The U.S. Department of Agriculture has approved Missouri's request to restrict the use of food stamps for the purchase of some junk food items, according to a news release from the USDA.
Starting in 2026, Missouri is set to stop allowing SNAP benefits to be used to purchase candy, prepared desserts, soda, beverage mixes, juices and punches that are 50% or less natural fruit or vegetable juice, and concentrates intended to be made into drinks that are 50% or less natural fruit or vegetable juice.
The Missouri Department of Social Services filed the waiver request with the USDA Food and Nutrition Service in late September. The USDA administers the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program on the federal level.
According to the waiver request, the state anticipates implementing the change on Oct. 1, 2026.
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins and U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced the approval of Missouri's waiver on Wednesday.
Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe asked the state Department of Social Services to file the request.
“We are incredibly thankful for Secretary Rollins’ approval of our waiver,” Kehoe said in a news release from the USDA. “Missouri is proud to partner with the Trump administration on the Make America Healthy Again movement as we refocus SNAP to maximize nutritional health for families while also supporting the abundant agricultural output of our state.”
The USDA also approved waiver requests for Hawaii, North Dakota, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. The waiver requests, including Missouri's, change the statutory definition of "food for purchase" under SNAP.
