On November 17, 2022, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced major food package revisions to the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). Among other changes, the proposed rule suggests removing juice from the food package, reducing the maximum allowance for milk, and requiring whole grain criteria in breakfast cereal. Therefore, this brief focuses on three food groups in the WIC food package: juice, milk, and breakfast cereal. A narrative review of the peer-reviewed literature, published between January 1, 2009, and October 31, 2022, was conducted to examine the evidence to answer three specific questions: 1) How did WIC participants’ juice consumption behaviors and health outcomes change after the 2009 food package revision, which reduced the 100% juice allowance?; 2) What are current milk consumption behaviors among WIC participants and their association with health outcomes?; and 3) How do preferences for breakfast cereals vary by race and ethnicity, particularly among the Hispanic population, which accounted for over 35% of the participants in 2019 (USDA, 2021)? These questions were developed by researchers during a workshop hosted by the Healthy Eating Research (HER) and Nutrition & Obesity Policy Research & Evaluation Network (NOPREN) WIC Learning Collaborative in response to the proposed WIC food revisions.
Published: January 2023
Publisher: Healthy Eating Research
Authors: Zhang Q, Patel P, Neupane B, Lowery CM
Focus Areas: Early Childhood, Nutrition Policy & Programs
Age Groups: Pregnant women, infants and toddlers (ages 0 to 2), Preschool-age children (ages 3 to 5)
Resource Type: Research Review
Keyword: Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)
Related Research
April 2026
Policy Priorities and Research Needs for Advancing Healthy Eating: A 2026-2027 Research Agenda for U.S. Children and Adolescents
Given recent changes to nutrition policies and programs and the food environment landscape, the need for new evidence on how these changes impact nutrition, health, and food access is greater than ever. HER has also published a research agenda intended to provide a blueprint for immediate (i.e., 12-18 month) research needs to inform strategies to MoreNovember 2025
Informing equitable implementation of SNAP food restriction waivers
SNAP is the largest federally funded nutrition assistance program in the U.S., providing support to more than 40 million Americans. This study aims to provide tangible information, insights, and resources grounded in SNAP participants’ preferences and feedback to support the implementation and communication of SNAP Food Restriction waivers, minimizing barriers to SNAP participation and benefit MoreNovember 2025