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Washington Administrative Code (Last Updated: November 23, 2016) |
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Title 170. Early Learning, Department of |
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Chapter 170-295. Minimum licensing requirements for child care centers. |
Section 170-295-3160. What kind of food and menus must I have?
Latest version.
- (1) You must:(a) Prepare, date, and conspicuously post menus one week or more in advance, containing the meals and snacks to be served;(b) Provide two weeks or more of meal and snack menu variety before repeating the menu;(c) Keep six months of past menus on-site for inspection by the department;(d) Make substitutions of comparable nutrient value and record changes on the menu, when needed;(e) Provide daily a minimum of one serving of Vitamin C fruit, vegetable, or juice;(f) Provide three or more times weekly foods high in Vitamin A; and(g) Maintain at least a three day supply of food and water for emergency purposes based on the number of children in child care.(2) Meals eaten at the center must contain the following:(a) Each breakfast meal the child eats at the center must contain:(i) A fruit or vegetable or one hundred percent fruit or vegetable juice.(ii) A dairy product (such as milk, cheese, yogurt, or cottage cheese).(iii) A grain product (such as bread, cereal, rice cake or bagel).(b) Each lunch and dinner meal the child eats at the center must contain:(i) A dairy product (such as milk, cottage cheese, yogurt, cheese);(ii) Meat or meat alternative (such as beef, fish, poultry, legumes, tofu, or beans;(iii) A grain product (such as bread, cereal, bagel, or rice cake);(iv) Fruits or vegetables (two fruits or two vegetables or one fruit and one vegetable to equal the total portion size required). When juice is served in place of a fruit or vegetable it must be one hundred percent fruit or vegetable juice.(3) When meals are not provided by the center you must:(a) Notify parents in writing that meals they provide for their children must meet the daily nutritional requirements;(b) Provide adequate refrigeration for keeping potentially hazardous foods (such as meats of any type, cooked potato, cooked legumes, cooked rice, sprouts, cut melons or cantaloupes, milk, cheese);(c) Refrigerate foods requiring refrigeration at 45 degrees Fahrenheit or less and keep frozen foods at 10 degrees Fahrenheit or less until they are cooked or consumed.(4) Each snack the child eats at the center must include at least two of the following four components:(a) A milk product (such as milk, cottage cheese, yogurt, cheese);(b) A meat or meat alternative (such as meat, legumes, beans, egg);(c) A grain product (such as cereal, bagel, rice cake or bread); and(d) Fruit or vegetable.(5) Each snack or meal must include a liquid to drink. The drink could be water or one of the required components such as milk, fruit or vegetable juice.(6) You may allow parents to bring in snacks for all the children that may not meet the nutritional requirements on special occasions such as birthdays. The snacks provided by parents must be limited to store purchased:(a) Uncut fruits and vegetables; and(b) Foods prepackaged in original manufacturer's containers.(7) If a child has a food allergy or special menu requirements due to a health condition, you must:(a) Receive written directions from the child's health care provider and parent to provide nutritional supplements (such as iron), a medically modified diet (such as a diabetic or an allergy diet). For allergy diets, the parent and child's health care provider must identify the foods the child is allergic to;(b) Post each child's food allergies in locations where food is prepared and served;(c) Include the allergies on the individual health care plan;(d) Specify an alternative food with comparable nutritive value; and(e) Notify staff of the allergies and reactions. NOTE: You can require parents to supply food for supplements and special diets.