Four states are set to stop SNAP from paying for sugary drinks on November 1, 2026. USDA’s list of food-restriction waivers shows Montana, North Dakota, South Carolina and Virginia all carrying that target date, so food stamp shoppers there will no longer be able to buy soda and other sweetened beverages with their EBT cards. The agency last updated the list on October 13, 2026.
The four states are among 23 that now have rows in USDA’s table. Each asked the Food and Nutrition Service for permission to cut certain items out of what SNAP can buy, and each request was approved. Shoppers in these four will see the new limits at the register starting with November purchases.
The question most households in these states are asking is whether the change touches their grocery routine. It does if the cart holds the named items. SNAP households in Montana, North Dakota, South Carolina and Virginia should expect those drinks to be declined on the EBT card on November 1, and should plan to pay for them separately with cash or another card.
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What each of the four states blocks
The restrictions are not identical. According to the USDA waiver list, the items covered in each state are:
- Montana: high-sugar beverages, energy drinks, candy and prepared desserts
- North Dakota: sweetened beverages, energy drinks and candy
- South Carolina: candy, energy drinks, soft drinks and sweetened beverages
- Virginia: sweetened beverages
Montana’s approval, per its state waiver page, is dated May 19, 2026. North Dakota’s and South Carolina’s approvals date to December 10, 2025, and USDA’s South Carolina page describes that approval as lasting two years.
Why Virginia’s date deserves a second look
Virginia’s own waiver page, updated October 2, 2026, says the Food and Nutrition Service approved a request on February 25, 2026 to move the waiver’s implementation date from April 1, 2026 to October 1, 2026. The master list, updated eleven days later, shows November 1 for the same sweetened-beverage restriction, with no delay note beside it.
Virginia shoppers who want certainty about the day their card starts declining those drinks can ask their local social services office. USDA labels every date in the table a target implementation date, so the first week of November is the window to watch.
Which states already have drink limits in place?
Montana, North Dakota, South Carolina and Virginia are not the first. USDA’s table lists earlier start dates for Indiana and Utah (January 1, 2026), Idaho and Oklahoma (February 15, 2026), Louisiana (February 18, 2026), Texas (April 1, 2026), Florida (April 20, 2026) and Arkansas (July 1, 2026).
More are queued behind them. Nebraska is listed for December 1, 2026, with candy added on March 1, 2027. Wyoming follows on February 1, 2027, Kansas and Missouri on February 15, 2027, Hawaii and Ohio on April 1, 2027, and Nevada on February 1, 2028.
Where do the court rulings leave the list?
Not every approved waiver is moving forward. On June 22, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled in Aragon v. Rollins that USDA’s approval of one waiver be vacated and that its implementation may not proceed. USDA’s list applies that order to Colorado, Iowa, Tennessee and West Virginia, and shows a court note in place of a date for each.
The same list shows no court note beside Montana, North Dakota, South Carolina or Virginia. The open question for households there is whether November 1 holds in each state, and USDA’s waiver page is where any change would appear first. The program’s main SNAP page carries the rest of the federal rules.
Planning around the November 1 drink limits?
Shoppers who learn about a purchase limit at the register are often the same households that miss quieter SNAP dates, such as a recertification or a required change report. A declined card on November 1 is an annoyance; a lapsed case is a lost month of benefits.
The SNAP & Medicaid Renewal Organizer keeps those dates in one place. It includes 51 state packs and a renewal and reporting calendar, plus a renewal document checklist, so a household in Montana, North Dakota, South Carolina or Virginia can see its own state’s deadlines alongside the new rules.
Get the Organizer’s state pack and reporting calendar for the November 1 SNAP changes →
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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
