WIC Foods

WIC gives you a monthly food package to buy foods that help you get the nutrients you and your kids need. The foods in your package will change as your needs change and your child grows. WIC-approved foods are high in nutrients such as protein, iron, calcium and vitamin C.

WIC participants receive an eWIC card to purchase WIC foods such as infant cereal, infants foods, iron-fortified adult cereal, vitamin C-rich fruit or vegetable juice, eggs, milk, cheese, peanut butter, dried or canned beans, yogurt, whole grains, and fresh, frozen and canned fruits and vegetables.

WIC recognizes and promotes breastfeeding as the optimal source of nutrition for infants. For women who do not fully breastfeed, WIC provides iron-fortified infant formula. Special infant formulas and medical foods may be provided when prescribed by a physician for a specified medical condition.

Women and Infants

WIC's goal is to improve lifetime nutrition and health for everyone in the family. As a matter of fact, WIC serves 75% of our state's infants and one third of all pregnant moms. The amount of food you receive from WIC will depend on how you choose to feed your newborn.

Children

WIC has been preparing kids to learn for over 40 years. WIC provides services for a quarter of all children between one and five years of age in West Virginia. The kinds and amounts of food you receive from WIC will depend on the number of children you have, and their age.

WIC Approved Shopping Guide

Use this English guide or Spanish guide to find out which brands of foods are OK to get with your eWIC card. Some stores will not carry every WIC approved food or brand. Also please note there are changes between the October 2018 WIC Approved Shopping Guide, and the October 2020 WIC Approved Shopping Guide; learn more with this Addition and Deletion Reference Guide.

WIC Food Packages and Maximum Monthly Allowances

WIC food packages and nutrition education are the chief means by which WIC supports your healthy food choices for a quality diet. But remember, WIC is not meant to provide all the foods your family with young children needs. Instead, the benefits are for specific types of foods because they tend to be lacking in the diets of women and young children. The WIC Program provides a limited amount of foods as recommended by The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine.

Maximum Monthly Amount of WIC Foods for Children and Women

Maximum Monthly Amount of WIC Foods for Infants

Information for Food Manufacturers

The West Virginia WIC Program is responsible for selecting and approving foods for the allowable food list and maintaining the West Virginia WIC Authorized Product List (APL), the Universal Product Code (UPC) database. Criteria for approving products include compliance with federal regulations, policy and guidance, packaging and/or container size, cost, availability in West Virginia, and nutritive value.

A product must meet the federal criteria governing the WIC food packages in order to be considered for approval by the West Virginia WIC Program.

West Virginia WIC reserves the right to restrict the number of brands and types of any product in order to contain the cost of food packages and minimize confusion for WIC participants. West Virginia WIC is not obligated to authorize every available food that meets federal requirements.

The product form and marketing approach shall be consistent with the promotion of good nutrition, WIC nutrition education messages, and child development.

West Virginia WIC will review the list of allowable foods to determine the need for adding or removing brands for the following products through a biennial product application process: adult cereal, shelf-stable juice, frozen juice, soy milk, whole wheat and whole grain breads and buns, whole wheat pasta, whole wheat tortillas, corn tortillas, and yogurt. The approved brands of infant formula will be solicited through a competitive bid process. All other allowable foods will be added or removed throughout the year. A complete list of approved brands as well as an APL file will be made available to distributors and WIC Authorized Vendors. A manufacturer may contact the West Virginia WIC Program at any time during the year to have their contact information added to the email listing by calling 304-558-1115 or by emailing dhhrwicvu@wv.gov.