New technology released Monday could remove the stigma so often associated with families part of the Women, Infants, and Children Program, or WIC. It's called eWIC.

The Department of Health launched the electronic benefits transfer card Monday at the Market 32 Price Chopper in Albany. Capital Region WIC recipients will be able to use their eWIC card at clinics and vendors across several Capital Region counties, including Albany, Schenectady, and Rensselaer.

Albany’s Whitney Young Health Center is the first WIC clinic to use eWIC. Weslene Newcomb, an Albany mother of six, was the first to go through a checkout line using the WIC transfer card.

“I always find myself shopping at 11, 12 at night, just because I don’t want to keep up the lines at Price Chopper, 'cause everyone looks at you. 'Oh my god, she has WIC,' " Newcomb said.

"Everyone changes the line, but now [the card] was phenomenal for me. I could actually do it and get it out of there."

The Department of Health also released a new mobile app called WIC2Go. A user can simply scan a barcode on an item to see if it’s WIC eligible.