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Daycare Menus, Breakfast, Lunch and Snack Ideas>Is There a List of CACFP Approved Crackers?
Unregistered 07:14 PM 05-24-2018
I recently printed a page of cereals so that we can find them more quickly when shopping. I'm wondering if there's something like that for crackers. We have a food program person coming in a week or two to go through our kitchen and snacks are one of the things that confuse me most.

I believe Triscuits and, likely, Wheat Thins are approved? Graham crackers, too, I think. But I'm not sure beyond that. We have Goldfish, Cheese-Its and Club Crackers often and I saw that "enriched wheat flour" is the first ingredient of each. Are those approved since they are enriched?
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amberrose3dg 04:28 AM 05-25-2018
Originally Posted by Unregistered:
I recently printed a page of cereals so that we can find them more quickly when shopping. I'm wondering if there's something like that for crackers. We have a food program person coming in a week or two to go through our kitchen and snacks are one of the things that confuse me most.

I believe Triscuits and, likely, Wheat Thins are approved? Graham crackers, too, I think. But I'm not sure beyond that. We have Goldfish, Cheese-Its and Club Crackers often and I saw that "enriched wheat flour" is the first ingredient of each. Are those approved since they are enriched?
I buy the whole grain goldfish and believe they are approved.
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Rockgirl 05:54 AM 05-25-2018
Originally Posted by Unregistered:
I recently printed a page of cereals so that we can find them more quickly when shopping. I'm wondering if there's something like that for crackers. We have a food program person coming in a week or two to go through our kitchen and snacks are one of the things that confuse me most.

I believe Triscuits and, likely, Wheat Thins are approved? Graham crackers, too, I think. But I'm not sure beyond that. We have Goldfish, Cheese-Its and Club Crackers often and I saw that "enriched wheat flour" is the first ingredient of each. Are those approved since they are enriched?
Here, those are approved, but don’t count as a whole-grain component. I serve them sometimes if we’ve already had a whole grain that day.
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hwichlaz 09:24 AM 05-25-2018
Originally Posted by Rockgirl:
Here, those are approved, but don’t count as a whole-grain component. I serve them sometimes if we’ve already had a whole grain that day.
The ingredients list fits the usda requirements. I’d fight it.
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hwichlaz 09:26 AM 05-25-2018
I’m assuming that you mean for the whole grain requirement? Since nearly all crackers are approved.

Whole Grain Goldfish
Wheat Thins
Triscuits

Any cracker with whole grain as the first non-water ingredient as long as sugar is not the second ingredient.
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Rockgirl 10:26 AM 05-25-2018
Originally Posted by hwichlaz:
The ingredients list fits the usda requirements. I’d fight it.
I meant the graham crackers, cheezits, regular goldfish, etc. Those aren’t whole-grain, but are still payable as a grain if there’s been a whole grain served during the day.
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hwichlaz 11:27 AM 05-25-2018
Originally Posted by Rockgirl:
I meant the graham crackers, cheezits, regular goldfish, etc. Those aren’t whole-grain, but are still payable as a grain if there’s been a whole grain served during the day.

Oh ok. She’d specified whole grain goldfish so I was confused. Are the WG version hard to find where you live?
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Rockgirl 11:42 AM 05-25-2018
Originally Posted by hwichlaz:
Oh ok. She’d specified whole grain goldfish so I was confused. Are the WG version hard to find where you live?
They are available here. Looking at the ingredients, though....I don’t think they meet the requirements for a whole grain, as defined by our latest fp training. I will have to look over my paperwork again, but “made with whole grain” isn’t enough. I’m pretty sure we have to look at the first three grain ingredients.
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Unregistered 12:18 PM 05-25-2018
I didn't know what I meant, but I think I may be starting to get it a little, ha ha.

So nearly all crackers that I have picked up say "enriched flour" for their first ingredient. These would be creditable, or reimbursable. But they would not count as the one "whole grain rich" food serving for the day. But, for example, a box of raisin bran that states "whole wheat flour" as the first ingredient would be meeting that WGR requirement for the day. As long as all my grains are enriched and I am serving one WGR food per day, I am meeting the requirements for grains, right?
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Rockgirl 12:37 PM 05-25-2018
Originally Posted by Rockgirl:
They are available here. Looking at the ingredients, though....I don’t think they meet the requirements for a whole grain, as defined by our latest fp training. I will have to look over my paperwork again, but “made with whole grain” isn’t enough. I’m pretty sure we have to look at the first three grain ingredients.
Correcting myself. If the first ingredient is a whole grain and the next two grain ingredients are creditable, including enriched grains, it counts as whole grain.
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hwichlaz 01:01 PM 05-25-2018
Originally Posted by Rockgirl:
They are available here. Looking at the ingredients, though....I don’t think they meet the requirements for a whole grain, as defined by our latest fp training. I will have to look over my paperwork again, but “made with whole grain” isn’t enough. I’m pretty sure we have to look at the first three grain ingredients.
They have to be made with at leased 50% whole grain. They are.
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hwichlaz 01:02 PM 05-25-2018
Originally Posted by Unregistered:
I didn't know what I meant, but I think I may be starting to get it a little, ha ha.

