New Delhi, Dec. 31 -- Starting from the New Year, Americans in five states who get government help via the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) will see new restrictions on soda, candy, and other foods.

The restrictions have been put in place as part of a push by US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins to urge states to bar unhealthy foods from being covered under the $100 billion federal food stamps programme, which serves an estimated 42 million Americans.

The new restrictions also mark a departure from decades of US federal policy, which used to allow SNAP benefits to be used for "any food or food product intended for human consumption," barring alcohol, tobacco, and ready-to-eat...