Crediting Foods for CACFP Reimbursement

introduction

If you have read the previous sections of this manual, you have already learned about good nutrition, special nutrition needs of older adults, and planning healthful meals. Now you can learn how to select nutritious foods that qualify for reimbursement from the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP).

This section will help answer your questions about the following topics:

CACFP Guidelines for Crediting Meals and Snacks
What criteria are used to decide whether foods can be credited for reimbursement?
How do creditable and non-creditable foods fit into a CACFP meal pattern?
Can combination foods (containing foods from 2 or more food groups) be credited?
Which foods - and in what amounts - count in the CACFP meal pattern requirements?

Tips for Crediting Foods
What do you need to know to credit grains/breads, fruit juices, and processed meats?
How can you use ingredient lists on food labels to decide if foods are creditable?
How can you convert servings of commercial grains/breads to CACFP serving sizes?
What documentation do you need to credit combination foods?

Tips for Crediting Recipes
What kind of information must appear on a creditable recipe?
What kinds of abbreviations are commonly used in recipes?
What information do you need to convert measures in a recipe?
(for example, 3 teaspoons equal 1 tablespoon)
What are the weights of some commonly used ingredients?
How do you convert measures listed by weight to measures in cups?
How do you determine the number of breads/grains servings in a recipe?
How do you analyze recipes for the number of servings of each food group?
(breads/grains, fruits/vegetables, meats/meat alternates, and milk)

CACFP Regulations: Crediting Foods from Each Food Group
What are the CACFP regulations for crediting individual foods within each food group?
(breads/grains, fruits/vegetables, meats/meat alternates, and milk)

Unless otherwise noted, information in this section is adapted from the following source: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Midwest Region. What’s in a Meal? A Resource Manual for Providing Nutritious Meals in the Child and Adult Food Care Program, Fourth Edition, 2003. Reproduced by the National Food Service Management Institute.

in this section:

Crediting Foods for CACFP Reimbursement (download a pdf of entire chapter)

It's MORE Than A Meal

Crediting Foods for CACFP Reimbursement

introduction

in this section: