You've probably noticed how packed the sugary-drink aisle is in most American grocery stores. Soda, sweetened teas, energy drinks and sports drinks all compete for the same cart. For millions of households, what now fits in that cart has quietly changed.
Under the Trump administration's Make America Healthy Again push, the USDA has approved waivers in roughly two dozen states. The waivers strip soda, candy and in some cases other ultra-processed items from the list of foods SNAP benefits can cover.
The waivers were signed by Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who leads the MAHA campaign, has argued food aid should not fund products the administration ties to chronic disease.
SNAP, the federal food stamp program, served about 37 million Americans in May 2026, down from above 42 million a year earlier.
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What is actually off the SNAP list
Each state wrote its own rules. Texas, where the rules took effect April 1, 2026, blocks sweetened drinks with at least 5 grams of added sugar or any artificial sweetener, plus candy, candied fruits, raisins and sweetener-coated nuts.
Florida, which started April 20, 2026, blocks soda, energy drinks with 65 mg of caffeine or more per 8 ounces, candy and shelf-stable prepared desserts. Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Utah have similar lists built around soda and candy.
A new wave follows. Montana, North Dakota, South Carolina and Virginia are scheduled to begin on November 1, 2026. Nebraska starts a candy-only restriction the same day, after a federal court struck down its broader waiver.
SNAP still covers fruits, vegetables, meat, dairy, bread and cereals. Hot prepared foods and alcohol were already excluded under federal rules.
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What the first large study of shoppers found
Economists Hunt Allcott (Stanford), Amy Finkelstein (MIT), Anna Grummon and Matthew Notowidigdo (Chicago) pulled grocery data from SNAP households for the first large look at the policy.
In a working paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research, they estimated households in the first 10 states to enforce rules bought about 12% fewer sugary drinks in the first half of 2026.
In states that excluded only some sugary drinks, shoppers partly moved their spending to drinks that were still on the list.
The response was bigger than expected. "A 12.4% decrease is larger than most researchers had predicted, and indeed larger than I had predicted," Allcott told CBS News.
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Where health goals meet stigma concerns
Ultra-processed foods, and sugary drinks in particular, have been linked in large bodies of research to type 2 diabetes, obesity and heart disease. The administration argues food aid should not fund products that drive those conditions.
The same NBER paper found a cost on the other side. Recipients in restricted states reported feeling more judged while shopping, and that feeling grew sharper after the rules took effect.
Kate Bauer, a nutrition researcher at the University of Michigan, said stigma itself can damage health. "Stigma hurts health, so that may offset some of the calculated benefits of reduced soda intake," she told CBS News.
A federal district court in Washington, D.C. added a new wrinkle on June 22, 2026. It vacated the waivers for Colorado, Iowa, Nebraska, Tennessee and West Virginia, meaning those five states cannot move ahead with the full restrictions. USDA appealed in August.
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What this changes at the register
For a shopper in Texas, Florida or one of the other active states, soda, energy drinks and candy now have to come out of a separate wallet. For a shopper in Montana, North Dakota, South Carolina or Virginia, the same change arrives on November 1, 2026.
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This article is made and published by Aksel Kryhlmand, who may have used AI in the preparation.