The list of states that want to stop food stamp dollars from buying soda, candy and similar items has grown to 23 on the Agriculture Department’s own table. Nineteen of those states have a target start date. Four have none, because a federal court threw out their approvals.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s SNAP food restriction waiver table was last updated on October 13, 2026. It is the one place that lists every state, the foods it wants to restrict and the date it plans to begin.
Eight states have already started
Eight states are past their target dates. Indiana and Utah began January 1, 2026. Idaho and Oklahoma followed on February 15, Louisiana on February 18, Texas on April 1, Florida on April 20 and Arkansas on July 1, according to the printable version of the same table.
What each state bans differs a good deal. Utah restricts soft drinks only. Indiana, Idaho, Oklahoma and Texas add candy, and Louisiana adds candy and energy drinks. Florida adds energy drinks and prepared desserts, and Arkansas also covers fruit and vegetable drinks with less than 50 percent natural juice.
Which states are next, and which foods?
Households on SNAP in any of the 23 states need to know which row is theirs and whether the date on it has passed. A person in Montana, North Dakota, South Carolina or Virginia is weeks away from a first change on November 1, 2026, while a person in Ohio or Hawaii has until April 1, 2027.
Retirement deadlines, in your inbox: Miss an enrollment or claim deadline and the money can be gone. The Retirement Money Brief keeps you ahead of the ones that matter, every weekday.
Get the Retirement Money Brief →
We may earn a commission from links on this page.
Four more states are listed for November 1, 2026: Montana, North Dakota, South Carolina and Virginia. Montana’s list is high-sugar beverages, energy drinks, candy and prepared desserts. North Dakota covers sweetened beverages, energy drinks and candy, and South Carolina covers candy, energy drinks, soft drinks and sweetened beverages. Virginia is limited to sweetened beverages.
Nebraska is listed for December 1, 2026, with soda, soft drinks and energy drinks first and candy added March 1, 2027. Wyoming follows on February 1, 2027, then Kansas and Missouri on February 15, 2027. Hawaii and Ohio are listed for April 1, 2027, and Nevada is last, on February 1, 2028. The later states list narrower foods: Wyoming names sweetened, carbonated beverages, Kansas lists candy and soft drinks, and Hawaii lists soft drinks. Missouri names candy, prepared desserts and certain unhealthy beverages, Ohio names sugar-sweetened beverages and all fountain drinks, and Nevada names candy and sugar-sweetened beverages.
That adds up to the 19 dated states: eight already started, four on November 1, one on December 1 and six in 2027 or 2028.
What did the federal judge stop?
Colorado, Iowa, Tennessee and West Virginia show the words “Court order” where a date would be. USDA’s table says the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, in Aragon et al. v. Rollins et al., case 1:26-cv-00861, ordered on June 22, 2026 that the agency’s approval of each waiver be vacated and that its implementation may not proceed.
Those four rows stay on the table, which is why the total is still 23. Iowa’s request was the broadest, covering all taxable food items under the state revenue department’s definition, with an exception for food-producing plants and seeds. Tennessee had asked to bar processed foods and beverages such as soda, energy drinks and candy. Colorado’s request was soft drinks and West Virginia’s was soda. Retailer notices on the printable table tell stores in Iowa and West Virginia to stop implementation.
Why the state pages and the table can differ
Each state also has its own waiver page, and the dates there are not always the same as the table. Montana’s approval letter, dated May 19, 2026, is good for two years and lists the same four categories of items. South Carolina’s letter, signed December 10, 2025 by Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, also runs two years, and USDA approved a change to its definition of a restricted soft drink on August 3, 2026.
North Dakota’s letter was also dated December 10, 2025, and USDA approved a change to its restricted food and beverage definition on April 22, 2026, according to the state’s waiver page. When a state page and the master table disagree on a start date, the table’s target date is the one USDA keeps current.
What a household on SNAP should expect
None of these waivers is described on the table as changing how much a household receives. The waivers change which items the benefit card can pay for. Renewal dates, income reporting and recertification paperwork run on their own schedule and are set by each state agency, so a household can pass every grocery trip and still lose a benefit by missing a notice.
The waiver terms matter for planning. Montana and South Carolina were each approved for two years, and the table lists no end date for any state. Households in a state with a start date in 2027 or 2028 have time, but the list of foods can change before then, as North Dakota’s definition did in April 2026.
The table lists a start date only as a target. A date that is still ahead can move, as the court order showed for four states. Households are better off checking the USDA table again close to the date listed for their state.
Is the purchase limit live in the state where the groceries get bought?
A household that watches the purchase rules and misses a renewal notice can lose the whole benefit, which is a far bigger problem than a declined candy bar at the register. The restrictions and the paperwork dates arrive on different calendars, and it is easy to track one and forget the other.
The SNAP & Medicaid Renewal Organizer pulls the paperwork side into one place, with 51 state packs and a renewal and reporting calendar. It also walks through the SNAP recertification steps, so the dates stay in view while the purchase limits roll out state by state.
Get the state pack and renewal calendar for households on SNAP →
More Financial Reading
- 21 Ways to Stretch a $2,087 Social Security Check
- 15 Places to Find Your Share of the $4.25 Billion States Give Back
- 15 Ways Out of 22% Credit Card Interest
This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
