USDA Approves Additional State Waivers to Restrict SNAP Purchases in Arkansas, Idaho, and Utah

Secretary Rollins and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. have championed these waivers as part of a national strategy to improve nutrition programs and tackle America’s chronic disease epidemic. “Thank you to the governors of Indiana, Arkansas, Idaho, Utah, Iowa, and Nebraska for their bold leadership and unwavering commitment to Make America Healthy Again,” Secretary Kennedy said in a statement. “I call on every governor in the nation to submit a SNAP waiver to eliminate sugary drinks—taxpayer dollars should never bankroll products that fuel the chronic disease epidemic.”³

Summary of Arkansas, Idaho, and Utah SNAP Food Restriction Waivers

The SNAP waivers granted to Arkansas, Idaho, and Utah each allow the state to operate a two-year pilot project, starting on either January 1, 2026 or July 1, 2026, to amend the statutory definition of eligible foods for SNAP purchase. Specifically, USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), which implements the SNAP program at the federal level, has waived the provisions in the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 and implementing regulations that define “eligible foods” to mean “any food or food product for home consumption,” except alcohol, tobacco, and hot foods.⁴

Arkansas

Under the Arkansas waiver, the state will exclude from the definition of eligible foods the following food and beverage items, effective July 1, 2026: “soda, low and no-calorie soda, fruit and vegetable drinks with less than 50% natural juice, other unhealthy drinks, and candy.” Arkansas’ waiver request (but not USDA’s waiver approval) specifies that the “candy exclusion will extend to confectionary products with flour and artificially sweetened candy. The exclusion will not extend to flavored water, carbonated flavored water, and sports drinks.” Importantly, the term “other unhealthy drinks” is not defined in either the state’s request or the USDA’s grant of the waiver.

The waiver provides that the state will use the GS1 US product classification framework and standards, including the Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) (part of the Universal Product Code (UPC)), to define ineligible foods. It explains that the GS1 US product classification standards provide industry-accepted categories for products, and states that this allows businesses to have a common language for categorizing and talking about their products, enabling increased product data accuracy and simplified reporting for product categories. No further details on how the GS1 standards will be used are provided in the waiver.

Idaho

Idaho’s waiver will exclude from SNAP purchases, “soda” and “candy,” as defined below. The waiver will take effect January 1, 2026.

• "Soda" is any nonalcoholic beverages containing sweeteners; excluding drinks with milk or milk substitutes, beverages with more than 50% juice, and products that require preparation before consumption.

• "Candy" is any preparation of sugar, honey, or other sweeteners in combination with chocolates, fruit, nuts, or other ingredients in the form of bars, drops, or pieces. This definition does not include those items containing flour or requiring refrigeration.

Utah

The Utah waiver prohibits state SNAP beneficiaries from using their benefits to purchase “soft drinks,” as defined below. The waiver will take effect January 1, 2026.

• “Soft drinks” are any nonalcoholic beverage that is made with carbonated water and is flavored and sweetened with sugar or artificial sweeteners. This definition does not include a beverage that contains milk, milk products, soy, rice, or other milk substitutes, or that is greater than 50% vegetable or fruit juice by volume.

Legal Authority

According to the waiver approvals, the pilot programs are authorized by Section 17 the Food and Nutrition Act, which allows the Secretary of Agriculture to conduct pilot projects designed to improve the efficiency of SNAP and the delivery of SNAP benefits to eligible households.⁵ The waiver approvals explain that the purpose of the programs is to evaluate the impact of excluding select food items such as soda and candy from eligible SNAP purchases on participant’s consumption of these products. As part of the evaluation of the project, each state is developing key metrics and data collection methods, and must provide FNS with a quarterly report during the first year of implementation. FNS will carefully review the results of the pilot projects, based on data provided by the state and other available information, to evaluate how waiving the state’s definition of eligible food impacts SNAP participants and retailers.

The waivers raise an important question about whether USDA has the authority to grant a waiver from the statutory definition of food.

Next Steps

We will continue to monitor for additional actions on SNAP food restriction waivers. Please contact us if you have any questions.

Authored by Veronica Colas and Rebecca Popkin.