Determining Whole Grain-rich Products in the CACFP
Overview
This web page provides guidance for identifying whole grain-rich (WGR) products in the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP). Additional guidance is available in the:
Determining Whole Grain-rich Products in the CACFP
At least one serving of grains per day must be WGR. This WGR requirement only applies to meals served to children and adults; it does not apply to infant meals. Food products that meet the WGR criteria in the CACFP contain at least 50 percent whole grains and the remaining grains are enriched grains, bran, or germ.
Tip! The requirement to serve one WGR product a day only applies if a grain is served at a site during the day. For example, a site only serving breakfast and snack is not required to offer a WGR product during the day if they substitute the meat/meat alternate (M/MA) for the grains component at breakfast and do not serve a grain as one of the two snack components.
Whole Grain-Rich Product Criteria
To be considered a WGR product in the CACFP, a product must meet one of the following criteria:
- The product is included in the list of Whole Grain or Whole Grain Cereals on any state agency’s Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Authorized Food List Shopping Guide. See the USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) Contacts web page for links to all state agencies’ WIC shopping lists.
- The product is a bread or pasta labeled whole wheat with one of the following exact product names that conform to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) standard of identity statements for whole wheat on the label.
- Bread: Whole wheat bread, graham bread, entire wheat bread, whole wheat rolls, graham rolls, entire wheat rolls, whole wheat buns, graham buns, entire wheat buns.
- Pasta: Whole wheat macaroni product, whole wheat macaroni, whole wheat spaghetti, and whole wheat vermicelli.
Tip!: Food labels can be deceiving. Statements on the label such as whole grain, made with whole wheat, or contains whole grains do not meet the FDA standard of identity for whole wheat.
- The product includes one of the two allowable FDA whole grain health claims on its packaging:
- Diets rich in whole grain foods and other plant foods and low in total fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol may reduce the risk of heart disease and some cancers.
- Diets rich in whole grain foods and other plant foods, and low in saturated fat and cholesterol may help reduce the risk of heart disease.
Tip!: The Whole Grain Council Whole Grain Stamps on a product's package are not sufficient to determine if a grain product meets the WGR criteria because the grain product may contain high amounts of noncreditable grains.
- The product is accompanied with proper documentation (for example, a standardized recipe or product formulation statement) demonstrating that whole grains are the primary (more than 50 percent) grain ingredient by weight.
- The product meets the WGR criteria of the National School Lunch Program (NSLP).
Tip!: CACFP Operators cannot apply the NSLP WGR criteria to grain-based desserts since grain-based desserts are never creditable in the CACFP and may not contribute toward reimbursable meals and snacks.
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The product has a Child Nutrition (CN) Label that indicates the number of ounce equivalents (oz eq) grains and does not specify that the grain is enriched. If the CN Label lists enriched in parentheses after the amount of oz eq, the product is a creditable grain, but not WGR. For example, a CN Label that reads 0.5 oz eq grains (enriched), is not a WGR product. If the CN Label simply states 0.5 oz eq grains, the product is WGR.
- The product is a ready-to-eat (RTE) breakfast cereal that meets the sugar limit, is fortified, and the first grain ingredient is a whole grain. RTE breakfast cereals that are not fortified may be WGR if they meet one of the other WGR criteria, including the USDA FNS Rule of Three, where the first three grain ingredients are evaluated (see below).
- The product meets the USDA FNS Rule of Three: The first ingredient (or second after water) is a whole grain and the next two grain ingredients (if any) are creditable grains (whole grains, enriched grains, bran, or germ.)
Common whole grains, enriched grains, bran, and germ are listed below. These are not inclusive lists. Use the guidance in the lists below when applying the Rule of Three.
Whole Grains
Whole grains must be the first grain ingredient and may be the second or third grain ingredient:
- Amaranth
- Amaranth flour
- Black rice
- Brown rice
- Brown rice flour
- Buckwheat
- Buckwheat flour
- Buckwheat groats
- Bulgur
- Corn masa
- Cracked wheat
- Graham flour
- Ground corn treated with lime
- Hominy
- Hominy grits
- Instant oatmeal
- Masa harina
- Millet
- Millet flour
- Nixtamalized cornmeal
- Nixtamalized corn flour
- Oats/oatmeal (any kind)
- Quinoa
- Rye groats
- Sorghum
- Sorghum flour
- Spelt berries
- Sprouted brown rice
- Sprouted buckwheat
- Sprouted einkorn
- Sprouted spelt
- Sprouted whole rye
- Sprouted whole wheat
- Steel cut oats
- Teff
- Teff flour
- Triticale
- Triticale flour
- Wheat berries
- Wheat groats
- White whole wheat flour
- Whole corn
- Whole durum flour
- Whole einkorn berries
- Whole grain (WG) corn
- WG corn flour/cornmeal
- WG einkorn flour
- WG oat flour
- WG spelt flour
- WG wheat flakes
- Whole rye flour
- Whole wheat flour
- Whole wheat pastry flour
- Wild rice
Enriched Grains
Enriched grains may be the second or third grain ingredient:
- Enriched all-purpose flour
- Enriched bleached white flour
- Enriched bread flour
- Enriched bromated flour
- Enriched corn flour/cornmeal
- Enriched durum flour
- Enriched durum wheat flour
- Enriched grits
- Enriched rice
- Enriched rice flour
- Enriched rye flour
- Enriched unbleached white flour
- Enriched wheat flour
- Enriched white flour
Bran and Germ
Bran and germ may be the second or third grain ingredient:
- Corn bran
- Oat bran
- Rice bran
- Rye bran
- Wheat bran
- Wheat germ
Disregard These Ingredients
- Noncreditable grain and flour ingredients listed after the words “Contains 2% or less…”
- Grain derivatives (by-products):
- Corn dextrin
- Corn starch
- Modified food starch
- Rice starch
- Tapioca starch
- Wheat dextrin
- Wheat gluten
- Wheat starch
Noncreditable Grains and Flours
Noncreditable grains and flours cannot be one of the first three grain ingredients:
- Any bean flour (e.g., soy, chickpea, lentil)
- Any nut or seed flour (e.g., almond, sesame)
- Barley malt
- Bromated flour
- Corn
- Corn fiber
- Degerminated cornmeal
- Durum flour
- Farina
- Grits
- Malted barley flour
- Oat fiber
- Potato flour
- Rice flour
- Semolina
- Stone ground corn
- Wheat flour
- White flour
- Yellow corn flour
- Yellow cornmeal
Tips!: Seeds (such as pumpkin, squash, sesame, sunflower, chia, and flax seed) credit toward the M/MA component, not toward the grains component, even if these seeds are used in grain products. The USDA Food Buying Guide for CNPs includes some, but not all, seeds that credit toward the an M/MA component.
Bean and potato flours are not creditable toward the grains component; however, they may be creditable toward the vegetable or M/MA components. For more information, access the USDA Food Buying Guide for CNPs, and the USDA Policy Memo SP 26-2019, CACFP 13-2019, SFSP 12-2019 Revised, Crediting Pasta Products Made of Vegetable Flour in the CNPs.