CANS Nutrition Bulletin

In This Issue:

FROM SANDRA’S DESK

Season’s Greetings. It’s that time of year when we are giving gifts. “Be someone who finds something good in each day; then give it to others.” (from Kaplan’s Cheers). It’s a great gift – not costly in dollars and certainly keeps on giving.

Schools are dealing with the numerous changes from reauthorization and child care centers are dealing with the numerous changes from the latest interim regulation change. Sometimes it is difficult to deal with these changes – “but we’ve always done it this way…” While it is tempting, let’s not waste our time griping about something we cannot change but rather see what good we can have come from this and get the changes implemented then get on with the tasks we like better. For those that aren’t especially fond of pie crust, it’s like eating your pie from the wide end to the tip – get through the least pleasant part first.

We will continue to provide updates on the changes in law, regulation, and policy.

Hope you have a safe and happy holiday season!

Verification Deadline is December 15th

Verification for the 2004-05 school year is to be completed based on the number of applications on file as of October 31 and is to be completed by December 15th at the local level.

Due to changes in the laws that govern the Child Nutrition Programs, administered by Child and Adult Nutrition Services (CANS), NSLP Memo 51.1 was developed and mailed with several other NSLP memos this fall. Please refer to that memo for information, the verification summary report now called Form 742SD, prototype forms and letters traditionally used for completion of the verification process. The 742SD form will be due to CANS no later than March 1, 2005.

On September 11, 2003, a final rule entitled “Determining Eligibility for Free and Reduced Price Meals in Schools – Verification Reporting and Recordkeeping Requirements” was published. This rule requires school food authorities (SFAs) to report their verification activity and results to their respective State agencies. Additionally, beginning in school year 2004-05, State agencies must report the SFA level data to the federal Food Nutrition Services. Submission of this data on a SFA basis will enable State agencies and FNS to better understand certification errors and to improve oversight and technical assistance activities. This will help ensure that free and reduced price subsidized meals are provided only to eligible children.

Migrant Children Eligibility for Free Meals

Several questions have come in from parents and schools about the new free meal eligibility for migrant children. We are hearing that sometimes a family has moved for a job in agriculture, which meets a really general definition of “migrant”; but that does not mean that their income is low. Families that meet the definition of “migrant” should be notified that they are eligible for free meals, as instructed in NSLP numbered memo NSLP 75.1 “Categorical Eligibility - Homeless, Migrant, & Runaway Children” (available on the web at http://www.state.sd.us/deca/CSCF/CANS/Forms/index.htm). If the family advises the school that they are over income and wish to continue paying for their meals, it is acceptable to do that. Make a note on the school’s list of migrant families that the family declined free meals, who told you, and the date they called/wrote. Be sure that the meals are then claimed in the paid category. Questions about whether or not the children should be on the migrant children list should be directed to the State’s migrant Education Program coordinator, Jerry Meendering, at 773-4437. We have made US Department of Agriculture aware of this strange outcome and have heard that it also occurs in other states. For the present, continue to follow the directive as outlined in 75.1. Any changes in this will be passed on, but it is not expected that changes will come in the near future.

CANS Featured Phytochemical of the month: Lycopene

What is all of the talk about cooked tomatoes, tomato sauce and ketchup? Well, it turns out that ketchup does indeed have a chemical in it that is thought to help prevent cancer: lycopene. Does this mean that we should all rush out and buy a bottle of ketchup? Well, no, but it means that when we eat cooked tomato products including spaghetti and tomato sauce, salsa, stewed tomatoes in chili and vegetable soups, tomato juice including V-8 we are getting lycopene as well as the Vitamin A and Vitamin C that we normally think of being in tomatoes.

Cooked tomato products can have up to 6 times more lycopene that our body is able to digest than raw tomatoes. Why is this? Cooking changes the physical structure of the tomato and makes it easier for our body to digest the lycopene from the tomato.

Does this mean that cooked tomatoes are better for you than raw tomatoes? The answer to this depends upon what you are wanting to get from the tomato. If you are looking for a source of lycopene in your diet, then cooked tomatoes may be your first choice. However, raw tomatoes have their own advantages and some vitamin A and C can be lost during the cooking process. What are other food sources of lycopene? Watermelon and pink and red grapefruit also contain lycopene. See the chart below from the American Dietetic Association for the amounts of lycopene in various foods. For more information about lycopene please visit their website at http://www.eatright.org/Public/.

So open a can of tomato soup, have a slice of watermelon or have a tossed salad with tomatoes and get some lycopene today!

