The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has revised its school meal recipes. Beginning July 1, 2006, the revised recipes are the correctly credited recipes to use to meet school meal requirements for federal reimbursement. BY USING THE REVISED RECIPES, THE CHILD NUTRITION DIRECTOR IS NOT REQUIRED TO RECALCULATE YIELD INFORMATION ON CURRENTLY USED USDA RECIPES.
USDA RECIPE REVISIONS:
The recipes from the 1988 QUANTITY RECIPES FOR SCHOOL FOOD SERVICE and the 1995 TOOL KIT FOR HEALTHY SCHOOL MEALS were revised using updated yields from the FOOD BUYING GUIDE FOR CHILD NUTRITION PROGRAMS and using the 2005 FOOD CODE for the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points. The revised recipes were combined into one source. This version SUPERSEDES all other versions of USDA school recipes.
ORDER REVISED RECIPES:
Each school district will be responsible for ordering, by email, the quantity of REVISED USDA Recipes needed for all school district kitchens. Each school district child nutrition director will submit the email order form directly to the USDA email address, NOT to the Child Nutrition Unit, Arkansas Department of Education (ADE). The order form is attached to this memo. The USDA email address is at the bottom of the form.
The new recipe publication consists of two components: wire bound hardcover printed book (approximately 68 pages) and a CD-ROM containing the recipe files. The printed booklet explains how to use and adjust recipes, includes nutrient information, and contains many reference charts helpful for foodservice operations. The CD-ROM contains the recipe files listed alphabetically by recipe name, by recipe number, and by recipe category.
To assist schools with the implementation of the revised recipes, USDA/FNS (Food Nutrition Service) plans to distribute the requested number of recipe CD-ROMs in the summer of 2006. Districts are advised to order a sufficient number to cover future school kitchen expansions, or for replacement as needed for the next five years.
SOURCE OF RECIPES:
These recipes are currently available online at:
http://www.nfsmi.org/Information/school_recipe_index_alpha.html
(All of the recipes are listed in alphabetical order) and
http://www.nfsmi.org/Information/school_recipe_index_number.html
(All of the recipes are listed by order of recipe number).
NUTRIENT ANALYSIS SOFTWARE INCLUDING RECIPES:
Schools will need to be aware that some of the software used by schools for nutrient-analysis may not currently contain the correct version of the recipes. Schools must verify with software companies that the nutrient analysis software is updated to reflect the USDA Food Buying Guide Revised November 2001 for accurate recipe yields.
ORIGINAL SCHOOL RECIPES:
Any individual district or school original recipes need to be checked for correct yield information and recalculated if needed, using the USDA FOOD BUYING GUIDE (Gold Cover), REVISED NOVEMBER 2001. To avoid using the wrong recipe version, schools and school food authorities should discard obsolete recipes.
Please call the district’s ADE Child Nutrition Unit, Area Specialist, at (501) 324-9502 with questions concerning this memo.