Information for Grocery Stores & Pharmacies

The Minnesota WIC program understands this is a stressful and uncertain time, and we want to thank you for your commitment to your communities. We are aware that certain WIC foods may be difficult to stock for the next few weeks or longer. We know you’re doing the best you can to re-stock WIC and non-WIC items, and we will not be closely monitoring stores or issuing sanctions for items that are widely out of stock across many retailers.

In order to help communicate with our WIC clinics and participants, we have the following requests:

• Let us know of large-scale/ongoing issues with stocking of WIC Foods, in particular the WIC allowed sizes of Similac Advance, Similac Sensitive, Similac Total Comfort, Similac Soy Isomil, and Similac for Spit Up.

• Prioritize restocking of the Infant Formulas listed above. If you do not stock it on shelf, post clear signage by other infant items so WIC participants know where to find it.

• Consider reserving a few cases/cans of the WIC formulas listed above so WIC participants have access to them. They cannot purchase the larger size Similac products with their WIC cards.

• If you're unable to provide a certain item like dry beans in the short term, you can suggest a different type of item like peanut butter. At this time, we are not allowing the substitution of foods that are not currently WIC allowed.

• While Governor Walz encouraged grocery stores and pharmacies to remain open in his March 16th address, please let us know if your store needs to temporarily close. This will allow us to help participants find other places to shop.

• Check this webpage for updates on this situation.

If you have questions or concerns about this message, please reach out to health.wicvendor@state.mn.us and we will get back to you as soon as we are able.