Montana is the only state starting SNAP purchase limits on November 1 that bars prepared desserts. Ohio, North Dakota, South Carolina and Virginia begin the same day, but their lists stop at drinks, energy drinks and candy. Nevada sits at the far end of the schedule: its restrictions on candy and sugar-sweetened beverages are set for February 1, 2028, more than a year after the first group. USDA’s waiver table, updated October 2, lists every state’s start date and item list in one place.
The gap shows up at the checkout. A Montana household loses more categories on November 1 than a Virginia household does, and a Nevada household faces no such limit for another 15 months. The limits govern what a SNAP card can buy. Recertification and reporting dates, which decide whether benefits continue at all, are a separate set of deadlines set by each state.
Purchase limits change what a SNAP card buys on November 1, but renewal and reporting dates stay exactly where each state set them. The SNAP & Medicaid Renewal Organizer keeps those dates in one place with its 51 state packs and a renewal and reporting calendar.
Montana’s list reaches into the bakery aisle
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins signed Montana’s approval on May 19, 2026, after the state submitted its request on March 31. The approval letter covers two years and lets Montana exclude “high-sugar beverages, energy drinks, candy, and prepared desserts” from the federal definition of food that SNAP can buy. USDA’s table lists November 1, 2026 as the target date for the change.
The other four states starting that day wrote narrower lists. Ohio restricts sugar-sweetened beverages and all fountain drinks. North Dakota restricts sweetened beverages, energy drinks and candy. South Carolina names candy, energy drinks, soft drinks and sweetened beverages. Virginia’s entry says only “sweetened beverages.” Montana’s addition of prepared desserts, a category the table does not define for any state, makes its list the longest in the group.
Montana is not alone nationally. Florida’s waiver, which Rollins approved on August 4, 2025, also excludes prepared desserts alongside soda, energy drinks and candy, and the table gives it an April 20, 2026 target date. Missouri’s entry adds prepared desserts too, with a start of February 15, 2027. Three states in total now carry the category, and USDA’s summary page leaves the exact definition to each state’s approval terms.
Nevada waits until February 1, 2028
Nevada’s entry restricts candy and sugar-sweetened beverages, and its start date of February 1, 2028 is the latest of the 19 states whose approvals stand on the table. The state asked for the change around February 6, 2026, and USDA approved the request on March 4. A modification in April clarified the definition of candy and removed brand names, according to the Federal Register comment notice USDA posted September 15.
That notice also keeps Nevada’s schedule open to public input. Written comments on the state’s project are due October 15, 2026 through Regulations.gov, and USDA says it will take “appropriate action as necessary in response to comments.” Comments are not required by statute. USDA says it will also use the state’s evaluation data to review the project’s results.
The nearest late starters are far closer. Hawaii restricts soft drinks starting April 1, 2027. Kansas follows on February 15, 2027 with candy and soft drinks, Wyoming on February 1, 2027 with sweetened, carbonated beverages, and Missouri on February 15, 2027. The Missouri approval is dated December 10, 2025, and USDA moved its start from an October 2026 date to February 2027 after a June request from the state.
Four states the court order removed from the schedule
Four states have no start date at all. A federal judge in the District of Columbia ruled on June 22, 2026, in Aragon v. Rollins, that USDA’s approvals for Colorado, Iowa, Tennessee and West Virginia be vacated and that their waivers may not proceed. The table labels each one “Approval vacated by court order,” and Iowa and West Virginia retailers received notices to stop implementing.
Nebraska is a two-step case on the same table. Its entry shows soda, soft drinks and energy drinks restricted from December 1, 2026, with candy added on March 1, 2027. USDA’s October 2 Federal Register notice says Nebraska’s earlier project was vacated in the same case, that the state filed a new request on September 1, and that the agency may authorize or refuse it. Comments are due November 2.
Reading the waiver table for one state
The starting point is USDA’s SNAP food restriction waiver table, which lists each state’s target date, restricted items and status, plus links to its retailer notices and public comment pages. The table says it covers states with an approved waiver and carries only one date for the whole page, October 2, 2026.
The state’s own page decides what counts as candy, a soft drink or a prepared dessert, because the definitions sit in each approval’s terms and conditions and not in the summary. Retailers get separate notices, and several states publish an email address for questions. Montana lists healthysnap@mt.gov, and Nevada’s entry links its own webpage.
Dates on the table are targets, and they move: Missouri’s start slipped from October 1, 2026 to February 15, 2027, and Nebraska’s earlier waiver was vacated by a court. Montana’s November 1 start rests on a two-year approval signed by Rollins on May 19, and Nevada’s February 1, 2028 start rests on a March 4, 2026 approval that USDA is still taking comments on until October 15.
Shopping limits change November 1; renewal dates do not
A household that follows the new item list but misses a recertification or reporting date can lose benefits that the item list never touched. The SNAP & Medicaid Renewal Organizer holds 51 state packs and a renewal and reporting calendar, so each state’s dates sit beside the purchase rules that start in Montana, Ohio, North Dakota, South Carolina and Virginia.
Put Montana’s recertification dates on a calendar with the SNAP & Medicaid Renewal Organizer →
This article was produced with AI assistance and reviewed by The Money Overview’s editorial team.
