Ohio is on USDA’s list of states with a SNAP purchase limit planned for 2027. The SNAP food restriction waiver table, updated October 13, 2026, gives April 1, 2027 as Ohio’s target date for limiting sugar-sweetened beverages. The same table lists Wyoming on February 1, Kansas and Missouri on February 15, and Hawaii on April 1, and it puts Nebraska’s soda limit first, with a December 1, 2026 target date. Nebraska’s date comes with a catch, because a federal court voided its first approval.

Nebraska’s December 1 date and the request behind it

Nebraska’s Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) said in an April release that its ban on soda and energy drinks in SNAP took effect January 1, 2026. On June 22, 2026, a federal judge in Aragon et al. v. Rollins et al., No. 1:26-cv-00861 in the District of Columbia, ordered that USDA’s approval of the waiver be vacated and that its implementation may not proceed. DHHS said on July 2 it was working with SNAP retailers to remove the restrictions.

The state then asked again. USDA’s Nebraska waiver page shows a new request submitted on September 1, 2026, and says the agency is “working on a response.” It also links a Federal Register notice asking for public comment, dated October 2. The table lists December 1, 2026 as Nebraska’s target date for soda, soft drinks and energy drinks, and it adds that candy would be restricted too effective March 1, 2027.

Which state is a household in, and what date applies to its EBT card? That question decides everything else in this story, because the dates differ by state, by item and by whether USDA has signed off. Nebraska is the one state in this headline whose approval a court has already voided once.

The next date in this story is USDA’s answer to Nebraska’s September 1 request, which decides whether the December 1 target holds.

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Five states with 2027 start dates

The states below each have an approved waiver on file with USDA, and the dates are targets from the table.

• Wyoming, February 1, 2027. USDA approved the waiver on March 4, 2026 for two years, effective February 1, 2027. It covers sweetened carbonated beverages.
• Kansas, February 15, 2027. Also approved March 4, 2026, for two years effective February 15, 2027. Kansas proposed to exclude candy and soft drinks.
• Missouri, February 15, 2027. Approved December 10, 2025 for candy, prepared desserts and certain unhealthy beverages. On June 15, 2026, USDA approved the state’s request to change the implementation date, which had been October 1, 2026.
• Hawaii, April 1, 2027. Approved December 10, 2025 for soft drinks, with a start that was first August 1, 2026. USDA’s page says it approved the state’s request on June 15, 2026 to move the date to April 1, 2027.
• Ohio, April 1, 2027. Approved March 4, 2026 for sugar-sweetened beverages, with a June 23, 2026 modification that expanded the restricted food definition. The table lists all fountain drinks along with sugar-sweetened beverages. Ohio’s March approval letter runs two years from October 1, 2026, and the table’s April 1, 2027 is the date now listed for the state.

The November 1 starts come first

Four states are scheduled ahead of Nebraska. The same USDA table lists November 1, 2026 for Montana, North Dakota, South Carolina and Virginia. Virginia’s Department of Social Services says its change to SNAP-eligible beverage purchases begins that day, and it sent retailers a letter on August 8.

Nevada’s date is further out, February 1, 2028, for candy and sugar-sweetened beverages. In Colorado, Iowa, Tennessee and West Virginia the table lists no date at all, and each carries a note about the June 22 order.

What the limits cover differs by state

A SNAP purchase limit is not one national list. Wyoming’s covers only sweetened, carbonated drinks. Kansas lists candy and soft drinks. Missouri adds prepared desserts. Nebraska’s request is soda, soft drinks and energy drinks now, with candy March 1, 2027. Shannon Grotrian, director of Nebraska’s Office of Economic Assistance, said in April that DHHS “continues to strengthen our Healthy Choice Waiver by adding candy to the list of items ineligible for purchase with SNAP benefits.”

Finding a state’s start date before the first grocery trip

The USDA table is the first place to look, and the individual state pages linked from it carry the approval letters. Each state’s SNAP agency also posts its own notice, usually with a list of covered items. Nebraska DHHS said in April that educational information would go to SNAP participants, retailers and community members before a change.

When a start date arrives, the practical change happens at the register. Items on the restricted list will not ring up against an EBT balance, and the same cart can be paid for with cash or another card. Households that shop with a list can sort it now into items that EBT will still cover and items that will need a different payment method.

The dates here are targets, not promises. Missouri and Hawaii have already moved theirs once, and Nebraska’s depends on an answer USDA has not given. The state page and the USDA table are where a date change will show up first.

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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.