Food List

Add Foods

To add a new food to your food list:

1. From the menu to the left, click Foods.

2. Click Food List. The Food List page opens.

3. Click New Food.

4. In the Display section:

   1. Click the Category drop-down menu and select the category in which to list the food.

   2. Click the Name box and enter the name of this food.

   3. Click the Spanish Name box, and enter the Spanish name for this food.

   4. Click the Food Type drop-down menu and select the food type.

   5. If your providers use scannable forms, click the Food Number box and enter a number between 1 and 288 that does not include the digit 9. Use the Food List report to make sure that you do not duplicate food numbers within the same food type. You can also click Suggest to generate a number.

5. In the Nutritional Information section, click  next to each nutritional marker that applies to this food:

   • Vitamin A

   • Vitamin C

   • Whole Grain-Rich

     Note: If you set Whole Grain-Rich to Yes, the food defaults to whole grain-rich when centers add the food to their menus.

   • High Fat

   • High Salt

   • Iron

6. In the Additional Information section, click  next to each item that applies:

   • CN - Child Nutrition: A child nutrition label is required.

   • HM - Homemade: The food must be homemade to be creditable.

   • DBL - Double Portion: The food must be a double portion.

7. In the Approvals section:

   1. Click  next to each meal for which this food is approved.

   2. Click the Non-Infant, Infant 6-11, and Infant 0-5 drop-down menus and select Allow, Warn, or Disallow.

8. In the Effective Dates section:

   1. If this food is only approved starting on a specific date, click the Start box and enter a start date for the food. If you want this food to be available immediately, do not add a start date.

   2. If this food is only approved for a limited time, click the End box and enter an end date for the food. If you enter a date in this box, the food will not be available once the end date is reached.

9. Click Save.
   

Add Milk

Adding milk follows the same process as adding any other food, but there are a few milk-specific controls that impact how milk is handled during claims processing.

1. From the menu to the left, click Foods.
2. Click Food List. The Food List page opens.
3. Click New Food.
4. In the Display section, choose the category in which you store your milk items and add a name for the milk.
5. Click Food Type and select Milk.
6. Click Milk Fat Tier and choose the fat content that belongs to this milk. You can choose from the following: Whole, Reduced-fat (2%), Low-fat (1%), or Fat-free (Skim).
   
7. In the Nutritional Information section:
8. Set any remaining toggles and dates that may apply. Refer back to Add Foods for details.
9. Click Save.

Edit Foods

To edit an existing food on your food list:

1. From the menu to the left, click Foods.

2. Click Food List. The Food List page opens.

3. Locate the food to change. You can filter the displayed list, as needed.

   • Click Infant Cereal, Milk, Meat/Alt, Bread/Alt, Vegetables, and/or Fruit to filter to specific food types.

   • Click the Name box and begin typing a food name to filter the food list.

   • Click the Category drop-down menu and select the category to which to filter.

   • Click the Name, Category, Food Type, Start, or End columns to sort information in ascending or descending order.

   • Click  and select Yes to include expired foods, or select No to exclude expired foods.

4. Click the food to change. The Edit Food page opens.

5. Change the food, as needed.

6. When finished, click Save.

Remove Foods

To remove a food from your food list, set an effective end date. Once this date is reached, the food will no longer be available to providers.

To do so:

1. From the menu to the left, click Foods.

2. Click Food List. The Food List page opens.

3. Locate the food to remove. You can filter the displayed list, as needed.

   • Click Infant Cereal, Milk, Meat/Alt, Bread/Alt, Vegetables, and/or Fruit to filter to specific food types.

   • Click the Name box and begin typing a food name to filter the food list.

   • Click the Category drop-down menu and select the category to which to filter.

   • Click the Name, Category, Food Type, Start, or End columns to sort information in ascending or descending order.

4. Click the food to remove. The Edit Food page opens.

5. In the Effective Dates section, click the End box and enter a date. This should be the last day that the food is available to providers. Use today's date to remove the food immediately.

Add CN Label Numbers to Foods

When adding foods to your food list, you can include the CN label number somewhere in the food name. This lets the State and your providers know that the food is a CN-labeled product being offered at meal service. The CN label details should be stored on-location. If you choose to include these label numbers, develop a naming convention that you use consistently across the board. Consistency makes it easier to track these foods.

Print Your Food Chart

In order to print your food list:

1. From the menu to the left, click Foods and select Food List.

2. Click Export. A spreadsheet downloads. From here, you can customize the list with your own logo, contact information, and so on.