WASHINGTON – In late November, the U.S. District Court for the District of South Dakota issued a ruling on whether annual Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) retailer redemption data should be disclosed to the public or whether it should be protected as confidential business data. The case arose from a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request made by Argus Leader Media, a newspaper. Argus sought individual store-level SNAP redemption data. The U.S. District Court found in favor of Argus, stating that retailer SNAP data is not protected from disclosure under FOIA. A month and a half later, on January 18, 2017, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released a memorandum, stating that it decided to comply with the court decision and would not appeal the court order to release SNAP retailer redemption data.

Over the past few days, NACS members who participated in the SNAP program between 2005 and the present may have been notified by the USDA that their store-level SNAP redemption data may be released to the public. If you have been contacted, the USDA message likely stated that USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) “received a request for records that will disclose each of your store’s individual annual SNAP sales amounts.” USDA expects to release the SNAP data in the coming days. This matter is resolved unless NACS members elect to litigate this issue on a unique set of facts, i.e. instance by instance. NACS members wishing to continue participating in SNAP must comply and be aware that the data they submit to FNS is susceptible to release upon demand. 

Back in September 2014, NACS filed comments with the USDA urging the agency to treat aggregated SNAP redemption data at the individual store level as “confidential business information,” which would prevent it being released to the public in response to FOIA requests. Regrettably, the court’s ruling and USDA’s decision not to appeal the ruling means this information will not be shielded under FOIA.

For more information about the litigation and the pending release of the SNAP data, visit FNS online. NACS will continue to monitor the issue and provide additional updates as they arise.