New Hampshire Code of Administrative Rules
He - Department of Health and Human Services
Subtitle He-C - Commissioner, Department of Health and Human Services
Chapter He-C 4000 - CHILD CARE LICENSING RULES
Part He-C 4002 - NH CHILD CARE PROGRAM LICENSING RULES
Section He-C 4002.31 - Nutrition, Food Service and Food Safety

(a) Programs shall provide developmentally appropriate individual eating utensils, cups, and bottles, as applicable, for each meal and snack, which children shall not share.

(b) Eating and drinking utensils shall be free from defects, cracks, and chips.

(c) Child care staff shall clean all dishes and cooking utensils in a dishwasher or manually wash them in clean hot water and detergent, rinse them in hot water, and allow manually washed dishes to air dry.

(d) Child care staff shall serve all food items on a plate or napkin, except foods for infants and toddlers, which can be served on a chair tray or table that has been cleaned and sanitized before being used as an eating surface.

(e) Child care staff shall sanitize all tables used for meals and snacks, both before and after serving meals or snacks.

(f) Only food contact surfaces that are easily cleanable, smooth, free of cracks, breaks, open seams, or similar difficult to clean imperfections which are kept clean, shall be used for food preparation.

(g) Children shall have access to drinking water and be encouraged to drink water throughout the day.

(h) Child care programs that provide meals and snacks shall ensure they meet the daily meal patterns listed in the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) "Child Meal Pattern" (11/26/2016) and USDA "Infant Meal Pattern" (11/29/2016) available as listed in Appendix B and copies of which are available in Appendix C.

(i) Child care staff shall thoroughly wash all fruit and vegetables before cutting or serving those foods to children.

(j) Except for the requirements in (k)(1) below, child care program personnel shall assure that no more than 3 hours elapse between meals and snacks offered to the children.

(k) Child care program personnel shall:

(l) Notwithstanding (k) above, the center director, site director, or family child care provider may require the parents of any child to obtain and provide to the program a written note from the child's licensed health care practitioner authorizing the dietary restrictions requested by a parent.

(m) Child care staff shall not serve foods that can cause a choking hazard to children younger than 3 years of age or to children who have been identified as having chewing and swallowing difficulties, including, but not limited to:

(n) Child care staff shall not serve low fat or non-fat milk, or other non-dairy milk products such as soymilk, oat milk, and almond milk, to children younger than 2 years of age unless authorized to do so in writing by the child's parent and the child's licensed health care practitioner.

(o) Programs that provide formula or cereal shall provide iron fortified formula or cereal unless restricted in writing by a child's parent and the child's licensed health care practitioner.

(p) Programs that provide meals and snacks for children shall:

(q) Child care program personnel shall store perishable food in accordance with the following:

(r) Child care program personnel shall not serve to children any canned goods that are dented, bulging or rusted.

(s) Programs shall have a method of providing nutritious meals and snacks to children whose parents fail to send meals or snacks from home.

(t) During meals and snacks, child care personnel shall:

(u) Children shall be encouraged to try all foods, but shall not be required to try or to eat any food before they are served other food components or additional servings, or before they are allowed to be done with their meal or snack.

(v) In programs serving infants and toddlers, child care personnel shall:

(w) Child care personnel shall dispose of, or return to the parent, milk, formula, or food unfinished by a child, as directed by the parent.

(x) Breast milk and prepared formula shall be stored in covered containers, labeled with the child's name and, dated.

(y) Breast milk shall be:

(z) Prepared formula shall be:

(aa) Frozen breast milk shall be labeled and dated and stored in a freezer at 0 degrees Fahrenheit for no longer than 6 months.

(ab) Thawed breast milk shall be used within 24 hours.

(ac) To thaw breast milk, child care program personnel shall:

(ad) To warm formula or breast milk, child care program personnel shall:

(ae) If a slow-cooking device, such as a crock pot, is used for warming infant formula, breast milk, or infant food:

(af) If a bottle warmer is used for warming infant formula, breast milk, or infant food, it shall be out of children's reach and used according to manufacturer's instructions.