Product Formulation Statement
Maryann Durrant (USBE): There might be a case where you want to serve a specific item, but it doesn’t have a CN label. In that case, you would need to get a document called a Product Formulation Statement, or PFS, in order to credit the item. A PFS is a signed certified document from the manufacturer that demonstrates how a product contributes to the meal pattern. It is not verified by the USDA and therefore not as reliable as a CN label. Ultimately you are the one responsible for ensuring a product meets the meal pattern requirements.
Certain criteria would need to be met before you would accept a Product Formulation Statement as valid. First off, it would need to be on company letterhead – the signature can be handwritten, stamped, or electronic. It would need to include the product name, product code number and serving/portion size. The ingredients listed in the product are creditable and have a similar description as listed on the product label as well as the descriptions of the foods listed in the Food Buying Guide.
If the product contains an Alternate Protein Product such as soy concentrate, the manufacturer must provide supporting documentation that meets the USDA’s requirements. The Product Formulation Statement will include information to calculate crediting and the calculations need to be done correctly. The creditable amount should never be rounded up. For example if the total creditable amount of meat/meat alternate was 0.99 oz, it must be rounded down to 0.75 oz. Also, the meat/meat alternate credit cannot exceed the total serving size of the product – for example, a 2.15 oz beef patty would be credited as 2 oz MMA rather than 2.5 oz, as 2.5 oz would exceed the total weight of the product.
Let’s go through an example so that you can see what an acceptable Product Formulation Statement would look like. You can see that we have an example of a Product Formulation Statement for chicken corn dogs from foster farms and an example of an ingredient label from the package of corn dogs. First off, you can see that this is on the Foster Farms letterhead and that it is signed. It includes the product name, product code, and portion size of the product. The ingredients listed are creditable and have a similar description as the ingredients listed on the product label.
It provides the information to calculate crediting – in this case it tells us that a 2.67 oz serving of the above product (ready for serving) would contain 1.25 oz of equivalent meat/meat alternate and 1.25 oz bread alternate when prepared according to directions. The creditable amount of ingredients is rounded down – not up – to the nearest 0.25 oz. Also, the meat/meat alternate credit does not exceed the total serving size of the product. This Product Formulation Statement would be acceptable.
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