How hard can it be when it is all digital? A banned item gets scanned and is kicked to a “cash” list or is excluded. That doesn’t do anything to the cost of the program.
Its funny: Costco can tell me how many of something I bought in a year but we can’t keep up with food stamps? We can definitely know where the money is going if there is the will to know.
“All digital” is like saying “all in a language” for all the good it does. French? Swahili? Afrikaans? Put that all in a book and expect everyone to be able to read it?
Retailers are consistent within themselves but are not set up to bubble lists of sold items in any consistent format back up to Uncle Sam. At best a UPC could be furnished, but there is no standard UPC for things like fresh produce sold bulk in a store. Adding categories of “counts as food but food stamp banned” items would increase overhead.
Costco/Walmart/Aldi/etc knows where their bread is buttered.
they’d never not accept EBT or knowling help anyone who might shine a light on food stamp fraud.
this is what you get with business in bed with FedGuv Inc.