Definitions

A la Carte Entrée means a single food or combination of foods offered as a main course or central focus of a meal, generally a protein source. Artificial Sweeteners means substances added to food or beverages to provide a sweet taste while providing few or no additional calories, including aspartame, sucralose, acesufame-K, neotame, sugar alcohols and saccharin. Competitive Foods or Beverages means all foods or beverages sold or provided in: (1) a la carte lines in school cafeterias; (2) school stores; (3) school snack bars; (4) vending machines; and (5) any other locations in public schools; provided, however, that competitive foods or beverages shall not include foods sold or provided as part of the School Breakfast Program, the School Lunch Program and the Child and Adult Care Food Program of the United States Department of Agriculture; provided further, that competitive foods or beverages shall not include non-sweetened carbonated water. Fresh means fresh, frozen, dried or canned without added sugar, fat, or sodium, for the purpose of 105 CMR 225.000. Grain-based Products means food products in which the primary ingredient is grain, including pasta, crackers, granola bars, chips and bakery items. Item means one serving of a product. (MA REG. #1275, Dated 12-5-14) Low-fat means three grams or less per Reference Amount Customarily Consumed (RACC) standards established by the federal Food and Drug Administration. Natural Flavorings means the essential oil, oleoresin, essence or extractive, protein hydroplysate, distillate, or any product of roasting, heating or enzymolysis, which contains the flavoring constituents derived from a spice, fruit or fruit juice, vegetable or vegetable juice, edible yeast, herb, bark, bud, root, leaf or similar plant material, meat, seafood, poultry, eggs, dairy products, or fermentation products thereof, whose significant function in food is flavoring rather than nutritional. 225.003: continued Nutrition Standards means the minimum standards for beverage and food nutrition established in 105 CMR 225.000. Public School means an elementary, middle, high, charter, innovation or comparable school operated by a public school district or board of trustees pursuant to M.G.L. c. 71. Reduced Fat means at least 25% less fat per Reference Amount Customarily Consumed (RACC) than an appropriate reference food. School Day means the hours of the day that students must attend school. Sweetener means a substance derived from a natural product that is added to food or beverages to provide a sweet taste. Such a substance may be nutritive or nonnutritive. A nutritive sweetener may be either naturally occurring, such as honey, or refined from plants, such as sugar from sugar cane. Nonnutritive sweeteners include products that may be regarded as natural. Trans Fat-free means zero grams of trans fat per portion as packaged (< 0.5 g per portion), or as otherwise specified by the federal Food and Drug Administration. Whole Grains means grains or the foods made from them that contain all the essential parts and naturally occurring nutrients of the entire grain seed. If the grain has been processed, the food product should deliver approximately the same balance of nutrients found in the original grain seed. For purposes of 105 CMR 225.000, whole grain should be the primary ingredient by weight (i.e., whole grain listed first in the ingredient statement).