These charts provide information about the Nutrient Standard Menu Planning (NSMP) Software programs that meet the requirements for the USDA / Food and Nutrition Service School Meals Initiative for Healthy Children. This chart provides detailed information about costs, training, support, functions, additional services and features, and hardware requirements of the approved programs. Software developers are contacted annually for updated information about their approved programs. Starting in 2006, the annual update of this chart will be in July.
Below are comments about some of the factors included in the chart:
- Contact Information provides a current address, phone number, E-mail, and Web site for users to obtain more information about the software. A Web site may provide a complete description of the software functions.
- The Current Version, Child Nutrition Database Version, and Updates sections provide information about the current version of the software released by the developer, the version of the CN Database included in the most recent version, as well as how often a developer typically updates their program. An update of the software program is required by USDA within 90 days of a new release of the Child Nutrition Database (CN-D). The CN-D is usually updated once per year and released in the first quarter. The software developers may revise the software program more frequently. An update of the software program which includes the new release of the Child Nutrition Database will provide new food items and updated nutrient data. Items that will be removed from the CN Database in the future are also marked as discontinued for a period of one release. Information about the current release of the CN Database is available at http://healthymeals.nal.usda.gov/cndatabase.html.
- The information about Software Costs provides a comparison of the cost structure for each program. This information should be looked at along with the Market Focus, Other Services, and Additional Features sections. The more expensive programs may provide additional services, such as customized food item and recipe entry, in-house set-up, and training. Other vendors may charge additional for these services.
- All software developers provide Training and Support (See On-line Support and Phone Support sections), usually at an additional cost. Most developers provide demo disks, web demos, or sample printouts upon request to aid potential users in choosing software.
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In the Referrals section, developers indicate if they provide potential users with a list of current users that they can contact to ask questions about the program and developer.
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The calculation of the Combined Breakfast/Lunch nutrient analysis is an optional function for the software programs. Schools that serve a high percentage of breakfast meals will benefit most by having this function available. The inclusion of USDA Recipes for Schools is also an optional service provided by developers to assist with recipe modifications and production.
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Some software programs provide additional databases of food items in addition to the Child Nutrition Database. These databases have neither been evaluated nor approved by USDA, but may provide nutrient data for food items that are not in the Child Nutrition Database. Nutrient data from these databases may not be as accurate as the CN-D and data on some required nutrients, such as saturated fat, may be missing. When a new food item is added to the Child Nutrition Database, the software developer should delete this food item from these additional databases.
- Additional features, such as Point of Sale, Inventory Control & Purchasing, Food Production, and so forth, are available through some of the developers and may be integrated with the nutrient analysis module. These additional functions may be valuable to school food services that plan to electronically integrate all functions of production.
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Date of Last Evaluation by USDA is the month and year that the program was last evaluated and approved by USDA. Updates of approved programs are evaluated by USDA to check for compliance with the requirements of the USDA / Food and Nutrition Service School Meals Initiative for Healthy Children. Software developers are required to submit their program for a full evaluation every three years. Developers must also submit their program for a database check after the program is updated with the new release of the Child Nutrition Database. If corrections are required to meet the requirements for approval, developers must also submit a revised version within 90 days of the date the evaluation is complete.
This chart is only a start! Potential users should contact developers of the approved programs for more information. If you have questions about these charts, contact:
Software Evaluation Coordinator
Healthy Meals Resource System
Food and Nutrition Information Center
National Agricultural Library
10301 Baltimore Avenue, Suite 105
Beltsville, MD 20705
