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Child & Adult Care Food Program – Infant Meals: Food and Nutrition Service
 

Early Head Start programs provide meals to infants through the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP). Health managers, program directors, and nutrition coordinators will want to consult this web site to find information on CACFP policy for infant meals. CACFP is administered at the state level by the state’s education or health department and at the federal level by the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.


Child & Adult Care Food Program – Infant Meals: Food and Nutrition Service

Infant Meal Pattern
Updated list provides requirements for serving reimbursable meals to babies, birth through 11 months of age.

Reimbursement of Infant Meals
Memorandum, issued on Apr. 28, 2003 allows reimbursement of meals containing breast milk or iron-fortified infant formula that is supplied by the parent or by the facility.

Iron-fortified Infant Formulas
List of infant formulas, revised on July 8, 2005, that do not require medical statements when served to infants in the child nutrition programs. 

Acceptable Infant Formula
Sent a reply to our Northeast regional office regarding acceptable infant formula, letter dated Sep. 14, 2004.

Baby Fruits and Vegetables with DHA
Memorandum explains why certain commercially-prepared baby food products cannot be served as part of a reimbursable meal.  It was issued on Dec. 19, 2002.

Feeding Infants - A Guide for Use in the Child Nutrition Programs
New edition is now available with information on infant development, nutrition, meal preparation, and safe food handling.  The entire guide is available in Adobe (.pdf) …

Amendments to the Infant Meal Pattern 
Final rule makes information about serving infants in the child nutrition programs more consistent and easier to read. It was published in the Federal Register on May 28, 2002.

Obligations to Offer Infant Meals
Memorandum, issued on May 17, 2002, clarifies that centers and day care homes must offer meals to all children, including infants, enrolled for care.

Correction
Amendment, published on Dec. 20, 2001, corrects the meal pattern table for infants age 8 through 11 months.

Feeding Infants in CACFP
Memorandum, issued on Apr. 20, 2000, answers specific questions about serving reimbursable meals to babies.

Overclaim Authority  
Final rule corrects errors in the infant meal pattern. It was published in the Federal Register on Dec. 27, 1999.

Implementation of the Interim Rule
Memorandum provides a schedule of dates for implementing the amendments to the infant meal pattern. It was issued on Dec. 14, 1999.

Amendments to the Infant Meal Pattern  
Interim rule was published on Nov. 15, 1999. It requires that all meals and snacks served to babies, up to one year of age, include breast milk or iron fortified infant formula.


Child & Adult Care Food Program – Infant Meals: Food and Nutrition Service. USDA/FNS/CACFP. n.d. English. Web Site.