WASHINGTON -- A long-awaited proposal that is expected to add fruits and vegetables to the federal voucher program for low-income women and children was expected in January, then the produce industry was told in the spring, and now it may not surface until summer. Every month the proposal is delayed, advocates for an updated WIC package get nervous.

The rule is likely to spark a food fight because some commodities will be muscled out in order to make room for fruits and vegetables, more whole grains and other foods, all of which are vying for federal dollars that feed 8 million women and children each year.

For 32 years, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants & Children, known as WIC, has remained largely unchanged in supplying low-income participants with a diet of carrots, eggs, milk, cheese, juice, infant formula and other foods. Last year, the Institute of Medicine recommended a new package to include more fresh fruits, vegetables and whole grains, and fewer servings of eggs, cheese, milk and juice.

Two presidents over four presidential terms have tried to get a proposal out of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that increases fruits and vegetables but have failed, said Lorelei DiSogra, vice president of nutrition and health for the United Fresh Fruit & Vegetable Association.

Advocates say that the WIC package should reflect the new recommendations of the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans and include nutrient-rich fruits and vegetables that provide potassium, fiber, vitamins A and C, and folate to women and children.

There is much at stake. A final rule that follows the IOM recommendation to disperse monthly vouchers for fruits and vegetables of $10 for women and $8 for children could mean $600 million in new money every year for the industry, she said.

But other food interests are trying to sway USDA, and the dairy industry has been active on Capitol Hill arguing that the package should not be changed. In a letter to USDA, Rep. Gil Gutknecht (R-MN) called on the organization to continue the present level of dairy products in the WIC food package.

"I strongly urge USDA to make its own decision on this matter, rather than just accepting IOM's recommendations, and I do not believe severe cutbacks of dairy availability in the WIC program are justified," he told Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns.

All groups are gearing up to comment on the long-awaited proposal. The week of April 3-7, sources said that the proposal had been forwarded to the White House budget staff for review, a final step that can take up to 90 days, before being published.

United's Ms. DiSogra said that she hopes it will be released soon. "We will encourage the whole industry to weigh in once it comes out."

"We feel strongly a comprehensive set of recommendations from the IOM is what the Department [of Agriculture] should embrace in the rule," said Rev. Douglas Greenaway, executive director of the National WIC Association.

For the most part, the food industry has been quietly awaiting the proposal, said Rev. Greenaway, who represents state and local agencies that administer WIC. "Once the rule is published, I expect more noise."

In the meantime, two pilot programs in California have demonstrated high demand for fruit and vegetable vouchers: one in urban south-central Los Angeles and the other in rural Calaveras County. New York state just completed its pilot run of supplying fruit and vegetable vouchers in March.