Welcomed Changes Coming to the WIC Food Package

Meg Bruening, PA NEN

The WIC Food Package has not changed significantly over the past thirty years—it supplements families’ diets with milk, juice, eggs, cheese and peanut butter/beans as well as cereal and formula to infants and carrots and tuna to breastfeeding mothers. These foods have remained staples in the WIC Food Package as they are packed with protein, calcium, iron and vitamins A and C—all nutrients needed for growth and development, and at one time often lacking from participants’ diets.  

To align with most current nutrition recommendations, especially those from the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans and the American Academy of Pediatrics, while promoting breastfeeding and enhancing flexibility for the diverse makeup of the WIC population, the Institutes of Medicine (IOM) was charged by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) in 2005 with providing recommendations for improvements to the WIC Food Package without raising its total cost. In April 2005, IOM released their report, WIC Food Packages: Time for a Change; recommendations in the report encourage WIC to provide fruits, vegetables and whole grains, as well as to promote breastfeeding through better benefits.  

USDA has just responded to the report, publishing a proposed rule: Revisions in the WIC Food Packages. Because it was discovered that the IOM recommendations were not cost neutral, there are some differences between the IOM recommendations and the USDA proposed rule; most notably, a decrease in amount provided through the fruit and vegetable vouchers (IOM had proposed $2 more), and the disallowance of yogurt in the cultural expansion. Nonetheless, the general recommendations remain similar. Based on IOM recommendations, USDA has proposed the following:

  • Vouchers for fruits and vegetables ($8/month/woman and $6/month/child).  
  • Fruit and vegetable baby foods for infants 6 months or older
    • If breastfeeding, baby food meats should be added to meet iron and zinc requirements
  • Breakfast cereals should be whole-grain varieties only
    • Whole grain alternatives such as corn tortillas and bulgur should be offered
  • Allow soy and calcium-fortified tofu as alternatives, taking into account cultural and dietary needs among participants
  • Breastfeeding mothers should have a larger package of milk, eggs, cheese and whole grains than those women who formula feed. Breastfeeding moms should also receive larger amounts of canned fish; besides tuna, canned sardines and salmon have been added as alternatives
  • Moderate the maximum amount of formula provided based on the age of the infant

As recommended by the IOM, the proposal retains basic WIC food categories: milk, cheese, eggs, fruit juice, cereal, beans/peanut butter, infant formula and (for breastfeeding women) tuna and carrots. The amounts of many of the foods (milk, cheese, eggs, fruit juice and infant formula) are reduced to provide money to pay for the new foods and, in some cases, to bring quantities more in line with current nutritional science.  For example,

  • The amount of juice would be cut from up to nine ounces daily to four ounces for children ages one through five.
  • Milk would be cut from up to three cups daily to two cups for children ages one through five.

These significant changes will increase the quality nutrient-dense foods available to WIC participants. The recommendations also have great potential to enhance the impact of nutrition education efforts to low-income families receiving WIC benefits.  

The public has approximately 90 days to provide comments to the USDA proposed rule. Following the review of the public commentary, USDA will make its final decision and begin implementation.