The Practice Meal Modification spreadsheet contains a one-week menu, along with a list of students and
their allergies. The Meal Modification-Food Ingredients contains ingredient listings for foods on the
menu.
For each student, remove those menu items on the School Meals, containing the restricted
food/beverage and replacing it with an appropriate substitution. Whenever possible, substitute with
items that are readily available in the kitchen, which can be determined by reviewing the week’s school
or toddler menus for appropriate substitutions. See sample menu substitution on spread sheet.
Remember, as with any menu writing and/or development, attention should be paid to color, textures,
shape/size of food and appropriateness. Also, keep in mind the feasibility and/or practicality of your
substitution. For example, in the sample on the spreadsheet, while a substitution of fresh blueberries
may be an appropriate substitution, it would be costly and impractical for the school to purchase an
entire flat of blueberries, to provide a substitution for one child. Remember-this is a large food service
operation, so their purchases are in large amounts-cases, boxes, flats, etc. Since nectarines are menued
for lunch on Monday, it is safe to assume that the entire case was not used and there is still some
available for a substitution.
The School Breakfast/Lunch and the Preschool’s meals/snacks, while both in the same USDA unit are
administered under different guidelines and regulations. Preschools follow the Child and Adult Care
Food Program (CACFP). You can refer to this link for additional information:
https://www.fns.usda.gov/cn;
