Background
Per Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) regulations in Title 7, Code of Federal Regulations (7 CFR), Section 226.20(a)(4)(i)(A), at least one serving of grains per day, across all eating occasions of bread, cereals, and grains, must be whole grain-rich (WGR).
WGR is defined in 7 CFR, Section 226.2 as the term designated by the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) to indicate that the grain content of a product is between 50 and 100 percent whole grain with any remaining grains being enriched.
A whole grain contains the entire cereal grain seed or kernel. The kernel has three parts—the bran, the germ, and the endosperm. Usually the kernel is cracked, crushed, or flaked during the milling process. If the finished product retains the same relative proportions of bran, germ, and endosperm as the original grain, it is considered a whole grain. Whole grains provide a variety of nutrients to support proper growth and development in children. They also help to provide a feeling of fullness with fewer calories.
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.
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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. The California Department of Public Health WIC web page includes links to the California WIC Authorized Food List Shopping Guide. Access the USDA FNS Contacts 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 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.
- 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 U.S. Department of Agriculture (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.)
A non-inclusive list of common whole grains, enriched grains, bran, and germ and information about flour blends is listed below. Use the guidance in the lists below when applying the Rule of Three.
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Grain Categories
Whole Grains
Whole grains must be the first grain ingredient and may be the second or third grain ingredient when using the USDA FNS Rule of Three.
- Amaranth
- Amaranth flour
- Black rice
- Brown rice
- Brown rice flour
- Buckwheat
- Buckwheat flour
- Buckwheat groats
- Bulgur
- Corn masa
- Corn treated with lime
- Cracked wheat
- Crushed wheat
- Dehulled barley
- Dehulled barley flour
- Entire wheat flour
- Flaked rye
- Flaked wheat
- Graham flour
- Hominy
- Hominy grits
- Instant oatmeal
- Masa harina
- Millet
- Millet flour
- Nixtamalized corn flour/meal
- Oats/oatmeal
- Old fashioned oats
- Popcorn
- Quinoa
- Rye berries
- Rye groats
- Sorghum
- Sorghum flour
- Spelt berries
- Sprouted brown rice
- Sprouted buckwheat
- Sprouted einkorn
- Sprouted spelt
- Sprouted wheat
- 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
- WG wheat flakes
- Whole rye flour
- Whole wheat flour
- Whole wheat pastry flour
- Wild rice
- Wild rice flour
Enriched Grains
Enriched grains may be the second or third grain ingredient when using the USDA FNS Rule of Three.
- 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 farina
- Enriched grits
- Enriched rice
- Enriched rice flour
- Enriched rye flour
- Enriched unbleached white flour
- Enriched wheat flour
- Enriched white flour
- Other grains with the word ‘enriched’ in front of it
- Grain ingredients that list the nutrients used to enrich the grain immediately following the ingredient (e.g., ‘Durum flour [niacin, iron, riboflavin, folic acid, thiamin)’)
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Bran and Germ
Bran and germ may be the second or third grain ingredient when using the USDA FNS Rule of Three.
- Corn bran
- Oat bran
- Rice bran
- Rye bran
- Wheat bran
- Wheat germ
Disregarded Ingredients When Using the USDA FNS Rule of Three
- 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 when using the USDA FNS Rule of Three.
- Any bean flour (e.g., soy, chickpea, lentil)
- Any nut or seed flour (e.g., almond, sesame)
- Barley malt
- Bromated flour
- Corn
- Corn fiber
- Degermed corn
- Degerminated cornmeal
- Durum flour
- Farina
- Grits
- Malted barley flour
- Nut or seed flour1 (any kind)
- Oat fiber
- Potato flour1
- Rice flour
- Semolina
- Stone ground corn
- Tapioca flour
- Vegetable flour1 (any kind)
- Wheat flour
- White flour
- Yellow corn flour
- Yellow cornmeal
1Bean, potato, and other vegetable 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.
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Flour Blends
Ingredients that are listed as a flour blend are treated as one ingredient when using the USDA FNS Rule of Three.
- If the first grain ingredient is a flour blend, all the ingredients in the flour blend must be whole grain.
- If the flour blend is the second or third grain ingredient, then the flour blend may be made up of whole grains, enriched grains, bran, and/or germ.
- If the flour blend includes any non-creditable flours or grains, then the flour blend is not a creditable grain ingredient.
Below are examples of flour blends.
- Whole grain flour (whole-wheat flour, brown rice flour, whole grain oat flour)
The three flour ingredients that comprise the whole grain flour are all whole grains, so the whole grain flour blend is a whole grain.
- Flour blend (graham flour, enriched wheat flour, enriched corn flour, wheat bran)
The flour blend contains whole grain ingredients (graham flour), enriched grain ingredients (enriched wheat flour, enriched corn flour) and bran (wheat bran), so the flour blend is a creditable grain ingredient and can be the first or second ingredient using the USDA FNS Rule of Three, but not the first ingredient because not all the ingredients that make up the flour blend are whole grain.
- Flour blend (durum flour, bromated flour, brown rice flour).
This flour blend includes two noncreditable flours (durum flour and bromated flour), so the flour blend is not a creditable grain ingredient.
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