California WIC Authorized Product List

This dataset contains a list of all CA WIC authorized food items identified by food category and subcategory. Each item is uniquely identified by a Universal Product Code (UPC) or Price Look-Up code (PLU) for WIC electronic benefit transfer (EBT). The WIC Authorized vendors will use the CA Authorized Product List (APL) to transact WIC food items at the cash register. The WIC APL is a USDA mandated report critical to support the WIC EBT purchase. WIC EBT requires the vendor system to maintain the APL in order to match the scanned food items' UPC to ensure they are on the WIC APL. The food items identified by UPC and PLU can be found in different tabs of the data file below. The Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Program is a federally-funded health and nutrition program that provides assistance to pregnant women, new mothers, infants, and children under age five. WIC helps California families by providing food benefits to individual participants based on their nutritional need and risk assessment. The food benefits can be used to purchase healthy supplemental foods from approximately 4,000 WIC authorized vendor stores throughout the State. WIC also provides nutritional education, breastfeeding support, healthcare referrals, and other community services. Participants must meet income guidelines and other criteria. Currently, 83 WIC agencies provide services monthly to approximately one million participants at over 650 sites in local communities throughout the State.