How Do Your DCK Feel About The CACFP Changes?

[e.j.]

My food program rep SUGGESTED Wheat Thins! Amazing how everything is open to interpretation from program to program!

I know and it's driving me just a little crazy these days! I try to feed the kids healthy meals and thought I'd have no issues with the new rules but the more the food program tries to clarify them, the more questions I seem to have!

[hwichlaz]

My Wheat Thin box says 100% whole grain right on the label. And the only grain listed on the ingredients list is Whole Grain Wheat Flour. It's also the first ingredient.

[hwichlaz]

here's the label

[e.j.]

Interesting! I also just checked a list put out by the USDA listing Wheat Thins as a suggested snack. Does the box you have have a gold whole grain stamp and does it specifically say 100% on the stamp? (I see it has 100% Whole Grain on the front of the box but I'm wondering about the gold and black seal that may be on the box. Some say 100%, some don't even if it states it's whole grain on the front of the box.)
If it has the seal, I'm definitely going to question my food program rep about it. I don't usually serve Wheat Thins anyway but now I'm curious and wondering if we're getting misinformation on other things, too.

[Unregistered]

What do you do if you have a day when there ended up being no whole grain accidentally? I usually have whole grains at every meal/snack, but one day last week I only had dck here for part of the day and DH helped with lunch and gave Ritz crackers. Then there were no grains at snack time, but we only served those two meals. Do we not get reimbursed if we miss whole grains one day?

[pintsize]

My food program represents said if the first ingredient starts with the word Whole then it counts as a whole grain. I'm in Nebraska.

And to the last poster: if you miss a whole grain one day it will count as a meal warning and you will still be paid. I think it will be a warning until September, then I'm not sure but I'm guessing your most expensive meal of the day will be disallowed for not complying with regulations. I had 2 grain meal warnings last month, i even fed the kids whole grains those 5 days, i just forgot to mark it

[Josiegirl]

My food program represents said if the first ingredient starts with the word Whole then it counts as a whole grain. I'm in Nebraska.

And to the last poster: if you miss a whole grain one day it will count as a meal warning and you will still be paid. I think it will be a warning until September, then I'm not sure but I'm guessing your most expensive meal of the day will be disallowed for not complying with regulations. I had 2 grain meal warnings last month, i even fed the kids whole grains those 5 days, i just forgot to mark it

We were told the LEAST expensive meal would be disallowed if we neglected to serve or mark whole grains one day. And we haven't been told anything about warnings until September, just that they'd give us a break in the beginning so I don't know how long that lasted or will last.
I asked my rep specifically about Triscuits and Wheat Thins and she said both were counted as WGR. I didn't ask about Goldfish because we don't have those often enough. Seriously, the dcks eat cereal for a.m. 2-3x a week here and it's either Cheerios, or Frosted Mini Wheats so those count. Most of my kiddos won't eat oatmeal unless it's highly sugared up. They also eat Rice Chex but that doesn't count, right?
So between brown rice, the cereals, WW bagels, and crackers, we get the whole grains in with no problems. They also like whole grain breads which I've always served.

I wish the rules were the exact same for everyone, then everyone would know wth to do!

[hwichlaz]

Interesting! I also just checked a list put out by the USDA listing Wheat Thins as a suggested snack. Does the box you have have a gold whole grain stamp and does it specifically say 100% on the stamp? (I see it has 100% Whole Grain on the front of the box but I'm wondering about the gold and black seal that may be on the box. Some say 100%, some don't even if it states it's whole grain on the front of the box.)
If it has the seal, I'm definitely going to question my food program rep about it. I don't usually serve Wheat Thins anyway but now I'm curious and wondering if we're getting misinformation on other things, too.

No, but whole wheat is the first ingredient.

[Blackcat31]

This is the info my food program provides us...easy lists at bottom

A whole grain is the first ingredient on the product’s ingredient list (or second after water)

All other grains listed must be whole grain or enriched.
* Whole wheat, whole corn and/or brown rice are whole grain-rich.

Additional Tips

• Enriched grains must include the word “enriched” (Ex: Enriched wheat flour)
• Ignore wheat gluten
• Ignore bran and germ
– Unless one of these is the first ingredient, in which case the product is not creditable
– Bran and germ are not whole grains
– Ex: Oat bran cereal not creditable
• Ignore everything listed as less than 2% of the product

WHOLE GRAINS

- Cracked wheat
- Oat groats
- Crushed wheat
- Rolled oats
- Whole-wheat flour
- Brown rice
- Graham flour
- Brown rice flour
- Entire-wheat flour
- Wild rice
- Bromated whole-wheat flour
- Whole rye
- Whole durum wheat flour
- Teff
- Wheat berries
- Buckwheat
- Whole barley
- Sorghum
- Dehulled barley
- Quinoa
- Whole grain barley
- Millet
- Oatmeal
- Triticale
- Amarant

NON- WHOLE GRAINS

- Wheat
- Corn
- Rye
- Barley
- White rice
- Flour
- White flour
- Wheat flour
- All-purpose flour
- Stone ground wheat flour
- Unbleached flour
- Bromated flour
- Enriched bromated flour
- Enriched flour
- Instantized flour
- Phosphate flour
- Self-rising flour
- Self-rising wheat flour
- Bread Four
- Enriched self-rising flour
- Bread flour
- Cake flour
- Durum flour
- Ground corn
- Corn grits
- Hominy grits
- Hominy
- Farina
- Semolina
- Degerminated corn meal
- Enriched rice
- Rice flour
- Couscous
- Pot barley
- Scotch barley
- Pearled barley

Bottom Line on Breads/ Tortillas: Look for 100% whole wheat bread. The majority of whole grain-rich
breads on the market are going to be marked as 100% whole wheat on the package. If it is not clearly marked on
the front of the package, it is probably not whole grain-rich.

