Crediting Foods in CACFP Adult Day Care Centers

Documents/Forms


The resources below provide guidance on the requirements for crediting commercial processed products, crediting foods made from scratch, and crediting documentation for the CACFP adult meal patterns. Visit the "How To" section for guidance on meeting the crediting requirements for the five meal components (milk, meats/meat alternates, vegetables, fruits, and grains).


Crediting Guidance and Resources  |   Crediting Commercial Processed Products
Crediting Foods Made from Scratch   |    CSDE Crediting Worksheets


Crediting Guidance and Resources


Food Buying Guide  |   Meal Patterns and Crediting  |   Portion Control   |    Weights/Measures


Food Buying Guide for Child Nutrition Programs (FBG) 

Meal Patterns and Crediting

Portion Control

Weights and Measures

Crediting Commercial Processed Products

Adult day care centers must obtain appropriate documentation to indicate that commercial products credit toward the CACFP adult meal patterns. For example, to credit a commercial breaded chicken patty as the meat/meat alternates component for ages 3-5 at lunch, the manufacturer’s documentation must indicate that the serving contains 1½ ounces of cooked chicken. Allowable documentation includes:

  • the original Child Nutrition (CN) label from the product carton or a photocopy or photograph of the CN label shown attached to the original product carton; or
  • a product formulation statement (PFS) signed by an official of the manufacturer stating the amount of each meal pattern component contained in one serving of the product. 

These are the only acceptable records for documenting a commercial product’s meal pattern contribution.  Without this documentation, commercial products cannot credit toward the CACFP adult meal patterns.


CN Labels  |   Product Formulation Statements  |   Documentation for Processed Foods


Child Nutrition (CN) Labels

Product Formulation Statements

Required Documentation for Processed Foods

Crediting Foods Made from Scratch

Foods made from scratch require a recipe (preferably standardized) that documents the CACFP meal pattern crediting information per serving. For example, to credit macaroni and cheese as 2 ounce equivalents (oz eq) of the MMA component and 2 oz eq of the grains component, the adult day care center's recipe must indicate that each serving contains 2 ounces of cheese and 1 cup of whole-grain or enriched pasta. Use standardized recipes to ensure accurate crediting information.

Standardized Recipes


CSDE Crediting Worksheets for CACFP Adult Day Care Centers

Worksheets 1-6 evaluate foods for compliance with the CACFP adult meal patterns.  Worksheets 7-9 evaluate foods for compliance with the CSDE’s recommended nutrition standards for adult day care centers, but not for compliance with the CACFP adult meal patterns.

The CSDE recommends that CACFP sponsors maintain completed crediting worksheets as electronic files in a folder on the computer, instead of printing copies. The CSDE’s CACFP staff will accept electronic copies as appropriate crediting documentation during the Administrative Review of the CACFP.