Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (L) and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. smile after U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins signs three new SNAP food choice waivers for the states of Idaho, Utah, and Arkansas in her office at the United States Department of Agriculture Whitten Building on June 10, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders is celebrating a state ban on food stamps being used on candy and soda as part of the Make America Healthy Again effort, despite lawsuits against similar waivers.
“Arkansas is getting soft drinks and candy OFF food stamps starting July 1 – because taxpayer dollars shouldn’t be wasted on unhealthy junk,” Sanders said on X.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. applauded Arkansas for becoming the latest state to move to keep Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program—or SNAP—benefits from being used for sugary, unhealthy items.
“I commend the governors and state legislators driving meaningful reform through SNAP waivers to ensure American families have access to real, nutritious food,” Kennedy said on X.
Sanders’ waiver banning SNAP use for candy and soda was submitted to the Food and Nutrition Service and was signed by Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins in June 2025. It went into effect July 1, 2026.
Taxpayer dollars fund food stamps so that struggling families can eat nourishing food. Sanders argued, “The taxpayer is not going to subsidize candy and soft drinks and is instead going to point food stamp recipients toward healthier, more nutritious foods.”
Sanders noted how chronic illness is rampant and drives up the cost of healthcare: “Obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and other chronic illnesses are a struggle for millions of Americans and also drive significantly higher costs in our healthcare system.”
She added that Arkansas isn’t an exception to this epidemic, noting that one-third of the state is diabetic or prediabetic and the state’s Medicaid program has spent $300 million every year to treat chronic conditions.
Arkansas itself has contributed to the problem. Sanders observed how, on one floor of the Department of Human Services, food stamps are approved, while on another, the state is actively funding the products that create chronic disease.
A Stanford University study found that if policies like Sanders’ were implemented, 140,000 childhood obesity cases and 240,000 Type 2 diabetes cases in adults would be prevented.
Arkansas isn’t the only state pushing for these healthy changes. Colorado, Iowa, Nebraska, Tennessee, and West Virginia have also worked to restrict certain unhealthy foods and drinks. However, in June 2026, U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson struck down those efforts, ruling these waivers violate the Administrative Procedure Act.
Regardless, says Sanders, “Arkansas is moving full speed ahead because we won’t wait around while our people get less and less healthy, and we spend more and more taxpayer dollars trying to fix the problem.”
