Crack Down On Food Stamp Fraud

The Agriculture Department launches a fresh effort to crack down on food stamp fraud. USDA is giving itself new powers to penalize retailers who traffic in food stamps. Now fraudsters can face both a fine and disqualification from the system. Plus, USDA will require states to use federal prison and death databases to insure only eligible people receive food stamps. In recent years, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, has grown into an 80 billion line item. Forty six million people receive SNAP benefits. Agriculture Under Secretary Kevin Concannon says fraud now runs at less than 1 percent.