The list of what federal food benefits can buy is being rewritten state by state. A wave of federally approved waivers is stripping soda, candy, and other sweetened items out of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program in a growing number of states, and South Carolina’s version takes effect at the end of August. For older Americans who lean on SNAP to stretch a fixed income, the change does not cut the dollar amount of the benefit, but it does narrow what those dollars are allowed to cover at the register.
The USDA Waivers Reshaping SNAP
SNAP has historically let recipients buy nearly any food or beverage, with only a few carve-outs such as alcohol and hot prepared meals. That default is now shifting as the U.S. Department of Agriculture signs off on state requests to exclude specific items, a departure the agency has approved for roughly two dozen states over the past year, with the restrictions phasing in on staggered dates through 2026.
The mechanism is a state-requested waiver. A state asks the Food and Nutrition Service, the USDA arm that runs SNAP, for permission to drop certain products from the eligible list, and the agency either approves or denies it. Because each state sets its own effective date, the count of states where a ban is actually live at the checkout has been climbing month by month rather than switching on all at once, and additional states are already in the pipeline behind the ones now in force.
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South Carolina’s August 31 Start Date
South Carolina is one of the states whose ban is about to go live. Governor Henry McMaster directed the state to seek the waiver, and the Governor’s office confirmed the USDA approved the request, with the restriction slated to take effect August 31, 2026. Under the state’s plan, energy drinks, candy bars, and beverages sweetened with five grams or more of added sugar, a threshold that sweeps in ready-made lemonade, sweet tea, and sugared coffee drinks, will no longer qualify for purchase with benefits.
The waiver runs for an initial two-year period, after which the state can request renewals for up to three more years. That structure means the change is not a one-time trial but a policy designed to persist, and it sets a template other states have followed in drafting their own item lists.
What Still Counts as Eligible
The bans are narrower than the headlines can make them sound. They target specific sweetened products, not groceries broadly, so staples such as bread, milk, meat, produce, and most packaged foods remain fully covered. The federal baseline for what benefits can buy is spelled out in the USDA’s guide to eligible food items, and the state waivers simply subtract a defined set of drinks and candy from that list rather than rewriting it.
The distinction matters for anyone budgeting on benefits. A recipient in an affected state keeps the same monthly allotment and can spend it on the same range of real food; what changes is that a can of soda or a candy bar must now be paid for out of pocket. For a household that had been folding those items into a SNAP shopping trip, the practical effect is a small shift in which purchases draw down the benefit and which come from cash.
The Budget Math for Older Recipients
SNAP skews heavily toward households that include an older or disabled member, which is why a purchasing-rule change lands differently than a headline about candy might suggest. The benefit amount itself is untouched, so no one loses grocery money, but a shopper who relied on the flexibility to buy a treat with benefits will feel the restriction at the register and may need to adjust a routine built around the old rules.
With South Carolina’s date days away and more states lined up behind it, the trend is toward a patchwork in which the same SNAP card buys different things depending on where it is swiped. The USDA’s guidance remains the authority on what qualifies, and its published item lists, not the marketing around any single state’s ban, are what a cashier’s system will actually enforce on August 31.
This article was researched and drafted with the assistance of AI and reviewed by The Financial Wire editorial team.
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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.
