Articles in the November 2009 Issue

A Note from Sandra

The recent change in our operation of placing the manifest on the web has been well received by the agencies that receive USDA donated foods (commodities). The shipping manifest will be placed on the website for the school personnel to access prior to shipment. This will assist in menu planning in the event that foods ordered are cut. We hope this is helpful.

As noted elsewhere, The Institute of Medicine’s recommended standards for meals have been released. This will generate a lot of discussion and should generate a review of what you are doing at school now. Some are already doing many of these things; most have incorporated at least a couple of the changes. Keep striving to make your meals the healthiest meals in town!

Instead of waiting for the regulations to change – get a head start by working to meet these goals. Be sure you are offering the low-fat milk options and offering a good variety of fruits and vegetables each week. Offer fresh produce as often as you can – use the funds from the Department of Defense fruit and vegetable allocation to get those in to the school and on the plates! One step at a time will accomplish those goals!

Many of us have seen the light – but often it’s the one inside the refrigerator! – Kaplans’ Laughs

 

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Institute of Medicine Report on Recommendations for School Meals

The Institute of Medicine Report on Recommendations for School Meals was released this week.

This report is several hundred pages and can be viewed at http://www.fns.usda.gov/ora/MENU/Published/CNP/cnp.htm. The Institute of Medicine also has the report and summaries at
http://www.iom.edu/en/Reports/2009/School-Meals-Building-Blocks-for-Healthy-Children.aspx
No one should be surprised to learn that the recommendations were that the USDA adopt standards for menu planning, including:

  • Increasing the amount and variety of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains
  • Setting a minimum and maximum level of calories
  • Focusing more on reducing saturated fat and sodium

Some specific recommendations:

  • milk be 1% or skim
  • quantities of both fruits and vegetables be included in the meals
  • serving sizes of fruits and vegetables be increased
  • weekly requirements for dark green and orange vegetables and legumes and limits on starchy vegetables, and at least half the grains be whole-grain rich

 

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Upcoming Deadlines

November 10th is the deadline to submit the annual October Data Survey Report. Remember information MUST be broken out by elementary grades, middle school grades, and high school grades and should match the attendance centers you listed in Part 1, (F), Site Summary of your annual agreement. Be sure to read the instructions which are included in the September 11th memo. No one is exempt from completing the October Data Survey.

November 15th is the designated deadline to complete the annual verification process. Packets are not mailed out. Refer to numbered memo NSLP 51.3 for specific instructions and the Summary Report form 742SD. The summary report is due in the CANS office by February 1 or sooner.

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South Dakota Food Distribution Newsletter November 2009

Manifest – Something new!

The USDA Foods (commodities) manifests are now on the Department of Education (DOE) - Child & Adult Nutrition Services (CANS) website. We will be posting the manifest on the website by the 25th of the month from this point forward. This will let you know ahead of time what you should be receiving when the truck from Dizco arrives. Some products were ordered heavier than anticipated again this month so you may be receiving less than you ordered. This will help you plan so you can adjust your menus or order other commercial product.

The manifest website is: www.doe.sd.gov/oess/cans/fdp/manifest.asp.
You can find your organization alphabetically in your typical week of delivery. It may take a couple minutes to download.

DELIVERY - No deliveries on November 11 due to Veterans Day.

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Developing a Food Safety Program/Standard Operating Procedures (SOP)

The Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004 requires all School Food Authority’s (SFAs) who participate in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) to have a food safety program based on HACCP (Hazard Analysis/Critical Control Points) principles at each site that serves meals.

Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) are part of the food safety program requirement. The National Food Service Management Institute (NFSMI) developed 20 sample SOPs. NFSMI wrote these sample SOPs not only for South Dakota SFAs but for those in larger cities and states. That’s why it is necessary to “tweak” them. SOPs must be “tweaked” to reflect two things: 1) the rules and regulations in South Dakota—as outlined in the SD Food Code book and 2) the way you do things in your school or agency.

