When publishing food items for Pre-K through 12 food programs, there is a need for additional information for regulatory and menu planning programs. Nutrient information based on the child nutrition portion size provides the needed values.
An example of this need is the USDA Food Nutrition Service’s (FNS) Food Distribution program. Schools, or similar foodservices for children, can be reimbursed or access food distribution programs should their menus align to specific rules. For FNS, there needs to be additional nutrient information based on the child nutrition portion size. This portion size is different from the main serving size for the item. It is 1/2 cup equivalents for fruits and vegetables and ounce equivalents (oz eq) for meat/meat alternates and grains.
In Item Management, providing this information can be accomplished using the nutrient fact panel attributes. Start by creating a new group of attributes, where you have a group based on the main serving size. At the header level for these attributes, set the Nutrient Basis Quantity Type to be “By Child Nutrition Serving” (BY_CHILD_NUTRITION_SERVING). This will identify this group of nutrient information for child nutrition program use. The Nutrient Bases Quantity should be the child nutrition portion size. Then the nutrient information provided in the panel should be the values related to the specific portion size.
