Ohio’s plan to keep sugar-sweetened beverages off the SNAP list has a new target date. According to the USDA Food and Nutrition Service’s food restriction waiver table, the state is aiming for April 1, 2027, and the restriction covers sugar-sweetened beverages along with all fountain drinks.
The date is later than the one Ohio announced earlier this year. A federal request to pause the start explains the delay, and the details of the rule are worth knowing before it takes hold.
What Ohio Plans to Restrict
The core of the rule is an ingredient test. According to a release from the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, a beverage is off limits when sugar, corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup or a similar caloric sweetener is the first ingredient, or the second ingredient after carbonated water.
Fountain drinks are handled separately. A USDA modification letter adds all fountain drinks as restricted items, which means diet soda and seltzer poured from a fountain are covered along with the sugary versions. The letter notes that bottled or canned drinks that do not meet the ingredient test stay eligible. Ohio’s list is beverage only, according to Propel’s state-by-state guide, with no candy or energy drink limits like those Montana is adding. For background on who qualifies and what the benefit buys, the guide on how SNAP benefits work covers the basics…