PCCPA

🤯 Did You Know Child Care Programs Can Get Help Paying for Healthy Meals?

Yep it’s true! Through the CACFP (Child and Adult Care Food Program), participating child care homes and centers can receive reimbursements for serving nutritious meals and snacks to children.

A child can receive up to 3 reimbursable meal services per day, such as:

🥞 Breakfast
🍗 Lunch
🥕 Snack
🍲 Supper

(Any combination of 2 meals and 1 snack or 1 meal and 2 snacks.)

That means children get the healthy food they need to learn, grow, and play, while providers receive support for the meals they’re already serving. ❤️

👩‍🍳 Providers: If you’re serving meals in your child care program, you may qualify for CACFP reimbursements.

At PCCPA, we help child care homes and centers across the State of Texas with:
✔ CACFP enrollment
✔ Training & compliance support
✔ Nutrition guidance
✔ Ongoing program assistance

⭐ Follow PCCPA for tips, updates, and resources for child care providers across Texas!
🌐 Learn more: www.pccpa.org

🛒 CACFP Myth vs. Fact!

❌ MYTH: CACFP buys the groceries for your daycare.

Wouldn’t that be nice? Imagine a CACFP grocery fairy dropping off milk, fruit, and veggies at your door every week. 🧚‍♀️🥕🥛

✅ FACT: CACFP reimburses you for meals and snacks that meet USDA meal pattern requirements.

That means you purchase the food, serve creditable meals, and then receive reimbursement for those meals when they meet CACFP guidelines.

📋 Pro Tip: Make sure the foods you purchase match what you record on your Meal Production Records.
If your menu says apples, milk, and whole grain bread… your receipts should show apples, milk, and whole grain bread too. 🍎🥛🍞

Good documentation helps protect your reimbursement and your program.

Follow PCCPA for more CACFP myth-busting tips, helpful reminders, and a little childcare humor along the way! 😄

🥣🕵️‍♂️ CACFP Cereal Detective: The 5-Second Sugar Test!

Ever stood in the cereal aisle thinking…

“Is this cereal CACFP creditable… or a sugar bomb in disguise?” 🍬💣

Good news — you can check in about 5 seconds using the Nutrition Facts label.

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# # # 🔎 The CACFP Sugar Rule
To be creditable in CACFP, breakfast cereals must have:

No more than 6 grams of sugar per dry ounce.

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# # # ⚡ The 5-Second Trick (No Calculator Needed)

Look at the Nutrition Facts label:

1️⃣ Find Serving Size (grams)
2️⃣ Find Total Sugars (grams)

Now do this quick trick:

👉 Multiply the sugar grams × 4

If that number is LESS than or equal to the serving size, the cereal meets the CACFP sugar limit.

Example:

Serving size: 30 g
Sugar: 6 g

6 × 4 = 24

✔ 24 ≤ 30 → CACFP allowable

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# # # 🛒 Helpful Shortcut: WIC Cereal Lists

USDA guidance allows CACFP providers to use any state’s WIC-approved cereal list to help identify cereals that meet the CACFP sugar limit.

Because WIC cereals must meet the same sugar standard, these lists are a helpful starting point when shopping.

⚠️ Always double-check the Nutrition Facts label since manufacturers sometimes change recipes.

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# # # 📋 We Made It Easier

To help providers shop faster, we created a list of cereals that may meet the CACFP sugar limit.

🔗 https://www.pccpa.org/2026cereallist.html

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Because when it comes to CACFP…

Not all cereals are created equal. 😉