So nearly all crackers that I have picked up say "enriched flour" for their first ingredient. These would be creditable, or reimbursable. But they would not count as the one "whole grain rich" food serving for the day. But, for example, a box of raisin bran that states "whole wheat flour" as the first ingredient would be meeting that WGR requirement for the day. As long as all my grains are enriched and I am serving one WGR food per day, I am meeting the requirements for grains, right?
Cereals are special. It also has to be low enough in sugar. I think the raisins bump it up too high.
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hwichlaz 01:03 PM 05-25-2018
Our whole grain cereals of choice are frosted mini wheats and Cheerios.
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hwichlaz 01:09 PM 05-25-2018
Cereal list is page 10. These all meet the low sugar requirement and the whole grain cereals are indicated.

This will also have whole grain breads and creditable milk substitutes. When in doubt, WIC guidelines are the easiest way to check.
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flossie 12:22 PM 05-26-2018
Page 10 of what? (I do have a printout of cereals from a link on this forum, think from Providers Choice.) Now that I looked more closely, I see you are correct in that the raisin bran's sugar is too high as it's at 20g for the serving size and the limit for that is 13g, as well as the fact that it is not on the list that I'd printed, ha ha. Must need an eye exam.

Editing to add: I tried mini wheats and they weren't a hit. But I will try a frosted one next time. I likely will stick with Cheerios and Chex, primarily, as it needs to be edible for the toddlers, too. (My biggest concern when my own kids were young was choking - I'm pretty mindful of it at all times.)
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hwichlaz 06:12 PM 05-26-2018
Darn. Tried to post a link. Google WIC food guide.
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flossie 06:01 PM 09-10-2018
What about sugar limits for crackers?

My employer keeps buying vanilla wafers, which I know I have read is not allowable. She also keeps buying animal crackers, which I have not read about at all. Today she bought chocolate animal crackers. While the first ingredient says "enriched flour", does the amount of sugar matter and what limit?
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Blackcat31 06:34 AM 09-11-2018
Originally Posted by flossie:
What about sugar limits for crackers?

My employer keeps buying vanilla wafers, which I know I have read is not allowable. She also keeps buying animal crackers, which I have not read about at all. Today she bought chocolate animal crackers. While the first ingredient says "enriched flour", does the amount of sugar matter and what limit?
This link is from Florida but it's the exact same one Provider's Choice provides. It lists animal crackers (regular/plain) as credible but vanilla wafers as non-credible.

http://www.floridahealth.gov/program...e%20Grains.pdf

ETA, I found the link for Provider's Choice...
http://www.providerschoice.com/pdfs/...%20Handout.pdf
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Rockgirl 09:42 AM 09-11-2018
My rep told me on her last visit that now the whole grain goldfish crackers don’t meet the requirement for whole grain. They’re still allowed, but not to be claimed as whole grain.
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Jo123ABC 11:39 AM 09-11-2018
Attached is a list of a few the food program gave me a while ago.
Attached: 15366910603632653108176784007247.jpg (3.33 MB) 
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flossie 02:45 PM 09-11-2018
Thanks for the replies. I think I've been spending far too much of my own (i.e. unpaid) time trying to figure this stuff out. It wouldn't be so hard if I were the one doing the shopping, but I am relying on the owner who wants to do it, ha ha, and have to use what she gets me.

I did go to cold cereal breakfasts only now, so that opened up a couple more snack options - English muffins, bagels, raisin toast.
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Josiegirl 02:48 PM 09-11-2018
Originally Posted by Rockgirl:
My rep told me on her last visit that now the whole grain goldfish crackers don’t meet the requirement for whole grain. They’re still allowed, but not to be claimed as whole grain.
Hmmm, wonder if my food rep will say the same thing next time she comes. We were told as long as it says whole grain on the front of the package, it was okay.
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Unregistered 07:27 PM 09-11-2018
Quaker oatmeal squares.
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Unregistered 09:59 AM 09-13-2018
Of course, everything always depends on your sponsor and state agency approval but follow this link to anything new meal pattern fronm around the country not from just one source. Click on Grains box and yo will find many lists...

http://ccfprtconference.weebly.com/c...n-library.html
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Unregistered 10:18 AM 09-13-2018
Not sure why no one will write up an actual list of crackers, except maybe not to promote companies products but they do for cereals...

Ingredients for the Whold Grain Fish Cracker
WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR, ENRICHED WHEAT FLOUR (FLOUR, NIACIN, REDUCED IRON, THIAMINE MONONITRATE, RIBOFLAVIN, FOLIC ACID), CHEDDAR CHEESE ([CULTURED MILK, SALT, ENZYMES], ANNATTO), CANOLA AND/OR SUNFLOWER OIL, SALT, CONTAINS 2% OR LESS OF: YEAST EXTRACT, PAPRIKA,
SPICES, CELERY, BAKING SODA, MONOCALCIUM PHOSPHATE, ONION POWDER. CONTAINS: WHEAT, MILK.


https://www.pepperidgefarm.com/produ...h-whole-grain/
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