As you know there are some differences between the SD Food Code book and the  U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) 2005 Food Code—one being the temperature danger zone (41º to 140º in SD), and reheating of leftovers (you only have 1 hr. in SD to reheat a food product to 165 degrees.) You must base your SOPs on the rules, regulations, and temperature requirements of the SD Food Code book.

You must “tweak” your SOPs to reflect where you write/record some of your documentation. Areas where changes often occur—in other words where you most often “tweak” the sample SOPs are in the recordkeeping and verification section of the sample SOP. For instance, the sample Cooking Potentially Hazardous Food SOP states under the Recordkeeping & Verification section that temperatures should be documented on the cooking and reheating temperature log. That is only a suggestion. Your SOP needs to say where you want food temperatures recorded and on what form. SFAs should record temperatures in a place that is most convenient and makes the most sense for their situation. If you decide that you are not going to record temperatures on the cooking and reheating temperature log and instead are going to record them on your production records, you need to say that in your SOP. Cross out “cooking and reheating temperature log” and replace those words with “production records.” Now you have “tweaked” the SOP to reflect what you do at your facility. You should do this for each of the SOPs at your facility.

What are the expectations of our office for SOPs?

1. Every site…whether it is a central kitchen, or a serving kitchen is required to have SOPs that reflect how things are done where you are serving food at. If you have multiple service sites, you may not need all the SOPs that a central kitchen may need to have. That may mean you have 10 SOPs or you may need 20.

2. At the top of the sample SOP, cross out “sample SOP” and replace that with the name of your school district and/or the site name for which this SOP pertains to.

3. Make sure you have signed and dated each SOP.

4. Another area that always needs to be tweaked on the sample SOPs is under the recordkeeping and verification section. The sample SOPs state that records need to be kept for a minimum of 1 year. That section should reflect the requirements that records should be kept for “three years plus the current year.”

Points are deducted on the health inspection report for any SFA site serving food that does not have an SOP for Cooking Potentially Hazardous Foods, Washing Hands, and Personal Hygiene. You may also lose points if you are not taking and recording food temperatures, taking and recording refrigerator/freezer temperatures, and calibrating thermometers and recording calibration dates and adjustments.

By now, you should have implemented all the SOPs that are specific to your site. Some SFAs will not have to have all 20 sample SOPs as part of their food safety program as they do not serve meals off site, or perhaps you do not use leftovers, or you do not have a salad bar. You are only required to implement the SOPs that are specific to your facility’s situation. Our office has been helping “nudge” schools along that are working to finish their food safety program by asking Department of Public Safety (DPS) inspectors to continue to look for additional SOPs each year. This year those SOPs are: 

1. Cleaning & Sanitizing Food Contact Surfaces
2. Controlling Time & Temperature during Preparation
3. Holding Hot & Cold Potentially Hazardous Foods
4. Preventing Cross-Contamination during
    Storage & Preparation
5. Date Marking & Ready-to-Eat, Potentially Hazardous Foods

It can’t be stressed enough that by now your food safety program should be part of your day to day operation of the NSLP.

DPS Inspectors receive information at annual training to assist us with making sure SFAs are meeting the requirement of having a food safety program in place. Points may be deducted during the twice annual food safety inspection on the kitchen inspection report. In addition, when SFAs have their CRE, records are collected and reviewed in our office.

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CRE Program Reviews

Schools and agencies that are on the 2009-2010 program review schedule were notified by letter dated July 2, 2009, which was included in the combined application packet. The Department of Public Safety inspectors have received their assigned program review packets for this year’s review cycle. CRE program reviews will begin happening in the month of November with a goal of all CRE reviews being completed by the end of March 2010. The inspector assigned to your school or agency will contact you approximately 2 weeks prior to their arrival to set up a review date and establish which month’s records will be reviewed.

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Write off half your equipment purchase for 2009

A recent ad received by many food service directors talks about writing off half the depreciation for equipment purchases. Did that apply to the ARRA funded equipment purchases, all equipment purchases, or what? The question was sent to Legislative Audit and here is the response.

