Licensing Standards for DayCare Centers

Section I
Preparation, Serving, Storage of Food and Protection of Food Supplies

I.(1) If food is provided by the facility, daily menus shall be dated and posted where they may be seen by the parent(s)/guardian(s). Menus shall include a variety of foods.

I.(2) The meal and snack patterns provided by the USDA Child Care Food Program Guidelines shall be used in meal planning. Centers which do not provide overnight care shall serve at least one meal and at least one snack which meet USDA Child Care Food Program Guidelines. Centers providing care between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and midnight shall additionally meet USDA Child Care Food Program Guidelines in serving dinner and at least one additional snack. Meal components and serving sizes shall be in accordance with these guidelines.

I.(3) Only Grade A pasteurized fluid milk and fluid milk products, or Grade A pasteurized non-fat dry milk, or evaporated milk shall be used for drinking purposes. Skim milk, low fat milk and reconstituted non-fat dry milk shall not be used for drinking purposes by any child less than twenty-four months old, except with the written permission of the child's health care provider.

I.(4) Regular meals and snacks with no more than four hours between food services shall be provided during the period from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.

I.(5) No child shall be deprived of a meal or snack if he/she is in attendance at the time the meal or snack is served.

I.(6) Food served shall be suited to the child's age and appetite. Second portions shall be available.

I.(7) Easily breakable dinnerware shall not be used.

I.(8) Children shall not be forced to eat.

I.(9) Food shall not be used as a punishment.

I.(10) Children shall not be allowed in the kitchen except during supervised activities.

I.(11) Potentially hazardous and perishable food provided by the parent(s)/guardian(s) shall be refrigerated properly and shall be protected against contamination.

I.(12) Food brought into the center shall have a label showing the child's name.

I.(13) Round, firm foods shall not be offered to children younger than four years old. Examples of such foods include: hot dogs, grapes, hard candy, nuts, peanuts, and popcorn. Hot dogs may be served if cut lengthwise and quartered; grapes may be served if cut in halves.

I.(14) Portions of food once served to an individual shall not be served again.

I.(15) Regulations for food service shall include the following:

I.(15)(a) Adequate handwashing facilities equipped with hot and cold water under pressure, supplied through a mixing faucet, shall be provided in the food preparation area;

I.(15)(b) Sanitary soap and towels shall be provided. Facilities in operation before the effective date of these regulations shall not be required to install an additional handwashing lavatory in the food preparation area if, in the opinion of the health authority, the existing handwashing facilities are adequate.

I.(17) Thermometers shall be placed in all cooling and warming units to ensure proper temperatures. Hot food storage of all potentially hazardous food shall be one hundred and thirty degrees Fahrenheit or above.

I.(18) Containers of food shall be stored above the floor, on clean surfaces, and in such a manner to be protected from splash and other contamination.

I.(19) Food not subject to further washing or cooking before serving shall be stored in such a manner to be protected against contamination from food requiring washing or cooking.

I.(20) Utensils, such as forks, knives, tongs, spoons, and scoops shall be provided and used to minimize handling of food in all food preparation areas.

I.(21) Single-service articles shall be stored at least six inches above the floor in closed cartons or containers to protect them from contamination and shall not be placed under exposed sewer lines.

I.(22) Use of "common drinking cups" shall be prohibited. Disposable cups, if used, shall be stored properly to prevent contamination.

I.(23) Reuse of single service articles is prohibited.

I.(24) The storage of food or food equipment, utensils, or single-service articles in toilet rooms is prohibited.

I.(25) No staff, while afflicted with any communicable disease or while a carrier of such a disease or while afflicted with boils, infected wounds, sores, or an acute respiratory infection shall work in any capacity in a day care center in which there is a likelihood of such a person contaminating food or food-contact surfaces with pathogenic organisms, or likelihood of transmitting disease to other individuals.

I.(26) Staff shall thoroughly wash their hands with soap and warm water in an approved handwashing facility before starting work, during work as often as is necessary to keep them clean, and after smoking, eating, drinking, or using the toilet. Staff shall keep their fingernails clean and trimmed.

I.(27) The outer clothing of all staff shall be clean. The director shall ensure that food and food-contact surfaces are protected from falling hair.

I.(28) Staff shall neither use tobacco in any form while preparing or serving food, nor while in areas used for equipment or utensil washing or for food preparation. Staff shall use tobacco only in approved, designated areas.

I.(29) Potentially hazardous foods requiring cooking shall be cooked to heat all parts of the food to a temperature of at least one hundred forty degrees Fahrenheit, with the following exceptions:

I.(29)(a) Poultry, poultry stuffings, stuffed meats, and stuffings containing meat shall be cooked to heat all parts of the food to at least one hundred sixty-five degrees Fahrenheit with no interruption of the cooking process;

I.(29)(b) Pork and any food containing pork shall be cooked to heat all parts of the food to at least one hundred and fifty degrees Fahrenheit;

I.(29)(c) Rare roast beef shall be cooked to an internal temperature of at least one hundred and thirty degrees Fahrenheit, and rare beef steak shall be cooked to a temperature of one hundred and thirty degrees Fahrenheit.

I.(31) Custards, cream fillings, or similar products which are prepared by hot or cold processes shall be kept at safe temperatures except during necessary periods of preparation and service.

I.(32) If potentially hazardous foods which have been cooked and then refrigerated are to be served hot, they shall be reheated rapidly to one hundred and sixty-five degrees Fahrenheit or higher throughout before being served or before being placed in a hot food-storage facility. Steam tables, double boilers, warmers, and similar hot food holding facilities are prohibited from use for the rapid reheating of potentially hazardous foods.

I.(33) Metal, stem-type, numerically-scaled indicating thermometers, accurate to plus or minus three degrees Fahrenheit, shall be provided and used to ensure that proper internal cooking, holding, or refrigeration temperatures of all potentially hazardous foods are maintained.

I.(34) Potentially hazardous foods shall be thawed as follows:

I.(34)(a) In refrigerated units at a temperature not to exceed forty-five degrees Fahrenheit;

I.(34)(b) Under potable running water from the cold water supply with sufficient water velocity to remove loose food particles;

I.(34)(c) In a microwave oven only when food will be immediately transferred to conventional cooking equipment as part of a continuous cooking process or when the entire, uninterrupted cooking process takes place in the microwave oven;

I.(34)(d) As part of the conventional cooking process.

I.(36) All food in day care centers shall be from a source approved or considered satisfactory by the health authority and shall be clean, unspoiled, free from contamination, properly labeled, and safe for human consumption.

I.(37) The use of food in hermetically sealed containers that was not prepared in a food-processing establishment is prohibited.

I.(38) The use of home-canned foods is not allowed.

I.(39) The following requirements shall be met when it is necessary to provide meals through a catering service:

I.(39)(a) Catered meals shall be obtained from a food service establishment approved by the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control;

I.(39)(b) If adequate cleaning and sanitizing equipment is not available, only disposable eating and drinking utensils shall be used to serve catered meals or food;

I.(39)(c) The procedures and equipment used to transport catered meals shall be approved by the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control.

I.(41) All perishable fruits and vegetables shall be stored at temperatures to protect against spoilage.

I.(42) All raw fruits and vegetables shall be washed thoroughly before being cooked, served, or placed in refrigerators.

I.(43) All cleaning supplies, detergents, and other potentially poisonous items shall be stored away from food items and shall be inaccessible to children.

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