Ohio receives approval from USDA to prohibit the use of SNAP benefits for carbonated sugary drinks

Ohio has received federal approval to adopt a waiver prohibiting the use of SNAP benefits to purchase sugary carbonated drinks that will take effect later this year.

The United States Department of Agriculture granted the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services permission to enact a waiver to implement the restrictions. ODJFS Director Matt Damschroder said in a press release announcing the waiver’s approval that it was designed by a workforce created by Republican Gov. Mike DeWine in 2025.

“This waiver that we requested and received through the USDA is a meaningful step toward better health outcomes for Ohioans on food assistance,” Damschroder said. “Today’s news is a result of Governor DeWine asking us to work with experts in nutrition, public health, and food access to find practical solutions that help Ohioans make healthier choices.”

The waiver will restrict the use of SNAP benefits to purchase beverages that list sugar, corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup, or similar caloric sweeteners as the primary ingredient—or as the second ingredient if the first is carbonated water.

The restrictions will take effect on Oct. 1.

ODJSFS will communicate with retailers and SNAP recipients about changes related to the waiver both directly and through other news channels, including online and on social media.

More than 1.36 million Ohioans received SNAP benefits in 2024, with 70% of recipients in families with children, according to a report produced by the workforce tasked with making recommendations for the waiver. The recommendations in the report included a retailer-focused compliance plan that would monitor and penalize retailers for the sale of restricted items rather than SNAP recipients.

The workforce also said that the definition of sugary beverages does not include infant formula, medical foods, and special dietary products such as hydration solutions and nutrition-recovery beverages.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy. Jr., and National Nutrition Advisor at the USDA, Dr. Ben Carson, announced the approval of Ohio’s waiver as well as other changes related to SANP benefits in a USDA press release.

“Today’s announcement not only invites the private sector to educate on the importance of the DGAs, but also adds four new states to SNAP restriction waivers, and highlights the impending rule that will increase the number of real food options retailers must carry,” Rollins said in a release. “Real food is the foundation of healthier families and healthier communities.”

Kansas, Nevada, and Wyoming have also been given approval for waivers that are similar to Ohio’s, with Kansas and Nevada also including candy as items that cannot be purchased with SNAP benefits.

“As National Nutrition Advisor to the Department of Agriculture, I commend Secretary Rollins’ work to Make America Healthy Again,” Carson said. “For over 12 years, minimum stocking standards in retailers have been debated. This impending rule is practical, doable, and will provide families with new, more healthful choices no matter where they shop. Complementing this are four new restriction waivers, making certain highly processed junk food is not eligible for purchase with taxpayer-funded SNAP benefits.”

The USDA also announced a new rule “that holds any retailer interested in accepting Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits accountable to a higher minimum standard of staple food stocking requirements.”

“If retailers take taxpayer dollars, they must put real food on their shelves,” Kennedy said in a release. “SNAP exists to nourish vulnerable Americans—not bankroll the products driving our chronic disease crisis. Today, we are putting nutrition back at the center of SNAP and giving millions of families greater access to real food.”

SNAP Food Restriction Waivers that restrict the use of benefits for “non-nutritious items like soda and candy” have also been approved in Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and West Virginia.