FOOD SOURCES OF LYCOPENE
Food Item	Lycopene in milligrams
Tomato Soup, 1 cup	24.8 mg
Tomato or Spaghetti Sauce, ½ cup	19.4 mg
Canned Tomatoes, ½ cup	11.8 mg
Watermelon, 1 cup	7.8 mg
Ketchup, 2 tablespoons	5.1 mg
Fresh Tomato, 1 medium	3.7 mg
Pink or Red Grapefruit, ½ cup	1.8 mg
Source: USDA/NCC Carotenoid Database for U.S. Foods -- 1998 & Tomato Research Council (As found on the ADA website at www.eatright.org)

Nutrition Tidbits

New Safe Produce Handling Education Tools from The Partnership for Food Safety Education available at http://portal.fightbac.org/toolsyoucanuse/phec/

Professional Development

Current Topics: School Nutrition

This class consists of 8 sessions held from 4:20-6:30 on each of the following dates 1/11, 1/25, 2/8, 2/22, 3/1, 3/29, 4/12, 4/26 and will be presented at the following 20 sites in SD:

Box Elder, Britton-Hecla, SDSU-Brookings, Eureka, Groton, Haakon, Harrisburg, Hot Springs, Huron, Pierre-Capital, Rapid City, Redfield, Sioux Falls (Avera McKennan and Axtell Park MS), Sioux Valley, Spearfish, Wagner, Webster, Winner, White River

Topics: Creating a healthy nutrition environment at school and in the community, finding grant sources of funding for nutrition projects, teaching nutrition in the classroom and lunchroom, the new dietary guidelines, questions and answers about the school lunch program, understanding food allergies, preventing eating disorders, fad diets, and food safety.

The class is free for participants, however there is a $50.00 fee for those wanting college credit.

Additional information about the courses including guidelines for registration will be sent by email to school administrators and food service directors after December 6th. Registration will be open from December 10th until the first night of the class, January 11, 2005. If you or your staff is interested, please register early as class size is limited by the amount of space available at each site.

These courses are being offered by TEAM Nutrition which is a USDA program administered through Child and Adult Nutrition with the Department of Education. Avera McKennan Hospital and University Center is partnering with the Department of Education to provide speakers. Coordinated School Health is partnering with TEAM nutrition to assist with technology for registration and for guidance in setting up the DDN course.

Training Opportunity for Nutrition educators

Health Education Standards and Assessment Training will be held in Pierre, SD on December 15-16, 2004. This training is open to elementary and secondary teachers, school nurses, counselors and others responsible for teaching health education topics including nutrition education. Don’t miss this great opportunity for high quality training and nationally developed assessment materials! For more information check out the web site below and click on training opportunities. http://www.state.sd.us/deca/cscf/schoolhealth/

Continuing Education for Dietary Managers and RDs
A national Teleseminar will be offered by the American Dietetic Association:

“Welcome to Wellness: Putting New School Nutrition Legislation into Practice”
Thursday, February 17, 2005

This was planned in conjunction with the School Nutrition Association. The teleseminar is open to school nutrition professionals; food service directors; registered dietitians and dietetic technicians; school administrators; school nurses; parent teacher association leaders and members; wellness directors; food service vendors and suppliers; physical education teachers; and school health leaders.

For more information about this continuing educational opportunity visit: http://www.eatright.org/Public/ContinuingEducation/100_12017.cfm or call 800/775-7654 to find out about times, registration and costs.

80 ‘n Sunny

No, it’s not a weather prediction. Dean Foods has a new drink called “80 ‘n Sunny” (a lowfat milk and juice blend). It is not a substitute for milk – nor is it a substitute for juice. Milk must be 8 oz of fluid milk (not part milk/part juice) to count as a component in the school meals meal pattern. Juice must be at least 50% juice to count toward the fruit/vegetable requirement.

80 ‘n Sunny flavors include orange crème, strawberry banana, blue raspberry and fruit punch. The fruit juice content for all flavors is 10 percent. The 80 in its name is the number of calories per 1 cup serving. Both juice and 1 percent milk have about 110 calories per cup.

The drink is good tasting and could be something to sell a la carte or in a vending machine. A 12 ounce can of regular soda has about 40 grams of sugar compared to 12 grams in an 8 ounce serving of 80 ‘n Sunny. Although it doesn’t meet component requirements, it does contain nutrients compared to 0 nutrients in soda.

National School Breakfast Week 2005

Be watching in January for a packet of information and activities to be sent by CANS that can be used for National Nutrition Month which will be celebrated in March 2005. The theme will be: “School Breakfast – Great Performances”. For more immediate ideas for breakfast week promotion the School Foodservice & Nutrition, November 2004 magazine issue has recipes as well as lots of ideas and materials that can be purchased through the Emporium of the American School Food Service Association (ASFSA).

CN (CHILD NUTRITION) LABELING PROGRAM

When you buy prepared or partially prepared food for use in the school lunch and/or breakfast programs, how can you tell if it meets the meal pattern requirements? For main dish products containing a meat/meat alternate or for juice drinks and juice drink products containing at least fifty percent full-strength juice by volume, look for a CN label.

What Is a CN Label?

A CN Label is a food product label that contains:

the product identification number assigned by the Food and Nutrition Services of the U.S. Department of Agriculture;

a statement of the product’s contribution toward the meal pattern requirements;

a statement specifying the use of the CN logo and CN statement was authorized by FNS ; and
The approval date.

This information must be shown within the CN logo, which is a distinct border (See label at right.)

Why a CN Label?

The CN Labeling Program was established as a help to school food services in planning menus to meet meal pattern requirements without making everything from scratch. The ingredient list doesn’t tell you how much of each ingredient is in the product. In addition, pizza made by one company may differ greatly from another, even if the ingredient list is similar. Ordinary nutrition labeling isn’t helpful either, because it bears no relationship to the meal pattern guidelines for school meals. The CN label bridges this gap.

Are CN Labels Required?

The CN Labeling Program is voluntary. The manufacturer requests permission from FNS to participate in the program. FNS reviews the manufacturer’s recipe or product formulation to determine the contribution that a single serving makes toward the child nutrition meal pattern requirements. The CN label statement is also reviewed to be sure it is accurate. Manufacturers may include other nutrition information on the packaging of a product that has a CN label, but this does not take the place of a CN label.

Any Special Hints?

Check how much a serving size contributes to the meal pattern requirements. For example, the CN label above states that one piece of pizza provides the equivalent of 1 oz of meat/meat alternate. Students would have to be served at least two pieces of the pizza to meet the full requirement for meat/meat alternate. Or an additional food would have to be served with the pizza to fulfill the 2-oz requirement.

CREDITABLE AND NON-CREDITABLE FOODS
(For use with Food Based Meal Patterns)

When planning meals, be sure that the foods used to meet meal pattern requirements are creditable. While the foods below do not count toward meeting the meal pattern requirements, they can be served in addition to the required components of a reimbursable meal. Any of these foods served should be included in the menu production records.

COMMERCIALLY PREPARED MAIN DISHES

These foods must have a CN label in order to count toward the meal pattern:

Canned or Frozen Cheese Sauce
Canned Ravioli
Frozen Entrees such as Lasagna, Stuffed Shells, etc.
Frozen Pizza

CANNED SOUPS

Canned soups count toward the meal pattern requirements only under certain conditions:

Vegetable-based soups, such as tomato, vegetarian vegetable, vegetable beef, etc. count toward the Vegetable/Fruit component
A one-cup serving of vegetable-based soup is equivalent to ¼ cup of the Vegetable/Fruit component.
None of the meat or poultry-based soups (such as chicken noodle, beef barley, etc.) count toward the Meat/Meat Alternate component.

CANNED AND FROZEN JUICES

For fruit and vegetable juices to count toward the Vegetable/Fruit component, be sure it is 100 percent juice or it has a CN label telling you how the juice can be credited. If you buy a fruit “nectar,” “drink,” “cocktail,” or “-ade” you are not buying full strength, 100 percent juice.

OTHER FOODS

These foods do not count toward meal pattern requirements. They may, however, be offered as part of a meal.

Bacon

Bacon Bits

Butter/Margarine

Chili Sauce

Coconut

Cream

Cream Cheese

Frozen Yogurt

Ice Cream

Ice Cream Cones

Jams, Jellies

Jell-O

Ketchup

Mayonnaise

Pepperoni

Popcorn

Popsicles

Potato Chips

Puddings (canned or prepared from mix)

Relish

Salad Dressings

Taco Sauce

Tofu

NOTE: Commercially prepared plain or flavored yogurt is now creditable as a meat alternate for the Food Based Meal Pattern.

4 oz. (1/2 cup) = 1 oz. Meat/Meat Alternate

REMEMBER THAT…

Potatoes are a vegetable (not a Grains/Bread item)

Rice is a Grains/Bread item (not a vegetable)

PLEASE NOTE: If you are using Nutrient Standard Menu Planning (NSMP), any of the foods listed above can be planned and served as a menu item in a reimbursable meal (i.e., as an entrée or part of an entrée or as a side dish). When served, these foods must be included in the nutrient analysis of the meal.

