USDA to Follow Court Order – Release SNAP Sales Data

On Thursday, January 19, the USDA Food and Nutrition Service announced that individual store SNAP redemption data for authorized SNAP retailers (2005 to the present) will be publicly released following a Court order. This information is expected to be released in approximately 12 days.  Additional information can be found on USDA’s website: https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap-retailer-data

USDA’s announcement is in direct response to a November 30, 2016 court ruling from the US District Court of South Dakota in the case Argus Leader Media vs United States Department of Agriculture. In August 2011 the Argus Leader (South Dakota newspaper) sued USDA for annual SNAP store sales data after USDA denied a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for the data. The National Grocers Association has long been adamantly opposed to release of retailer sales data, arguing that this sales information is proprietary and may be used by competitors to cause harm. NGA filed extensive comments over the years urging USDA to not release this data. On May 26, 2016, NGA President and CEO Peter Larkin testified at the trial on behalf of USDA as a supermarket industry expert that SNAP store data should remain private and confidential.

NGA has confirmed with USDA that this data will be released to the Argus Leader Newspaper per its original FOIA request. It will also be published on USDA’s website and include information on whether the store is currently active, disqualified, or withdrawn.