- Utah's waiver to exclude soda from food stamps purchases was approved by the USDA.
- The waiver aligns with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s "Make America Healthy Again" initiative.
- A Utah lawmaker says the decision supports a BYU study linking sugary drinks to increased diabetes risk.
SALT LAKE CITY — Utahns will no longer be able to purchase soda using food stamps starting in January, after the federal government approved a waiver request from the state to exclude soft drinks from the program.
Lawmakers directed the Utah Department of Workforce Services, which oversees SNAP payments, or food stamps, to apply for the waiver in an effort to prevent unhealthy foods from being purchased on the program. U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins approved the exemption Tuesday, implementing a two-year moratorium on soda purchases beginning Jan. 1, 2026.
"The Trump administration is unified in improving the health of our nation," Rollins said. "America's governors have proudly answered the call to innovate by improving nutrition programs, ensuring better choices while respecting the generosity of the American taxpayer."
Rollins signed Utah's waiver along with similar requests from Arkansas and Idaho, on top of waivers already issued for Nebraska, Iowa and Indiana. The secretary said the waivers promote President Donald Trump's effort to "Make America Healthy Again."
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. thanked the governors of those states "for their bold leadership and unwavering commitment to make America healthy again."
"I call on every governor in the nation to submit a SNAP waiver to eliminate sugary drinks — taxpayer dollars should never bankroll products that fuel the chronic disease epidemic," he added.
Kennedy appeared alongside state lawmakers in Salt Lake City in April to celebrate Utah's soda bill, along with bills banning the fluoridation of water and certain food additives in school lunches.
"I'm very proud of Utah," he said at the time. "It has emerged as the leader in making America healthy, and we have a public health crisis now in our country like nothing we've ever seen before."
The sponsor of the food stamps bill and the bill removing synthetic food dyes from schools said she was "honored" to work on both policies and celebrated the waiver being granted.
"The decision to remove soda from SNAP funding is supported by a recently released BYU study indicating that drinking sugar may be worse than eating it," Rep. Kristen Chevrier, R-Highland, told KSL.com. "Taxpayers should not be subsidizing consumption of harmful substances, and then footing the bill for resulting health issues down the road. This was the right move for Utah and for the nation."
BYU researchers found that sugar-sweetened beverages can increase Type 2 diabetes risk by 25%, while solid sugars eaten in moderate amounts had no association with increased risk.
Utah filed its request for a waiver with the federal government in May, asking for permission to conduct a pilot program for removing soda purchase eligibility. It argued that the SNAP program is "inefficient" in its purpose of "promoting general welfare and safeguarding health and well-being" because it does not distinguish based on nutritional value.
The request asked that the waiver take effect six months after the approval date, allowing the state time to communicate the pending changes to recipients and work with retailers to educate beneficiaries.
The federal Food and Nutrition Services will "carefully and comprehensively" evaluate impacts of the waiver on recipients and retailers, due to the "novel design of the project," the approval letter states.
