by Chicago, April 9, 2024 – Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced today that the USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) has finalized updates to the foods prescribed for participants in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, called WIC.
These science-based revisions incorporate recommendations from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) and the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020-2025.
Today’s announcement follows the successful efforts of the Biden-Harris Administration to ensure WIC was fully funded for FY 2024, including an additional $1 billion for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children.
The Administration was able to secure a total of over $7 billion in critical funding to provide nearly seven million pregnant women, new mothers, infants and young children with the vital nutrition assistance they need and deserve.
“WIC has a half-century track record of caring for young families. USDA and the Biden-Harris Administration are committed to ensuring that moms, babies and young children continue to thrive through WIC,” said Secretary Vilsack. “These participant-focused changes will strengthen WIC by ensuring that the foods participants receive reflect the latest nutrition science to support healthy eating and brighter futures.”
WIC food packages are prescription foods and beverages specifically designed to supplement the foods and beverages participants already eat and fill important nutritional gaps to support healthy growth and development.
FNS proposed changes in November 2022 to align the food packages with the latest nutritional science and to support equitable access to nutritious foods during critical stages of life. This effort finalizes the changes regarding the consideration of feedback received through public comments.
These improvements to WIC food packages support fruit and vegetable consumption by increasing the amount provided and the varieties available for purchase. FNS has permanently increased the fruit and vegetable benefit provided to WIC participants, providing participants with up to four times what they would otherwise receive.
Other improvements include, but are not limited to:
• Expand whole grain choices to include foods such as quinoa, blue cornmeal, and teff to reflect nutritional guidance and accommodate individual or cultural preferences.
• Provide more convenience and choice within the dairy category, including flexibility in package sizes and options for non-dairy substitutes such as yogurt and plant-based cheeses that require lactose-free milk to be available.
• Include tinned fish in more food packages, creating more equitable access to this under-eaten food.
• Demand to offer canned beans as well as dried beans.
• Add more flexibility in the amount of infant formula provided to part-fed infants to support a mother’s individual breastfeeding goals.
The changes will provide participants with a wider variety of foods to support healthy dietary patterns and allow state WIC agencies more flexibility to tailor the food packages to meet personal and cultural food preferences and special dietary needs, resulting in the program more attractive to current and potential participants. . State WIC agencies will have two years to implement these changes, allowing time to engage with key partners on how best to adapt the new food packages to meet participants’ needs.
“For the 6.6 million moms, infants and young children who participate in WIC – and the millions more who are eligible to participate – these improvements to our food packages could have a lifelong positive impact on health and well-being ,” said Cindy Long, Food and Nutrition Service Administrator.
WIC is one of the most powerful evidence-based public health programs available, with a 50-year history of improving health and developmental outcomes for children. Participants receive specialized nutrition, key resources – including nutrition education, breastfeeding support and immunization screening – and referrals to health and social services.
WIC is also uniquely positioned to help reduce racial disparities in maternal and child health outcomes. WIC participation rates are highest among WIC-eligible Hispanic and non-Hispanic Black individuals, and previous updates to WIC food packages have been shown to help increase access to healthier foods for Hispanic and Latino WIC participants.
Given the program’s proven benefits, FNS is committed to modernizing WIC to maximize its impact throughout participants’ entire eligibility period. To learn more, visit the WIC Modernization & Innovation webpage.
The updated standards build on the momentum from the historic White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health, where the Biden-Harris administration unveiled a national strategy to end hunger and reduce diet-related diseases by 2030. The conference also to increase focus areas. food and nutrition security for better health outcomes.
USDA touches the lives of all Americans every day in so many positive ways. In the Biden-Harris Administration, USDA is transforming America’s food system with an increased focus on more resilient local and regional food production, ensuring access to healthy and nutritious food in all communities, building new markets and income streams for farmers and producers who use the climate. smart food and forestry practices, making historic investments in clean energy infrastructure and capacity in rural America, and a commitment to equity across the Department by removing systemic barriers and building a workforce more representative of America. To learn more, visit www.usda.gov.
