Arkansas became one of the first states in the nation to formally ban the use of food assistance benefits to purchase candy and soda when the restriction took effect on July 1, 2026 — even as a federal court ruled the prior week that similar restrictions in other states were legally impermissible.
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders applied for a USDA waiver to restrict SNAP purchases of soda and certain other products, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture approved the request with a July 1, 2026, start date.
