Expanded Milk Options

On May 8, 2026, the USDA announced their Final Rule Expanding Fluid Milk Options in Child Nutrition Programs (CNPs). This rule allows whole and reduced-fat (2%) milk to be offered to participants ages two (2) and up in the CACFP, National School Lunch Program (NSLP), School Breakfast Program (SBP), and Special Milk Program (SMP). The rule goes into effect on June 8, 2026.

Age Group	Whole	Red. Fat (2%)	Low-Fat (1%)	Fat-Free (Skim)	Flavored
1 year	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌
2-5 years	✅	✅	✅	✅	❌
6-18 years	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Adults	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅

Note: Per the USDA Final Rule, program operators are not required to offer the new milk options and may determine what is right for their organization. As such, you can choose whether these options are right for your providers and when you are ready to begin using them. We encourage you to follow all federal and state guidance when implementing the new options.

What Has Changed in KidKare to Support This Rule?

To support the expansion of milk offerings in CACFP, we have implemented additional options for tracking and processing milk on CACFP claims.

Now, let's take a brief look at what has changed:

New preference Q.013 : This policy allows you to control whether (and when) you enable the expanded milk options for your program. It defaults to N, which means that you choose when to implement expanded milk options. It's also configurable by state for those sponsors operating in multiple states.
Food List: When adding or editing milk on your food list, you will be able to designate a specific fat-tier to that milk item (for example, you can flag a milk as Whole, 2%..), as well as indicate whether it's flavored. Your providers will then record the appropriate milk when entering menus.
New Claim Errors: Three new claim errors have been added to account for the updated milk options:
- Error 209: Milk Served is Missing a Fat-Content Subcategory
- Error 210: Whole Milk Required for 1-year Old
- Error 211: Flavored Milk Served to Ages 1-5

Reports: Reporting around menus and milk items have been updated to account for the new milk options:
- Menu Production Record
- Weekly Quantities Required
- Office Error Report

Before You Enable Expanded Milk Options

Before you decide to turn on the new preference, ensure that you are ready to begin enforcing the new milk options:

Ensure that all milk items on your food list have a fat sub-category assigned. Any milk served on menus that does not have one of these sub-categories selected will result in the meal being disallowed under Error 209.
Train your providers on which milk to serve at meal time so they know which milk options to use.