In November 2005, the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) issued Policy Memorandum FD-049 to assist school food authorities (SFAs) in providing healthier options and a wider variety of cheese products for students. The policy memorandum permits processors to substitute cheese donated by the Department of Agriculture (i.e., USDA cheese) with other varieties of cheese produced for the commercial market.
The purpose of this policy memorandum is to clarify a state distributing agency's (SDA) responsibilities regarding (1) the approval of end products for processing; and (2) monitoring of sales of such end products to school food authorities (SF A) in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) by reviewing a processor's monthly performance report.
The purpose of this policy memorandum is to provide direction and guidance to SDAs in order to ensure compliance with legislative and regulatory requirements, and to make certain that all SFAs receive their planned assistance level and maximize their use of USDA Foods to meet the nutrition standards in the NSLP.
Food defense is having measures in place to reduce the chances of someone intentionally contaminating the food used in your foodservice operation in order to harm children and cause panic, alarm, and distrust in our food supply.
In accordance with 7 CFR 250.30(1), a processor may. in most cases, substitute Department of Agriculture (USDA) donated foods with commercially purchased foods of U.S. origin, and of equal or better quality in all USDA purchase specifications than the donated food. The substitution option permits processors to conduct their business efficiently and provide finished end products to school food authorities (SFAs) and other recipient agencies in a timely manner.
The purpose of this memorandum is to assist Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) state agencies in determining applicable health and safety standards for outside-school-hours care centers (OSHCC) and at-risk afterschool care centers and documenting compliance with those standards, if applicable.
In this policy memorandum, we clarify that the SFA may, in some cases, include bids for procurement of end products in its solicitation for procurement of commercial food products from commercial distributors, rather than conduct two separate solicitations.
The practices addressed in this document will help program operators enhance the safety of fruits and vegetables grown in school gardens.