Sample Language: Nutrition

For Organizational Policies and Food Vendor Contracts

At a glance

Public and private worksites, hospitals, parks, community institutions, and other settings should include nutrition standards in their food service guidelines. Consider using this sample language for prepared foods, packaged snacks, and beverages.

Healthy grilled chicken and vegetables meal.

Introduction

On this page you can find sample language for incorporating nutrition standards into food service guidelines. For the full list of nutrition standards, see Table 1 (prepared foods), and Table 3 (beverages).

On this page you can find sample language for incorporating nutrition standards into food service guidelines.

Plate with grilled chicken and fresh green salad
See sample language below for prepared foods for your food service guidelines.

Sample language: Prepared foods

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

Fruits and vegetables

  • Offer a variety of at least three fruit options daily, with no added sugars. Fruit can be fresh, canned, frozen, or dried.
  • Offer a variety of at least three 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 three times per week.
  • Offer seafood at least two times a week.

Desserts

  • When desserts are available, offer 25% of desserts containing no more than 200 calories as served.

Sodium

  • All meals offered contain no more than 800 mg sodium.
  • All entrées offered contain no more than 600 mg sodium.
  • All side items contain no more than 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 one choice per day.

Additional Guidance ‎

For food vendor contracts and organizational policies:


Provide a cycle menu to increase the variety of healthy foods offered. A cycle menu is a series of menus planned for a period, such as 4 or 6 weeks. The menu is different each day during the cycle. After the whole menu is served, the cycle is complete. The menus are then repeated in the same order. See seasonal samples here.


Work with a dietitian or nutritionist in the preparation of menus, recipes, and quality control.


Provide a variety of prepared foods that appeal to consumers with diverse dietary requirements and preferences, including vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, low sodium, and low sugar.


Use healthy cooking techniques to reduce calories, sodium, saturated fat, and added sugars without sacrificing taste or quality.


Develop a gradual sodium reduction plan to meet the sodium standards for meals, entrées, and sides.

Three vending machines and a coffee station.
Below is sample language on packaged snacks for your food service guidelines.

Sample language: Packaged snacks

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

  • All packaged snacks contain no more than 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: no more than 200 calories.
      • Saturated fat limit: less than 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: no more than 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.
Three varieties of soft drinks in glasses.
See sample language below for beverages for your organizational policy.

Sample language: Beverages

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 no more than 40 calories per 8 fluid ounces [excluding 100% juice and unsweetened fat-free or low-fat (1%) milk].

Sample language for other components

Beautiful and appealing vegetables arranged at a salad bar.
Sample Language: Behavioral Design
Draft contract and policy language for food placement, product innovations, pricing, and more.
Man cleaning worktable in commercial kitchen.
Sample Language: Facility Efficiency
Sample language for adding facility efficiency to food service guidelines contracts and policies.
Man in commercial kitchen washing vegetables.
Sample Language: Food Safety
Adding food safety considerations to policies and contracts for food service guidelines.
University-aged students going through cafeteria serving line.
Sample Language: Compliance
See sample compliance language for putting food service guidelines in policies and contracts.
Chef with papers in commercial kitchen
Sample Language: Vendor Reporting
Communicate reporting requirements up front so vendor knows how changes will be assessed.
Server dishing up a meal in a food service line.
Sample Language: Roles and Responsibilities
Name parties responsible for carrying out activities, meeting objectives, and monitoring progress.

Go back to

Food service guidelines policy framework.
Put Guidelines in Organizational Policies and Food Vendor Contracts
Elements of a comprehensive food service guidelines policy and links to sample contract language.
Icons for the four Building Blocks of Food Service Guidelines. The four icons are 1) trowel and brick wall 2) shaking hands 3) a checklist and 4) a street sign going in three directions.
Food Service Guidelines Implementation Toolkit
Describes how to use the four Building Blocks of the Food Service Guidelines Implementation Toolkit.
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Content Source:
National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (NCCDPHP)