Put Food Service Guidelines into Organizational Policies and Food Vendor Contracts

When providing prepared foods, the vendor must comply with the following food and nutrition standards:

Fruits and Vegetables

• Offer a variety of at least 3 fruit options daily, with no added sugars. Fruit can be fresh, canned, frozen, or dried.
• Offer a variety of at least 3 non-fried vegetable options daily. Vegetables can be fresh, frozen, or canned, and served cooked or raw.
• Offer seasonal fruits and vegetables.

Grains

• Offer half of total grains as whole grain-rich products, daily.

Dairy

• Offer a variety of fat-free and low-fat (1%) dairy products daily, such as milk, yogurt, cheese, and fortified soy beverages.

Protein Foods

• Offer a variety of protein foods, such as seafood, lean meats and poultry, eggs, legumes (beans and peas), nuts, seeds, and soy products, daily.
• Offer protein foods from plants, such as legumes (beans and peas), nuts, seeds, and soy products, at least 3 times per week.
• Offer seafood at least 2 times a week.

Desserts

• When desserts are available, offer 25% of desserts containing ≤ 200 calories as served.

Sodium

• All meals offered contain ≤ 800 mg sodium.
• All entrées offered contain ≤ 600 mg sodium.
• All side items contain ≤ 230 mg sodium.

Trans fat

• All foods do not include partially hydrogenated oils.

Calorie and Nutrition Labeling

• Provide calorie and nutrition information of standard menu items as required by the Food and Drug Administration’s Menu Labeling Final Rule: Food Labeling; Nutrition Labeling of Standard Menu Items in Restaurants and Similar Retail Food Establishments.

Other Considerations

• Limit deep-fried entrée options to no more than 1 choice per day.

When providing packaged foods, the vendor must comply with the following food and nutrition standards:

• All packaged snacks contain ≤ 230 mg sodium per package.
• All packaged snacks have 0 grams of trans fat.
• In addition to meeting the requirements above, at least 75% of packaged snacks meet the following food and nutrient standards:
  • Food Standards
    • Have as the first ingredient a fruit, vegetable, dairy product, or protein food; or
    • Be a “whole grain-rich” grain product; or
    • Be a combination food that contains at least one-quarter cup of fruits and/or vegetables.
  • Nutrient Standards
    • Calorie limit: ≤ 200 calories.
    • Saturated fat limit: < 10% of calories.
      • Exemptions: Reduced-fat cheese and part-skim mozzarella; nuts, seeds, and nut/seed butters; and dried fruit with nuts/seeds with no added nutritive sweeteners or fats.
    • Sugar limit: ≤ 35% of weight from total sugars in foods.
      • Exemptions: Dried/dehydrated whole fruits or vegetables with no added nutritive sweeteners; dried whole fruits or pieces with nutritive sweeteners required for processing and/or palatability; products consisting of only exempt dried fruit with nuts and/or seeds with no added nutritive sweeteners or fats.
    • Calorie Labeling
      • All snack foods sold in vending machines meet the Food and Drug Administration’s Vending Machine Final Rule: Food Labeling; Calorie Labeling of Articles of Food in Vending Machines.

When providing beverages, the vendor must comply with the following food and nutrition standards:

• Provide free access to chilled, potable water.
• When milk and fortified soy beverages are available, offer fat-free and low-fat (1%) beverages with no added sugars.

• When juice is available, offer 100% juice with no added sugars.

• At least 50% of available beverage choices contain ≤ 40 calories per 8 fluid ounces [excluding 100% juice and unsweetened fat-free or low-fat (1%) milk].

The vendor must implement one or more of the following standards to increase the selection and sale of healthier menu offerings:

Placement and Layout

• Strategically place foods and beverages and design the layout of food service venues to encourage consumers to select healthier foods and beverages.

Product innovations and defaults

• Use product innovations and the inclusion of healthier options the as the default option.

Pricing and promotion

• Use price incentives and marketing strategies to highlight healthier food and beverage items.

Tableware

• Promote healthier portion sizes by optimizing the size of plates, bowls, glasses, other dishware, and serving ware.

Information

• Use information, displays, decorations, and signage to highlight healthier choices.

Organizational policy

• Work with worksite wellness programs or other employee organizations to promote healthier options.

The vendor must comply with the following purchasing standards:

• Institute accurate forecasting and just-in-time ordering concepts.
• Provide materials for single-service items (e.g., bottled beverage containers, trays, flatware, plates, and bowls) that are compostable and/or made from biobased products.
• Use bulk-serve condiments instead of single-serve packs, while following necessary food safety procedures.
• When purchasing packaged products, give preference to products in recyclable, compostable, or biobased packaging.
• Use cleaning products and services that are environmentally preferable, while following necessary food safety procedures.
• Offer at least 25% of foods and beverages as certified organic, produced with another certified environmentally beneficial practice, or locally sourced.
• When seafood options are available, offer seafood procured from fisheries and aquaculture operations that are responsibly managed, sustainable, and healthy. Purchasing wild-captured and farmed seafood from US companies, which adhere to some of the strictest sustainability practices in the world, is one way to ensure compliance with this standard.

