On Tuesday, Arkansas became the first state in the country to officially submit a waiver request to the U.S. Department of Agriculture to allow the state to ban soda and candy from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). If the request is approved, such products will be ineligible for SNAP purchase for five years starting in July 2026.
The Arkansas waiver specifically requests that the state exclude “non-staple food and beverage items” from SNAP, including soda, low and no-calorie soda, fruit and vegetable drinks with less than 50% natural juice, “unhealthy drinks” and candy. The ban will not extend to flavored water, carbonated flavored water and sports drinks, but will extend to candy that is artificially sweetened and confectionary products that contain flour. The state is also requesting that hot rotisserie chicken be allowed for SNAP purchase, which like other hot foods is currently ineligible for SNAP purchase nationwide.
The state plans to use the GS1 US framework to define these foods, stating that they believe “GS1 US provides the best definitional framework to operationalize reforms, support beneficiaries, ensure compliance and collaborate with both manufacturers and retailers.” GS1 is an international organization that develops and maintains its own standards for barcodes. Before approval by USDA, the state will be implementing what Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders described as a voluntary 30-day public comment period on the waiver.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins joined Governor Sanders for the announcement, and Secretary Rollins told the Wall Street Journal that USDA will move “very, very quickly” to approve the waiver request as part of the Trump Administration’s “Make America Healthy Again” agenda. The Secretary, along with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., have called on all states to submit similar waiver requests to restrict what SNAP customers can buy.
“These waivers raise questions about the workability of SNAP,” said Margaret Mannion, NACS Director of Government Relations. “We hope that the Department will consider the impact on small format stores when considering these potential changes.”
NACS has long had concerns about SNAP food restrictions and their workability including working with a broad coalition to raise those concerns. If approved, Arkansas’s waiver could set a precedent that significantly affects how retailers are able to serve SNAP customers and navigate the list of what is allowed and what is not.
Retailers in states where waivers are approved will face operational and compliance challenges, such as staying up to date with a government list of restricted SKUs as new products come to the market, ensuring point-of-sale technology is updated and that associates are trained regarding restricted items, especially for smaller operators who don’t have scanning technology. Dozens of other states are considering similar restrictions, and multi-state retailers across the country may soon find themselves navigating a patchwork of SNAP rules.