Final Rule: CACFP Overclaim Authority and Technical Changes to the Meal Pattern Requirements

This rule amends the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) regulations to explicitly authorize the Department and state agencies to assess overclaims against institutions that fail to abide by CACFP recordkeeping requirements. This authority has been successfully challenged in past judicial rulings on the grounds that such authority was not specifically established in program regulations.

This rule affirms the Department's authority to assess overclaims for recordkeeping infractions, and clarifies any regulatory ambiguities or inconsistencies regarding overclaims authority. In addition, this rule makes minor changes to the meal pattern requirements. These changes include a technical correction to the supper meal pattern for adults; a modification to the egg and meat/meat alternate equivalencies in the meal patterns to conform to the standards used in the National School Lunch Program and the School Breakfast Program; and a correction to the infant meal pattern to remove an erroneous footnote for breakfast for infants 8 through 11 months.