The vendor must comply with the following food service management and consumer engagement standards:

• Promote and incentivize the use of reusable beverage containers, while following necessary food safety procedures.
• Utilize cleaning practices and equipment operations that conserve resources, such as water and energy. These could include using ENERGY STAR and WaterSense products and services.
• Use integrated pest management practices, green pest control alternatives, and a routine cleaning schedule, while following necessary food safety procedures.
• When applicable, label food products at the point of purchase as certified organic, produced with another certified environmentally beneficial practice, or locally sourced.
• For Vending: If purchasing new vending machines, purchase ENERGY STAR-certified machines or those that meet ENERGY STAR criteria.

The vendor must comply with the following waste diversion standards:

• Participate in and facilitate waste reduction, recycling, and composting programs in the kitchen, break rooms, and administrative areas (i.e., back-of-house operations).
• Participate in and facilitate waste reduction, recycling, and composting programs in areas that a consumer will be exposed to during his or her visit to the food service operation (i.e., front-of-house operations).
• Implement systems to monitor the relationship between waste and food procurement, including annual reporting of waste reduction and waste diversion benchmarks.
• Repurpose excess food for future meal preparation.
• Train staff on methods for reducing food waste.

The vendor must follow the guidance and standards in the most recently published Food Code (and all supplements) relating to food safety procedures and practices.

The vendor must have at least one management/supervisory employee (not necessarily the Person in Charge) who is a Certified Food Protection Manager present during all hours of operation.

The vendor is always expected to follow the most current Food Code.  The vendor may also select to implement one or more of the following standards to further reduce risk of foodborne illness:

Food Safety Management System/Active Managerial Control

• Establish a comprehensive written food safety plan that seeks to achieve active managerial control of foodborne illness risk factors, including but not limited to:
  1. improper holding temperatures.
  2. inadequate cooking, such as undercooking raw shell eggs.
  3. contaminated equipment.
  4. food from unsafe sources.
  5. poor personal hygiene.
• The plan could describe the food safety procedures for the food service facility, including how employees are to be trained on those procedures and how leadership plans to monitor proper implementation of those procedures.

Undercooked Meat, Poultry, and Egg Products

• Do not serve raw or undercooked meat, poultry, or egg products, even upon request of the customer.

Practices to Control Listeria monocytogenes in Ready-to-Eat Products

• Develop and implement written sanitation and temperature control programs that target the control of Listeria monocytogenes in ready-to-eat products. Include documentation of the following:
  • Cleaning frequencies for equipment, utensils, and nonfood contact surfaces (e.g., walls, floors, and ceilings).
  • Temperature control in coolers, deli cases, and refrigerators.

Sick Employees

• Develop and implement a written employee health policy that outlines the following:
  • How employees are trained on the reporting of symptoms, diagnoses, and activities that are associated with the transmission of foodborne illness from food workers and how such training is documented.
  • The policies for excluding, restricting, and reinstating employees who have or report symptoms, diagnoses, or activities as described in the Food Code.

Food Handler Training

• Develop and implement a written policy that addresses employee food safety training.

The vendor must demonstrate compliance by:

• Meeting all minimum performance requirements, as stipulated in this policy. The vendor agrees to routine audits to ensure healthier food service guideline provisions are being followed. If determined the vendor is not adequately meeting performance requirements, the organization reserves the right to establish a vendor performance improvement plan that includes time-limited, incremental targets, by which the vendor can demonstrate meaningful progress towards achieving all minimum requirements as described in this issued food service contract.

The vendor should describe his or her company’s capacity to address the following:

• Establish a system for reporting and monitoring to help track the compliance and consider ways to improve healthy food procurement. The vendor should describe how his or her company provides the following information
• Monthly [or weekly] operating statements.
• Monthly sales data for all items sold.
• A comparison of sales for healthier and less healthy food and beverage items.
• Provide a plan that explains how his or her company will work to monitor implementation of healthier food service guidelines, the service levels, menus, sales of foods and beverages, and marketing programs, as well as any other relevant items. The plan should include the frequency of monitoring and the forms that will be used.

To successfully carry out the terms and conditions of this agreement, the following persons are responsible for the implementation and monitoring of stipulations defined by this policy:

• Food Vendor is primarily responsible for carrying out the provisions included in this food service contract/agreement. The vendor is also responsible for updating and communicating with the contract monitor about barriers, challenges, and/or issues that arise and may prevent the vendor from meeting the healthier food service objectives and stipulations included in this contract/agreement.
• Procurement Officer will be responsible for initiating and processing the procurement request package for specified vendor services, drafting a Statement of Work (SOW) that reflects minimum food service guidelines requirements as determined by the organization.
• Contract Monitor will be responsible for monitoring the vendor’s compliance on an ongoing basis to ensure the healthier food service terms and conditions in the selected vendor’s contract are followed and adhered to. This may be monitored by use of periodic reviews and onsite audits or inspections. The contracting monitor can also assist the vendor with the resolution of any issues that arise regarding performance or implementation of healthier food service guidelines.
• Healthier Food Service Expert/Dietician/or Director of Food Service Operations will be responsible for providing technical assistance and guidance to the selected vendor related to healthy food preparation, staff training, needed equipment, marketing and promotional campaigns, or any other issues that may arise and jeopardize the successful implementation of healthier food service guidelines.