Calling on U.S. House Representatives to Ensure the USDA Requires the Inclusion of Peanut-Containing Foods in WIC Food Packages I and II

Dear FARE Community,

We need your help! In the next 24 hours, please ask your House representatives to use the appropriations process to ensure the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) adds peanut-containing foods to WIC Food Packages I and II.

WIC Food Packages are revisited every ten years, which means this decision will shape the next decade of infant nutrition in the U.S. This is a time-sensitive opportunity to promote the early introduction of peanuts. Research shows that feeding peanut-containing foods to infants between the ages of 4 to 6 months (once developmentally appropriate) can reduce the risk of developing peanut allergy in as much as 81% of children.

WIC is the USDA’s Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, and every year approximately 1,830,000 infants are eligible. By factoring in the prevalence of new peanut allergy cases and the potential for risk reduction through early introduction, that’s nearly 311,000 potentially preventable cases of peanut allergy in the population of children in the U.S. over the next ten years.

Food allergy is a disease that can cause deadly allergic reactions, and peanut allergy tends to be lifelong, creating a cumulative burden in terms of both cost and quality of life.

But we can do something about this! Only a few days remain for your voice to count. Please contact your House representatives and ask them to request that Section 772 of H.R.9027, the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2025, be included in any final fiscal year 2025 funding package for the USDA.

To make it easy, we’ve included a template letter that you can send with just a few clicks using the button below. 

We cannot wait on enacting this policy. Every single day that goes by, when we could be implementing the cost-effective and scientifically proven practice of early introduction, is a lost opportunity to help create a future free from food allergy. When it’s good for the food allergy community, it’s good for everyone. 

We Are FARE,
Sung Poblete, PhD, RN
CEO of FARE

Please click the box below to send a message to your House Representative today. It only takes 30 seconds before your email is delivered!

Subject: Utilize the Appropriations Process to Ensure the USDA Requires the Inclusion of Peanut-Containing Foods in WIC Food Packages I and II

Dear Representative [Last Name],

Either I, or someone I love, is one of the more than 33 million individuals living in the United States with food allergy, which can cause life-threatening reactions. Food allergy is a disease, not a diet or a choice. 

I am writing to you as a constituent to request that Section 772 of H.R.9027, the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2025, be included in any final fiscal year 2025 funding package for the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Section 772 requires the inclusion of peanut-containing foods in WIC Food Packages I and II, specifically for the purpose of early introduction of potentially allergenic foods. The inclusion of Section 772 in the final FY25 bill represents a significant step forward in preventing food allergy and corrects a significant oversight by the USDA.

The latest Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends introducing peanut-containing foods as early as age four to six months for infants at high risk of peanut allergy. However, in April 2024, the USDA approved new food rules for WIC food packages—and those new rules failed to comply with this important recommendation.

Congress must act now. As you know, WIC enrollees often include some of America’s most vulnerable children. Without this provision, USDA may wait 10 more years to support the early introduction of peanuts into the diet of infants in the WIC program, further exacerbating unfortunate disparities already observed in food allergy prevalence.

We can prevent a projected total of more than 310,000 cases of peanut allergy, in the population of children in the U.S. born over the next ten years, if Congress acts this year by adding peanut-containing food products to WIC Food Packages I and II.

Otherwise, we will suffer the impact of a decade-long wait before WIC packages are revisited again. The typical burden for the American economy is $7261 per individual with peanut allergy, per year, from ages 1 to 18. This cost then increases based on lost productivity time for working adults who are also caregivers to children with food allergy.

Congress can utilize a scientifically proven, cost-effective method to lower the incidence of food allergy, which is a top-tier disease of the immune system and a silent public health epidemic that has grave consequences. Please do not wait. Thank you. 

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