SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - The number of people on food stamps in South Dakota has jumped 75 percent in the past five years, meaning one of every eight South Dakotans now participates in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

From 2005 to 2010, the number of vendors certified by the United States Department of Agriculture to take food stamps in South Dakota rose 19 percent to 622 vendors, reports the Argus Leader.

Although the USDA does not track which types of foods are purchased using SNAP benefits, this issue could come under fire when Congress takes up the farm bill next year, a bill that provides funding for SNAP and other nutrition programs. Because food stamps can be used to purchase products such as energy drinks, soft drinks and candy, some health advocates suggest that the government should provide more scrutiny over the foods people are allowed to purchase. For example, SNAP participants cannot use their benefits to buy fresh salad bar items or hot prepared foods.

"It doesn't seem to me that government should buy things that make people sick and then clean up the mess later," Kelly Brownell, director of the Yale University Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, told the newspaper.

Meanwhile, Jeff Lenard, spokesman for NACS, added that most convenience stores, which accept SNAP benefits, offer far more than just soft drinks and candy, noting that for 50-plus years the industry has sold milk, breads and other healthy staples.

The USDA also disputes that there is a link between obesity and food stamps, noting that the data does not exist to support the notion. The agency, according to the newspaper, has sent a request to companies for assistance with compiling hard data on what foods people are buying with food stamps.

"Concern is frequently expressed that SNAP benefits are spent on unhealthy foods," the request said. "However, no data exists that identifies the types of foods SNAP recipients purchase with their benefits."