Senator Murkowski Pleased with Canned Salmon Recommendation in Federal Program

SENATOR MURKOWSKI PLEASED WITH CANNED SALMON RECOMMENDATION IN FEDERAL PROGRAM

Sen. Lisa Murkowski today applauded a report by the National Academies of Science which reviewed the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) food packages and recommended that canned salmon be included as a part of the national program.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service charged the National Academies of Science Institute of Medicine to review the WIC program. The committee was tasked with reviewing the supplemental nutritional needs, proposing priority nutrients and general nutrient recommendations. Its report entitled, "WIC Food Packages: Times for a Change," suggests that canned salmon be considered a part of the meat and alternatives food group.

Canned salmon was recommended to be included in the diet of fully breast feeding women up to 12 months after delivery. This nationwide recommendation is part of the second phase of the program's review that slightly revises the priority nutrients and priority food groups for the WIC population.

"It is great news that canned salmon may be in the WIC program," said Murkowski. "Eating salmon as a regular part of your diet will ensure that both women and newborns will derive the incredible health benefits of eating Alaska wild salmon."

Murkowski worked with the former Secretary of Agriculture, Ann Veneman, to consider salmon as a new product that should go into the WIC program. In June of 2004, Murkowski successfully inserted language into the reauthorization of the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Nutrition program to allow the Secretary of Agriculture to conduct periodic scientific reviews of the supplemental foods available and then to alter purchases to "reflect the most recent scientific knowledge" and to "reflect nutrition science, public health concerns and cultural eating patterns."

"Getting people to eat more salmon is a great way to get people interested in eating more nutritious food and also helps Alaska's economy, while helping public health," Murkowski said.

Canned salmon has previously been accepted only in WIC programs in Alaska and Hawaii. The WIC program serves to safeguard the health of low-income women, infants, and children up to age 5 who are at nutritional risk, by providing nutritious foods to supplement diets, information on healthy eating, and referrals to health care.

http://murkowski.senate.gov/pressapp/record.cfm?id=237008