SNAP shoppers in Montana, North Dakota, South Carolina and Virginia face new restrictions on November 1, but the same shopping basket will not be treated alike in all four states. Diet soda is one example: Virginia will prohibit it, while Montana and South Carolina will continue to allow it.
The changes govern what Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits can buy. Virginia and Montana say their changes do not reduce benefit amounts or change financial eligibility. Shoppers can still buy restricted products with other money.
For a shopping trip this weekend, the useful distinction is between a state's product definitions and a package's marketing. A sugar-free label does not establish eligibility everywhere, and a candy restriction does not necessarily cover every sweet food.
How the four states compare
| State | Restrictions starting November 1 | A difference to watch |
|---|---|---|
| Montana | Candy, high-sugar beverages, energy drinks and shelf-stable prepared desserts | Artificially sweetened drinks are allowed under the beverage exception. |
| North Dakota | Sweetened drinks, energy drinks and candy | Artificial sweeteners can make a drink restricted even without added sugar. |
| South Carolina | Candy, energy drinks, soft drinks with added sugar and other sweetened beverages | Diet and zero-sugar soft drinks remain eligible. |
| Virginia | Certain carbonated sweetened beverages, including diet soda | Noncarbonated beverages and foods are unchanged by this restriction. |
Montana reaches beyond the drinks aisle
Montana's guidance includes ready-to-eat, prepackaged desserts that are shelf stable. Store-made bakery items are excluded from that category. Baking ingredients and qualifying protein or meal-replacement bars are also among its candy exceptions.
Its high-sugar beverage definition uses more than 10 grams of sugar per eight fluid ounces. Exceptions include artificially sweetened drinks, beverages containing more than 50% juice, milk and milk substitutes. Energy drinks have a separate definition, so the beverage exceptions should not be treated as approval for every product sold as sugar free.
Montana says definitions control when a product list conflicts with them. For an uncertain item, the state asks for its name, UPC or GTIN, package size and Nutrition Facts information at [email protected]. A photograph of the current package is more useful for that inquiry than the brand name alone.
Virginia's carbonation distinction
Virginia's FAQ expressly includes diet and zero-sugar soda in its restrictions. Switching from regular soda to diet soda will therefore not make that purchase SNAP eligible.
Noncarbonated lemonade, iced tea, coffee, juice, sports drinks and noncarbonated energy drinks remain eligible under this change. Milk, chocolate milk, infant formula and meal supplements are also unaffected. Virginia says no food categories change.
That makes Virginia's policy substantially different from Montana's dessert restriction or the candy restrictions in the other three states. A checkout rule for a Virginia soda purchase cannot be applied to a package of food by analogy.
North Dakota has a boundary shoppers should query
North Dakota's guidance includes artificially sweetened drinks, drink mixes and concentrates, alongside candy and energy drinks. Its linked beverage flowchart places drinks with five grams or more of added sugar, or any artificial sweetener, on the restricted side.
The same webpage also lists a conflicting allowance for drinks with five grams of sugar or less. That wording overlaps at five grams. Shoppers should seek a product-specific answer for a borderline drink rather than assume that number guarantees approval. The state directs product questions to [email protected] through its retailer information page.
South Carolina allows diet soft drinks
South Carolina's current benefits portal confirms the November 1 start and says diet and zero-sugar soft drinks remain eligible. South Carolina Public Radio reported the same distinction on October 28.
The state's retailer handbook excludes bakery and bread products, baking ingredients and qualifying protein or granola bars from its candy definition. Those exceptions help explain why two sweet snacks can receive different treatment.
At checkout and across state lines
North Dakota says its in-person restrictions apply at stores in the state regardless of which state issued the EBT card. For online delivery, its guidance uses the delivery address. Virginia says its restrictions apply to online purchases as well as in-store transactions.
The convenience-store trade group NACS, which opposes the restrictions, says different state definitions create product-classification and checkout-system burdens for retailers. That helps explain why a category name alone may not answer a specific product question.
Montana and North Dakota describe retailer implementation periods of about 90 days. Those are compliance transitions for stores, not a promise that shoppers can keep using SNAP for restricted items throughout that period. At checkout, restricted purchases require another payment method; Virginia allows shoppers to use other funds in the same transaction.
