Eight states have reached the date they set for keeping soda and candy off SNAP, the federal food program once called food stamps. Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah are all past the start dates listed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Shoppers in four more states, Montana, North Dakota, South Carolina and Virginia, follow on November 1.
The rules differ from state to state. In some, SNAP will not pay for a can of cola. In others, candy bars and prepared desserts are off the list too.
Eight states past their start dates
USDA’s list of SNAP food restriction waivers, updated October 13, shows a start date and a set of restricted items for 23 states. Eight of those dates are behind us, and each state restricts something different.
Indiana and Utah went first on January 1. Indiana covers soft drinks and candy, and Utah covers soft drinks. Idaho and Oklahoma followed on February 15, both with soda or soft drinks and candy, and Louisiana on February 18 with soft drinks, energy drinks and candy.
Texas listed April 1 for sweetened drinks and candy. Florida listed April 20 for soda, energy drinks, candy and prepared desserts. Arkansas came last, on July 1, and its list is the widest of the eight: soda, energy drinks, candy, and fruit and vegetable drinks with less than 50 percent natural juice.
For a SNAP household, the practical question is whether the state is on that list and which items it covers. A shopper in Utah loses soft drinks, while a shopper in Florida loses desserts as well. Newsweek reports that the changes do not reduce monthly benefit amounts. What changes is what the card will pay for at checkout, and a shopper short on cash for the restricted item has to cover it another way.
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Montana, North Dakota, South Carolina and Virginia on November 1
The next group arrives with the first of the month. Montana restricts high-sugar beverages, energy drinks, candy and prepared desserts. North Dakota restricts sweetened beverages, energy drinks and candy, and South Carolina restricts candy, energy drinks, soft drinks and sweetened beverages.
Virginia lists “sweetened beverages,” and its state social services department spells out what that means. The department’s SNAP Healthy FAQ says soda, diet soda and zero-sugar soda are restricted, along with carbonated energy drinks. Unsweetened seltzer, juice, milk and sports drinks stay eligible, and customers who try to buy a restricted drink are not penalized.
South Carolina’s date already moved once. Local reporting from WRHI says the state was told in August that its program, planned for August 31, would start November 1 instead, while USDA lawyers and the Justice Department reviewed court orders against similar rules elsewhere. The same report says diet and zero-sugar soft drinks stay eligible there.
Newsweek’s April 2026 enrollment counts show how many people sit behind those four dates. South Carolina had 495,445 participants, Virginia 710,416, Montana 71,103 and North Dakota 51,706, which adds up to about 1.3 million people.
What the USDA list says, and what it leaves to the states
The table gives each state’s target date. It does not report how each state is doing, and it does not say how stores are handling the change. The written rules for each state sit with that state’s SNAP agency and its retailers, which is why Virginia published its own question-and-answer sheet.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins has described the policy as “restoring SNAP to its true purpose” of nutrition. The Food Research and Action Center, an anti-hunger group, has argued the opposite, that item lists leave shoppers without enough specific information and can confuse the checkout counter. The convenience-store trade group NACS has called the patchwork of state rules administratively unworkable for retailers.
Nebraska next, then 2027 and 2028
Nebraska is listed for December 1, with soda, soft drinks and energy drinks first and candy added March 1, 2027. Wyoming follows on February 1, 2027, with sweetened, carbonated beverages. Kansas and Missouri are listed for February 15, 2027, and Hawaii and Ohio for April 1, 2027. Nevada comes last on February 1, 2028.
Four other states, Colorado, Iowa, Tennessee and West Virginia, have no start date at all. A federal court in Washington vacated USDA’s approval of those waivers on June 22, 2026, and USDA’s list says implementation may not proceed. Covington, a law firm that tracked the ruling, noted that 18 of USDA’s 23 approvals were outside the order’s direct scope.
Which date applies where a SNAP card is used
Virginia’s department says the rule applies at Virginia stores no matter which state issued the card. The same logic applies in every restricting state, so a household that crosses a state line can run into a different list at the register.
USDA’s table is the one place that lays all 23 states side by side, and it is the free, official route to check a state’s date and items. Anyone on SNAP in a state with a November 1 date has about two weeks before the rule starts, and the table is the first place to look for a state’s exact wording.
Is your state on the November 1 SNAP list?
Households on SNAP plan a month of groceries around what the card will pay for. A state that restricts soda or candy changes the cart at the register, and a state that has not started yet can change it on a date that is easy to miss.
The SNAP & Medicaid Renewal Organizer holds 51 state packs and a renewal and reporting calendar that sets dates in order. The state packs give a household its own state’s SNAP rules in one place, so a change like November 1 is tracked beside the renewal dates that also affect the benefit.
Find your state’s SNAP rules in the 51 state packs of the renewal organizer →
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This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by the editorial team.
Warren Cohen is a finance writer based in Phoenix, Arizona, covering personal finance topics including credit, banking, and beginner investing. He earned his degree in business administration from Arizona State University and began his career working in consumer finance, where he gained direct experience with lending and credit systems. He now writes for personal finance websites and fintech platforms, focusing on clear, practical content that helps readers make informed financial decisions.
