FNS Documents & Resources

CN labels, factsheets, and product labels provide a way for food manufacturers to communicate with school program operators about how their products may contribute to the meal pattern requirements for meals served under the USDA CN programs. Included are tips for acceptable documentation.

On Dec. 1, 2014, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Food and Drug Administration published the final rule, Food Labeling; Calorie Labeling of Articles of Food in Vending Machines, in the Federal Register.

USDA does not approve a manufacturer’s PFS. Program operators are ultimately responsible for ensuring menu items meet meal pattern requirements; therefore, program operators should review and verify the crediting statement on a manufacturer’s PFS before purchasing the product.

The purpose of this instruction is to set forth a procedure for submitting and approving quality control programs for child nutrition labeled products.

The purpose of this document is to provide industry with guidelines for preparing a quality control (QC) program for CN labeled products.

The watermark, is to be applied to all CN contribution statements not supported by product specific documentation and to CN product labels that are distributed without federally inspected and packaged product. 

The Child Nutrition (CN) label and a manufacturer’s Product Formulation Statement (PFS) are documents that provide a way for a manufacturer to demonstrate how a processed food product may contribute to the meal pattern requirements in child nutrition programs (CNP).