USDA Recommends Soyfoods in Revised WIC Packages
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The Soyfoods Association of North America
1050 17th Street, N.W. Suite 600
Washington, DC 20036
(202) 659-3520
Contact: Nancy Chapman, RD, MPH, Executive Director
December 6, 2007, Washington, DC – To meet the growing needs and food preferences of diverse families participating in the Women, Infants, and Children Supplemental Food Program (WIC), USDA has incorporated tofu and soymilk into the revised WIC food packages. Both women and children will also be able to select dried and canned whole soybeans as a meat alternative in the WIC food packages. These soyfoods provide a high quality protein equal to animal sources as well as calcium, iron, and fiber, without increasing saturated fat and cholesterol in diets.
The Soyfoods Association of North America (SANA) applauds the tremendous insight and dedication of USDA staff to review thousands of comments and to devise rules that balance all interests and advance the health of the most nutritionally vulnerable. These new rules accommodate the cultural food preferences and nutrient needs of the women, infants, and children served by WIC and meet the recommendations in the 2005 Dietary Guidelines. In the twenty-three years since the WIC packages were designed, the country has experienced dramatic population shifts in terms of ethnic and racial diversity. The changes to the WIC food packages ensure those at nutritional risk have access to a variety of nutritious foods to meet cultural needs.
Although the fortified soymilk and tofu will be readily available to pregnant and lactating women, children in the WIC program will need to have medical documentation to receive fortified soymilk and tofu as dairy alternatives. Despite 2,107 comments opposing the proposed medical documentation for children to receive soy-based beverages, USDA retained this additional administrative burden for WIC centers. “USDA seems misguided in requiring WIC recipients whose children don’t drink milk to take off work and pay for a medical exam just to document reasons the child avoids milk, especially when the soy-based beverages must be nutritionally equivalent to milk in calcium, vitamin A, vitamin D, protein, and other key nutrients,” observes Nancy Chapman, SANA Executive Director.
SANA will continue to work closely with WIC state offices and local clinics to help WIC families locate and select soymilk and tofu when they seek dairy alternatives or canned soybeans in place of dried legumes. For additional facts and information about soyfoods in the WIC Food Pacakges, visit Soyfoods in the WIC Food Packages.
###
The Soyfoods Association of North America is a non-profit trade association that has been promoting consumption of soyfoods in the diet since 1978. SANA is committed to encouraging sustainability, integrity and growth in the soyfoods industry by promoting the benefits and consumption of soy-based foods and ingredients in diets.
« PREVIOUS: Food, Nutrition, Physical Activity and the Prevention of Cancer: A Global Perspective
