FNS Documents & Resources

This Q&A memorandum is designed to provide an overview of the policies related to the Professional Standards regulations for state and local school nutrition program personnel. 

This memorandum supersedes policy memo SP 31-2013, “Salad Bars in the National School Lunch Program,” dated March 27, 2013. This revision includes policy changes and general updates to outdated resources/website links and updated questions and answers.

This memorandum clarifies juice and yogurt allowances based on the child care and preschool meal pattern updates and incorporates the meal pattern flexibilities related to flavored milk. The flavored milk flexibilities apply to the National School Lunch Program, School Breakfast Program, the Child and Adult Care Food Program, and the Special Milk Program for Children effective beginning in school year 2019-2020.

This memorandum rescinds and replaces memorandum SP 10-2012 (v. 9), Questions and Answers on the Final Rule “Nutrition Standards in the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs,” dated Aug. 3, 2015.

Attached are Q&As on the final rule Child Nutrition Programs: Flexibilities for Milk, Whole Grains, and Sodium Requirements (83 FR 63775, Dec. 12, 2018), which provides menu planning flexibilities in the child nutrition programs beginning July 1, 2019.

This memorandum rescinds and replaces SP 22-2019, CACFP 09-2019, SFSP 08-2019 Crediting Coconut, Hominy, Corn Masa, and Corn Flour in the Child Nutrition Programs. This updated memorandum provides guidance on crediting coconut (including dried coconut), hominy, corn masa, and masa harina and clarifies how to identify popular products made from corn that can credit towards the grain requirements in the child nutrition programs, including the NSLP, SBP, CACFP and SFSP.

FNS is continuing the 2018 demonstration project allowing non-congregate feeding at certain outdoor summer meal sites experiencing excessive heat for summer 2019, to develop and test alternative methods of providing access to summer meals for low-income children.

School meals are required to meet specific nutrition standards to operate the school meals programs. The standards align school meals with the latest nutrition science and the real world circumstances of America’s schools. 

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and the School Breakfast Program (SBP) along with other child nutrition programs (CNPs) administered by the USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) make it possible for schools to serve wholesome and appealing meals to students each day.

This memorandum provides guidance to states, local operators, and their software vendors on strategies for leveraging the design flexibilities of online free and reduced price school meal applications to reduce household reporting mistakes and certification errors.