Bottom Line on Cereals: in most cases cereals look more complicated than they are because there are
MANY Vitamins and Minerals also listed. Review the first ingredient and IF it is a whole grain, review all other
grains in the product to determine if they are whole grains or enriched. Here is a link to approved cereals:

http://www.providerschoice.com/pdfs/Providers%20Choice%20Approved%20Cereal%20List.pdf

Bottom Line on Crackers: Most packages seem to say 100% whole wheat right on the front of the
package. Most whole grain crackers appear to only have one or two grains listed on the ingredient label. Brown
rice crackers do not look to be as clearly marked on the package and will require some label reading.

Here is a super helpful link for approved foods bought from Aldi's grocery stores

http://www.providerschoice.com/pdfs/Aldi%20Shopping%20Guide.pdf

[pintsize]

We were told the LEAST expensive meal would be disallowed if we neglected to serve or mark whole grains one day. And we haven't been told anything about warnings until September, just that they'd give us a break in the beginning so I don't know how long that lasted or will last.
I asked my rep specifically about Triscuits and Wheat Thins and she said both were counted as WGR. I didn't ask about Goldfish because we don't have those often enough. Seriously, the dcks eat cereal for a.m. 2-3x a week here and it's either Cheerios, or Frosted Mini Wheats so those count. Most of my kiddos won't eat oatmeal unless it's highly sugared up. They also eat Rice Chex but that doesn't count, right?
So between brown rice, the cereals, WW bagels, and crackers, we get the whole grains in with no problems. They also like whole grain breads which I've always served.

I wish the rules were the exact same for everyone, then everyone would know wth to do!

Thanks for the reply, that actually makes a lot of sense because when my own children are claimed for breakfast lunch snack and dinner it's the breakfast that is disallowed, the least expensive meal since they are allowed 2 meals and a snack daily

[Unregistered]

I serve an whole grain oatmeal bread from my food co op. Kids love it.

I tend to do 1/2 whole wheat 1/2 white pasta and they don't mind that.

I'm not a big whole wheat fan so my whole grains tend to be brown rice, quinoa and oars. I do 3/4 brown rice with 1/4 white rice.
I prefer the lighter tasting whole grains myself.

I serve an organic oat cereal like cheerios for our cereal mornings.

i also make a whole grain cornmeal (made from organic cornmeal from my co-op) muffins that kids love ❤️

I will try your homemade rolls recipe!

I blend ripe bananas with a little milk and about 1 T real maple 🍁 syrup and in a blender & add it to plain yogurt and it's yummy!!

I also cook organic quick oats with bananas for our oatmeal and add a little maple syrup on top and they love it.

I just found a recipe for baked berry oatmeal bars. It has a layer of mixed berries on the bottom. I'm not at home. I will look at the recipe again. I do t think there is any refined sugar in it tho.

[e.j.]

No, but whole wheat is the first ingredient.

I'm glad this thread popped up again. I just had my food program inspection on Monday. I asked why we can't serve Wheat Thins when the box states they're 100% whole grain. She told me she just attended a meeting and that the decision on that was reversed. We can now serve Wheat Thins as long as it says 100% whole grain on the box. I feel like I'm going to get whiplash from all the reversed decisions they're making.

Apparently, the jury is still out on whether we can serve whole grain Ritz crackers or not. Right now, they say no but they're still discussing it.

[Play Care]

I'm glad this thread popped up again. I just had my food program inspection on Monday. I asked why we can't serve Wheat Thins when the box states they're 100% whole grain. She told me she just attended a meeting and that the decision on that was reversed. We can now serve Wheat Thins as long as it says 100% whole grain on the box. I feel like I'm going to get whiplash from all the reversed decisions they're making.

Apparently, the jury is still out on whether we can serve whole grain Ritz crackers or not. Right now, they say no but they're still discussing it.

Initially we were told no graham crackers or goldfish, but apparently some bigger centers raised a stink so now they reconsidered.

[e.j.]

Initially we were told no graham crackers or goldfish, but apparently some bigger centers raised a stink so now they reconsidered.

I had heard that, too.

I wonder if we could get some of those bigger centers to raise a stink about some of the rules that don't make a lot of sense? Like why can we serve maple syrup (53g of sugar per 1/4 cup) with pancakes and waffles but we can't serve cinnamon bread that has only 4g of sugar per slice or even mini chocolate chip muffins at 8g of sugar each? Why are raspberries and blackberries considered choking hazards but apples, pears, nectarines, melons, etc are not?:confused: