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Fresh Ideas
Fiscal Year 2016
Trimester 1
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O n t h e W eb a t a ca i nc.o r g E - ma il cac f p @ac ai nc .o rg P ho n e 6 5 1 -4 8 1 -9 3 2 0 •8 0 0 -4 3 3 -8 1 0 8
Be Food Safe this Holiday Season
Inside This Issue
1 Be Food Safe this Holiday
Season
2 Recording School Out For
School Age Children
3 What to expect at a
Home Visit
4 Daily Record Keeping
5 Moving
Internet Explorer
Enrollments
6 Child Nutrition Labels
You can be “food
safe” during the
holidays by
following the 4 basic
steps of food safety:
Clean, Separate,
Cook and Chill.
Winter is a time for holidays, and most holidays involve food. Turkey, dressing,
ham, sweet potatoes and apple cider are just a few favorites. But if you are
not careful, the delicious foods you serve the children can make them sick.
Each year about 76 million people in the United States are sickened by
foodborne illness. Most people become sick by eating contaminated food or
beverages or coming into contact with someone who has a foodborne illness.
Preventing foodborne illness is especially necessary for child care providers
because infants and young children are at an increased risk of developing
severe infections. Fortunately, you can be “food safe” during the holidays by
following the 4 basic steps of food safety: Clean, Separate, Cook and Chill.
 CLEAN Wash your hands with soap and warm water for 20 seconds before
and after handling food. Wash all kitchen utensils, dishes, and countertops
with hot water and soap after preparing each food item. Rinse fruits and
vegetables thoroughly under cool running water and use a produce brush to
remove surface dirt. Do not rinse raw meat and poultry before cooking in
order to avoid spreading bacteria to areas around the sink and countertop.
 SEPARATE Keep foods that will not be cooked separate from raw egg,
meat, poultry and seafood when purchasing, storing and preparing food. Use
one cutting board for raw meat, poultry and seafood and a separate one for
raw produce. Do not put cooked meat or other food that is ready to eat on an
unwashed plate that has held raw eggs, meat, poultry seafood, or their juices.
 COOK Cook meat and poultry to a safe minimum internal temperature:
turkey, stuffing, casseroles, and leftovers to 165°F. Cook beef, veal and lamb
roasts to 145°F. Cook “fully-cooked" ham to 140°F; and fresh ham, pork, and
egg dishes to 160°F. Use a food thermometer. Bring sauces, soups, and
gravies to a rolling boil when reheating. Cook eggs until the yolks and whites
are firm. Pasteurized egg products can be substituted in recipes typically made
with raw egg. Don’t eat uncooked cookie dough, which may contain raw eggs.
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Fresh Ideas
 CHILL Chill food promptly. Keep the fridge at 40°F or below to prevent bacteria from
growing. Keep the freezer at 0°F. Put leftovers in the refrigerator within 2 hours.
Remember to never defrost food at room temperature. Leftovers should be used within
three to four days unless frozen.
Be food safe this holiday season for the health of you and the children. Happy Eating!
Credit: http://www.foodsafety.gov/keep/events/holidays/check_steps.pdf
http://www.cdc.gov/media/subtopic/matte/pdf/foodsafe_maindish.pdf
Recording School Out For School Age Children
Meal counts, record keeping
If a school age child is in your care and claimed for a.m. snack or lunch, you must let ACA
know. Generally, school age children are not expected to be in your care during school
hours.
Providers using the scannable forms can record this information on the bottom of the
Claim Information Form. When a school age child is home for lunch and/or a.m. snack,
please record the child’s number, reason why the child was present for a.m. snack and or
lunch and the date the child was there. If you need more space, please record the
information on the back side.
If you are using Minute Menu Web Kids or Kids Pro, you can record this information online
when their meal attendance is recorded. If a school age child is home for lunch and/or
a.m. snack, please click in the “sick” or “school out” box (whichever is the case) next to the
child’s name when you are recording their attendance at lunch or a.m. snack. If you prefer,
you can also enter this information in the calendar portion of the “Manage Child Calendar”
section of the program.
Fresh Ideas
What to expect at a Home Visit
review procedures
Providers are required to have a minimum of 3 home visits per year. Many Providers
will have more. Most if not all visits will be unannounced. Some visits will be at a
meal or snack time.
During a home visit, your Program Advisor has the responsibility to check many Food
Program requirements. Some of these include:
Day Care License
Do you have a copy of your current day care license?
Does the information on your license match the data we have on file for you?
Are you co-licensed with someone else?
Are you operating within license capacity?
Do you have a variance to your license?
Do you have a helper?
Food Program Records
Are your food program records (menus and attendance) complete and up to date on
agency forms or software?
Do you have copies of current enrollment forms for all the children in your care?
Is the data on each enrollment form complete and accurate?
Do you have your Food Program records for three years and three months after the
date of the fiscal year (October 1 through September 30)?
Meal Service (if meal or snack visit is observed)
Does the meal or snack meet meal pattern guidelines?
Is the required minimum serving sizes being met?
Does the meal service area meet sanitary standards?
Do the children wash their hands before eating?
Are you serving low-fat or skim milk to children 2 years and older?
Do you have CN Labels or product analysis sheet for commercially prepared
combination foods on hand?
Is there a Special Diet statement on file for any child with a special diet?
Food Program Data
Do the meals and snacks you serve match what is in our data?
Are the meal and snack serving times accurate?
Do you have infants in care? If so, who is purchasing the formula and who is
purchasing the solids?
Have you changed the days of the week you offer care?
Have you changed the hours of operation for your business?
Have you had a recent change in your meal claiming patterns?
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Daily Record Keeping
Record keeping, meal counts, reimbursement process
Currently, there are
600 Minnesota Food
Program
participants that
have been placed on
the National
Disqualified List.
Food program records must be kept daily. Daily record keeping is a Federal requirement.
Meal and attendance records, both paper and electronic, must be complete by 11:59 pm
on the day in which meals were served. Attendance cannot be recorded in advance of the
meal service. Menus may be planned and entered in advance.
Failure to keep records daily is considered a serious problem by the United States
Department of Agriculture (USDA). Failure to keep required records is one of the reasons
a Provider may be found “Seriously Deficient”. If a serious deficiency is not fully and
permanently corrected, a Provider may be placed on the “National Disqualified List”.
Once on the list, you cannot participate in the food program for 7 years anywhere in the
United States.
Currently, there are 600 Minnesota Food Program participants have been placed on the
National Disqualified List. Many of these Providers are on the list because they did not
keep daily records. Providers found more than a day behind on as few as two home visits
within a two year period, can result in a being placed on the National Disqualified List.
If you are having trouble keeping daily records, review your record keeping practices. Find
a way to get your records done daily. Some ideas include:

ACA provides:
Paper forms,
Web Kids,
Kids Pro,
Kids2go






Try on-line claiming. On-line claiming is a fast, simple, paperless way to complete
your records.
Schedule a specific, daily time to complete your paperwork.
Give yourself a reminder. Set a timer to ring when it is paperwork time. Put a note
on a bulletin board or refrigerator. Email yourself a reminder to do your
paperwork.
Complete your records after each meal.
If you use paper forms, your can complete your menus in advance. (Attendance
cannot be completed in advance)
If you do computer claiming, you can plan your meals in advance using the menu
templates. If you do not know how the templates work, ask your Program
Advisor.
Try Kids2go mobile application on your smartphone, iPhone, iPad or tablets.
Kids2go works with Minute Menu Web Kids and Kids Pro.
Once you get into the habit, Food Program paperwork takes just minutes a day. Do not
get into a spot where you are found seriously deficient because your records are not up to
date. Experiment with different record keeping methods until you find the one that works
for you.
Fresh Ideas
Moving
Reimbursement process
Your CACFP application and agreement are valid only for your current address. If you are moving
and planning to continue child care in your new home, you must contact our office prior to your
moving date. Failure to contact our office immediately may result in a loss of reimbursement.
Upon contacting our office, a new Food Program application and agreement will be sent to you.
You will fill out a new CACFP application and agreement reflecting your new address. Your
licensing worker should give you a paper showing you are relicensed as of a certain date. It is your
responsibility to send a copy of this paper to ACA. If you do not receive a paper showing you are
relicensed, contact your licensor and have them fax or e-mail a document stating you are licensed
and what class of license you will receive.
Your new application, agreement, and licensing document information will be sent to the
Department of Education. You will be assigned a new approval date. Your meals claimed will be
reimbursed as of your new approval date.
There will likely be a period of time in which you are not eligible for Food Program
reimbursement. However, prompt completion of a relocation visit with your county licensor, and
prompt completion and return of your Food Program relocation paperwork will result in the
earliest possible CACFP approval at your new home.
You will also need to complete a new application and agreement if you change your name or
become co-licensed. We will also need a copy of your license showing the change.
Internet Explorer
Record keeping
Minute Menu Web Kids and Kids Pro require you to use Microsoft Internet Explorer version 6.0 or
greater as your browser. Some Internet Service Providers (ISPs) such as AOL, SBC Yahoo, WalMart, AT&T WorldNet, and others, provide you with a customized version of Internet Explorer.
These customized versions of Internet Explorer frequently alter the core functionality Microsoft
has programmed into Internet Explorer, and as such, these customized browsers can cause
problems when you attempt to use Minute Menu Web Kids (which has been written exclusively
for Microsoft Internet Explorer).
Do not use Firefox or any browser other than Microsoft Internet Explorer. Failure to do so may
result in Minute Menu not working properly and your claims not saving or being transmitted to
our office for reimbursement.
Enrollments
Record keeping
One of the Food Program requirements is to keep Adults’ & Children’s Alliance informed of any
change in the number of enrolled children. The only way to do this is to make sure all children in
your care are enrolled on the Food Program. If a child is observed at a home visit and is not
currently enrolled on the Food Program, you will be asked to send a completed enrollment form
for the child to Adults’ & Children’s Alliance.
An enrollment form MUST be completed and submitted for each child in your care, even if they
are considered a drop in child or a non-participating child. Failure to do so may delay your Food
Program reimbursement.
.
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Packaged Combination Foods
program meal patterns, review procedures
Packaged combination foods are quick and convenient foods to serve. They are store purchased foods which contain
more than one meal component. When claiming such products for CACFP reimbursement, you must be sure they
credit. Such foods include:
Product
Often Claimed For
Beef stew
Pizza
Chicken nuggets
Fish sticks
meat/alternate and grains/bread
meat/alternate and grains/bread
meat/alternate and grains/bread
meat/alternate and grains/bread
As you know, there are minimum serving size requirements for CACFP participants. The minimum serving size of
each food component varies by the age of the child and the meal being served. Without a Child Nutrition (CN) label
or a Product Analysis Sheet, you cannot assure minimum serving size guidelines are being met.
What is a Child Nutrition (CN) label?
It is documentation of packaged combination foods. The label states the amount of each meal component found in a
serving.
The program is a voluntary USDA labeling program. Because it is voluntary, you will not find a CN label on all
products. In the program, USDA evaluates a product’s formulation to determine how it contributes to the meal
pattern requirements. Once approved, the manufacturer is allowed to state this contribution on the product label.
How do I identify a CN label?
 a statement of the product’s contribution
toward meal pattern requirements;
 a six digit product identification number;
 a statement specifying that the use of the
CN logo and the CN statement was
authorized by FNS;
 the month and year of approval.
Product Analysis Sheet
In addition to a CN label, a packaged combination food can be credited if you have a product analysis sheet showing
how the product qualifies for child nutrition programs. The analysis sheet must contain a statement of the amount
of cooked meat/alternate, grains/breads, and/or fruit/vegetable components provided by the food per serving. The
analysis must be signed by an official of the manufacturer (not a salesperson).
To obtain a product analysis sheet, call the company’s number on the product’s package and explain you need child
nutrition information for the product. Make sure you have the package in front of you because you will be asked for
the UPC number. If they have child nutrition information on the product, they will send it to you. Be sure to request
that the product analysis sheet is signed by an official of the manufacturer.
Keep the CN labels and product analysis sheets for the packaged combination foods you serve on file at your child
care site. During a home visit by your Program Advisor, the Minnesota Department of Education, or the United
States Department of Agriculture you may be asked for them. If you do not have them on file, you may lose
reimbursement for meals containing packaged combination foods with CN labels.
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Kids2go keeps up with you
Record Keeping, claim submission
Kids2go is a mobile application that works with Minute Menu Web Kids and Kids Pro.
Providers who submit their Food Program claims online using Web Kids or Kids Pro can use
kids2go to record same-day meals and attendance, check children in and out, and record
times away from the home. Everything you record in the kids2go mobile application will be
transferred to your Web Kids or Kids Pro account. Kids2go is compatible with iPhone, iPod
touch, iPad, Android and Kindle Fire.
Please note that kids2go does not have all of the same features as Minute Menu Web
Kids or Kids Pro. Kids2go only works for the current day’s info. You will still need to use a
pc with Internet Explorer and your regular Web Kids or Kids Pro account to do anything
other than enter meals and attendance for today's date, check children in and out, or
record time away.
Ask your Program Advisor or call the office if you would like
more information on Kids2go!
ACA will be closed on the following days:
November 26, 2015 - Thanksgiving
November 27, 2015 - Day after Thanksgiving
December 24, 2015 - Christmas Eve
December 25, 2015 - Christmas Day
December 31, 2015 - New Year’s Eve
January 1, 2016 - New Year’s Day
January 18, 2016 - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day
You may leave a voice mail or contact us by e-mail or fax when our office is closed, and we
will get back to you on the next business day.
Need a form? Many Food Program forms can be printed from our web site
www.acainc.org
Contact ACA:
E-mail: cacfp@acainc.org
Phone: 651-481-9320
Toll Free: 1-800-433-8108
Check Us Out