilot waivers ^{[1] [8]}.

7. Bottom line for readers seeking a single year

There is no single year in the provided reporting when SNAP began broadly allowing grocery-store hot prepared foods; the federal prohibition stood in 2025, even while legislative attempts and state-led waivers were underway to permit such purchases ^{[1] [3] [2]}. If you need a definitive year for a nationwide change, current sources say that change had not occurred by spring 2025 — the relevant actions then were legislation (Hot Foods Act) and state experiments, not a final federal repeal ^{[3] [2]}.