FNS Documents & Resources

This rulemaking finalizes long-term school nutrition requirements based on the goals of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020-2025, robust stakeholder input, and lessons learned from prior rulemakings.

The USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) will discontinue the requirement for vendors to use high security seals to secure USDA Foods deliveries as of July 1, 2023. 

USDA is extending the public comment period on the proposed rule, “Child Nutrition Programs: Revisions to Meal Patterns Consistent With the 2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans,” to May 10, 2023.

This memorandum is meant to provide clarification and guidance on policies and procedures for donated food storage and distribution as they relate to product dating.

The purpose of this memorandum is to advise you of a new and revised requirement for all Receiving Organizations (i.e., organizations that receive shipments of Department of Agriculture (USDA) Foods, including Distributing Agencies, Indian Tribal Organizations (ITO), recipient agencies, processors, and warehouses). This memorandum replaces the previous FD-062 dated April 25, 2011 , and adjusts the maximum timeframe for entering shipment receipts in the Web-Based Supply Chain Management System.

This memorandum and its attachment supersede SP-37-2011, Child Nutrition 2010: Enhancing the School Food Safety Program. Attached are questions and answers regarding the school food safety requirements for schools participating in FNS child nutrition programs.

This memorandum satisfies GAO’s recommendations for the Food and Nutrition Service to issue more specific guidance to states and school districts regarding the applicability of the food safety inspections requirement in schools that do not prepare food, such as those that only serve pre-packaged meals or meals delivered from a central preparation location (referred to in this memorandum as service-only sites). 

This final rule implements a legislative provision which requires school food authorities participating in NSLP or SBP to develop a school food safety program for the preparation and service of school meals served to children.

This final rule adopts without change the food safety inspections requirements for the National School Lunch Program and the School Breakfast Program set forth in a previous interim rule issued by the Food and Nutrition Service as a result of the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004. 

This policy memorandum is the result of activities undertaken to plan a government-wide response to a potential human pandemic and addresses the operation of its USDA food programs during a major pandemic event.