Kids in the Kitchen

Apricot Cinnamon Couscous

from Physical Activities and Healthy Snacks for Young Children; Team Nutrition Iowa; recipe by Wheat Foods Council

16 oz. can apricots or other fruit packed in juice
10 oz. package (7/8 cup) couscous
1 Tbsp. butter or margarine
3 Tbsp. sugar
½ tsp. cinnamon

Drain fruit, reserving juice.
Pour juice into measuring cup and add water to equal 2 cups.
Prepare couscous according to package directions using the fruit juice mixture and butter.
Dice fruit and add to couscous.
Combine sugar and cinnamon and mix with couscous.
Place in serving bowl and sprinkle with cinnamon. Serve at room temperature or chilled.

Snack Idea (1-5 year olds):

1/3 cup Apricot Cinnamon Couscous
1/2 cup Pineapple Juice

Kids on the Move

Zig Zag Toss Across
from Physical Activities and Healthy Snacks for Young Children; Team Nutrition Iowa;

1 bean bag

Arrange the children in two lines facing each other.

The first child tosses the bean bag to the child across from them. That child tosses it to the next child in the opposite line. The last child runs to the first position in his/her line (if the lines are uneven in number have the child go to the end of the opposite line) and start tossing again. Repeat.

Hint: Say the name of the child tossing and catching so they are both ready before a toss. “Chris, you are going to toss to Alex. Alex, get ready to catch.”

CONGRATULATIONS

Check out how the following schools celebrated National School Lunch Week by reading about their activities published in the November 2004 School Foodservice & Nutrition magazine. They were: New Effington, Veblen, and Westside Elementary School from the Sisseton School School District; Mellette Elementary from the Watertown School District; and Sturgis Primary School and Bear Butte Elementary School from the Meade School District. Congratulations and keep up the good work!

Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP)

The HACCP Food Safety Assurance Pyramid (see colored picture) shows us how HACCP fits in with other food safety programs. The first thing that you will notice is that HACCP is NOT the first step in food safety. The first step is the prerequisite programs you see listed along the bottom of the pyramid. Food temperature control, cleaning & sanitizing, personal hygiene, & pest control form the foundation of a HACCP program. These are the building blocks which all successful HACCP programs are built on. This is something that you can be working on now—either strengthening your foundation or fixing any “cracks” that may be in the foundation.

As you know, HACCP is a preventive food safety system. HACCP prevents food safety problems before they happen by identifying and controlling possible hazards that can contaminate food as it flows through a facility. The identification of these hazards is called a hazard analysis. A hazard analysis identifies physical, chemical or biological hazards that may cause the customers you serve to become sick or injured. For example, a toothpick found in food is a physical hazard that can cause children to choke or break a tooth. Sanitizers that accidentally get into the food are chemical hazards that can make children ill. Harmful microorganisms, such as Salmonella spp. And E.coli 0157:H7, are biological hazards that can make children sick.

Once you have identified the hazards, these are controlled through critical control points (CCP’s). A critical control point eliminates or reduces a food safety hazard to an acceptable level. If hazards are not controlled at these points, your customers may become sick or injured from the food you serve them.

Let’s look at a carton of milk as it comes into your facility. The first CCP is what temperature is the milk when it comes through your door….is it 41degrees or below? If it is not, there is a potential for bacteria to be growing. Therefore, a CCP in serving milk will be to take and record the temperature of the milk when it comes into your facility. Another CCP will be the temperature of the cooler that the milk is stored in. Again, is it keeping your milk at 41degrees or below at all times? Is there a thermometer in the cooler and is the temperature of the cooler recorded at least once (in the morning) or twice (before leaving in the afternoon) a day. The last CCP in this example is how milk is being kept below 41degrees as your customers receive it during their meal service. Is the milk being stored on ice, is the cooler door not wide open for long periods of time allowing the temperature of the milk to rise. Do you know how long the cooler door can be open until the milk reaches 41 degrees? Identifying and controlling hazards is what a HACCP plan is all about. The ultimate goal of HACCP is that we do all we can to ensure that the food we serve our customers is as safe as possible.

The information for this article was taken from the HACCP for Child Nutrition Programs: Building on the Basics. The information was produced by the National Food Service Management Institute. 2002

FOOD SOURCES OF LYCOPENE

Food Item

Lycopene in milligrams