USDA approves Iowa's request to ban soda, sweets from SNAP

The U.S. Department of Agriculture approved a waiver submitted by Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds to bar the use of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits to purchase certain grocery items, including soda and sweets.

Iowans who receive food assistance won’t be able to use benefits for items that Reynolds, a Republican, and USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins say contribute to increasing obesity rates in the state and across the country.

"We're not a healthy population. And again, we'll get back to the original intent of SNAP and that was to help supplement low income families with nutritious foods," Reynolds said on PBS's Iowa Press Friday. "We think this really lines up with the intent of what SNAP was designed for in the beginning."

Starting Jan. 1, 2026, Iowans who receive SNAP won’t be able to use their benefits to purchase items including:

Reynolds has submitted similar waivers in past years, but they were rejected by former President Joe Biden's administration and President Donald Trump's first administration. Iowa’s waiver approval comes as Rollins is green-lighting similar requests from other states, including Nebraska.

“President Trump has given our nation a once in a generation opportunity to change the health trajectory for our entire country,” Rollins said in a statement. “On my first day as Secretary, I sent a call to states to innovate, and Governor Kim Reynolds stepped up to take action. I look forward to signing even more waivers in the days ahead as we continue to restore the health of our country.”

State will establish its own summer meal plan for Iowa kids

Earlier this month, the USDA also greenlit Reynolds’ proposed summer meal plan for Iowa kids who receive free or reduced price breakfast and lunch, allowing the state to opt out of a federal summer food program and use funding to establish its own.

The pilot program will provide low-income families across the state with $40 worth of “fresh and nutritious food” per child per month in June, July and August. It is an alternative to the Summer Electronic Benefit Program, now known as SUN Bucks, which gives households preloaded cards with $120 per child to spend on SNAP-eligible food to substitute for school meals during the summer months.

The program will use federal funding to expand the summer meal sites program that the state ran last year, where qualifying families were provided three monthly boxes.

Iowa was one of 13 states that opted out of federal Summer EBT funding in 2024, rejecting $29 million in federal food assistance funding for an estimated 240,000 children in the state. The state would’ve had to pay roughly $2.2 million to administer the program.

This move was criticized by anti-hunger advocates who say the proposed program reached significantly fewer kids than Summer EBT would have.

Before Reynolds submitted the SNAP exclusion waiver on Monday, Iowa legislators proposed submitting a similar proposal to the USDA, tying its approval to funding for a program expanding food accessibility.

The bill, House File 970, would’ve made an appropriation of $1 million in state funds to the Double Up Food Bucks program, which provides a 1-to-1 match to SNAP recipients to purchase fruits and vegetables. The appropriation would have been contingent on whether the USDA approved a waiver only allowing SNAP to be used for “healthy food based on necessary nutrition for good health,” including but not limited to healthy grains, dairy, meat, eggs, peanut butter and nuts, pasta, rice, legumes, and fruits and vegetables.

House lawmakers passed the legislation, but the bill died in the Iowa Senate.

Democratic state Rep. Rob Johnson, of Des Moines, who voiced concern about the proposed SNAP waiver throughout the legislative session, said banning the purchase of certain items for Iowans who receive food assistance will create more barriers for families and decrease economic activity for farmers and local businesses in the state.

“Let’s be clear: limiting food assistance isn’t fiscal responsibility, it’s cruel. When we take food off the tables of Iowans already struggling to make ends meet, we’re not solving problems, we’re creating them” Johnson said in a statement Friday. “Instead of investing in nutrition education, access to fresh food, or affordability, Reynolds is using hungry families as a political tool. At a time when we are seeing cuts at the federal level, plus record inflation, Iowans deserve policies that lower costs, not micromanage their grocery carts.”

Tom Barton of The Gazette contributed to this report.