YES, there is a 50% depreciation allowed by the feds in the first year.........but it is for private businesses so that they can lighten their IRS tax payment to boost the economy.

It would not be applicable to public schools who do not pay income taxes. They should set up a useful life for equipment that they purchase, use straight line depreciation, .and operate as they had in the past. Schools now will have some new equipment to account for (which is good).

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Building for the Future with the CACFP

 

 

Non-Creditable Fruits and Vegetables Quiz Show:

In an attempt to help you avoid the most common errors we see during CACFP reviews we are using this as a way to educate agencies on the non-creditable fruits and vegetables that are most commonly found as errors during program reviews.
                                                                                                                                 
Did you know?

  • That ades, fruit drinks, juice cocktails, etc. are not creditable in the CACFP.
  • That bread, muffins, cakes, etc. with fruits or vegetable added (e.g. banana bread, blueberry muffins, carrot cake, etc.) are not creditable as a fruit/vegetable in the CACFP.
  • Jams, jellies, and preserves are not creditable in the CACFP.
  • Pie fillings are not creditable in the CACFP.
  • Popsicles are not creditable in the CACFP.
  • Potato chips are not creditable as a fruit/vegetable (or a bread/grain) in the CACFP.
  • Syrup that is fruit flavored is not creditable in the CACFP.
  • Yogurts with fruit, commercially prepared, are not creditable as a fruit/vegetable in the CACFP.

Check back next month for more Quiz Show learning.

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Kids in the Kitchen


Fruit Salad
Source: Physical Activities
and Healthy Snacks for Young Children



1½ cups sliced bananas
1½ cups sliced apples
1 cup sliced oranges
1 cup pineapple chunks
½ cup blueberries
½ cup sliced kiwi
3 cups low-fat plain yogurt
½ cup lemon juice

Slice fruit into small pieces and toss banana and apple slices in lemon juice to prevent them from turning brown. Remove apples and bananas from lemon juice and discard lemon juice. Stir all fruit together and serve ½ cup fruit salad on top of ¼ cup nonfat yogurt per child.

Provides 1 fruit/vegetable and 1 meat/ meat alternate for CACFP
Calories, 87; Fiber 1.8 g; Total Fat 1.1 g; Saturated Fat, .6 g.

 

Snack Idea (1-5 year olds):
           
½ cup fruit salad with a glass of water

 

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Kids on the Move



Throw and Fetch
Source: Physical Activities and
Healthy Snacks for Young Children

Arrange the children in a line facing you.

The children throw (overhand) the objects (bean bag, ball, crushed paper sack) as far as possible. On your signal all the children run and pick-up their object. Children return to the starting position and repeat.

Emphasize throwing far and waiting for your signal before going after the objects.

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School Employee Wellness Award Program


The Directors of Health Promotion and Education (DHPE) have created a School Employee Wellness Awards Program to recognize schools and school districts that demonstrate commitment to the health of their employees by implementing school employee wellness programs. The awards program is based on the nine steps for establishing a school employee wellness program, outlined in School Employee Wellness: A Guide for Protecting the Assets of Our Nation's Schools.
 
Awardees will receive special recognition for their efforts that include grants (Bronze $250, Silver $500, Gold $1000) to be reinvested in their employee wellness programs.
 
To apply for DHPE's School Employee Wellness Awards Program, or to learn more about school employee wellness programs, visit www.schoolempwell.org.

Applications must be submitted/postmarked by December 1, 2009.

 

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Working on Wellness 2009 Fall Newsletter    

The fall issue of the WOW Working on Wellness Newsletter from the SD Department of Health is now online. Check it out at http://healthysd.gov/Workplace/PDF/WOW-FALL2009.pdf

In the Fall issue:
H1N1 flu webpage
BeFreeSD-Did You Know?
Stay Active in the Fall
Breast Cancer Awareness Month

 

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