WASHINGTON, April 4, 2014— Senator Susan Collins. R-Maine, is leading an effort to convince USDA to include white potatoes in the Special Nutrition for Women Infants and Children (WIC) program.
Collins and Senator Mark Udall, D-Colo., led a group of 20 senators in a letter to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack on Friday, criticizing the “unwarranted exclusion of white potatoes in the WIC food package.”
USDA excluded white potatoes from its final rule on WIC food packages, relying on 2005 Institute of Medicine recommendations. However, the senators said USDA should have relied on the January 2011 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which recommends increased consumption of vegetables including white potatoes.
The entire letter can be found here.
#30
For more news, got to www.agri-pulse.com