• Violation

  R 400.1931 · R 400.1931 Food preparation and service. (2) A licensee shall ensure that food is prepared, served, and stored in a safe and sanitary manner by meeting all of the following requirements: (c) Children under 3 years of age shall not be served or allowed to eat foods that could easily cause choking including, but not limited to, popcorn and uncut round foods such as grapes, seeds, nuts, hard candy, and hot dogs.

  I spoke with licensing consultant Kortney Williams on 10/07/2022 in reference to the recent allegations against child care provider Cassandra Wilson. Ms. Williams is the licensing consultant assigned to Ms. Wilson and had recently received an email from her that referenced a parent being upset about her daughter being served popcorn. Ms. Williams indicated that she would forward me the email. Ms. Williams had no concerns with the child care provider and stated that she asks questions on any rules she doesn't understand and goes above and beyond to be in compliance. I reviewed the email Ms. Williams forwarded from Ms. Wilson. Ms. Wilson had documented all text exchanges with Child A's Mother and with her food program consultant as well. 2 I completed an onsite inspection at the child care home on 10/11/2022. Ms. Wilson and her child care staff member were caring for five child care children. The home was free and clear of any hazards. I explained to Ms. Wilson that I had received a complaint that she had served popcorn to Child A (female, age 2) on several occasions. Ms. Wilson explained that she participates in the food program through Vibrant Futures and one of the options for whole grain is popcorn. Ms. Wilson stated that they do not serve it often but if they do a movie and popcorn activity, they will give it to the children in care. Ms. Wilson completes daily sheets for all children in care that documents the foods served and Child A's Mother was made aware with these sheets that Child A had popcorn on 7/21/22, 7/26/22, 9/30/22, and 10/4/2022. Prior to 10/4/22 Child A's Mother never indicated having a concern about Child A having the popcorn. Ms. Wilson stated that her understanding of the licensing rule was that if a food such as popcorn, grapes, or hot dogs were served to children under 3 years of age that they must be cut up into very small pieces. Ms. Wilson offered to show me how she breaks down the popcorn into small pieces to make sure there is no way that the children under three years of age could choke on any part of the popcorn. I explained that it was not necessary for her to demonstrate as she verbally described the act of breaking down the popcorn with enough description that I was able to understand. Ms. Wilson showed me correspondence she had with her food program consultant regarding serving popcorn to children under the age of three. Barbara, the consultant from Vibrant Futures, explained in her email that if Ms. Wilson was serving the popcorn in a developmentally appropriate way, then there was no issue in serving this according to their program. I explained to Ms. Wilson that the licensing rule states "Children under 3 years of age shall not be served or allowed to eat foods that could easily cause choking including, but not limited to, popcorn and uncut round foods such as grapes, seeds, nuts, hard candy, and hot dogs." Since it lists popcorn prior to "uncut" I wanted to clarify with supervision that even if the popcorn is cut up it cannot be served. Ms. Wilson stated that she would not serve popcorn as a whole grain until she heard back from licensing. I texted Ms. Wilson on 10/21/2022 letting her know that because the rule specifically states popcorn cannot be serviced with no indication of being able to cut it up that it cannot be served to children under the age of 3. Ms. Wilson responded thanking licensing for this information and would forgo serving popcorn in the child care. I spoke with Ms. Wilson on 12/5/2022 letting her know that I would be sending her report in the next day or two requesting a written corrective action plan stating she will not be serving popcorn to children under the age of three. She stated that she would look for it and get the written documentation in as soon as she received it. 3

Disposition: No violation found

Child A (female, age 2) was served popcorn in child care.

Disposition: Substantiated