Child Nutrition Database Release 14
(Final version posted February 4, 2010)

The Child Nutrition Database (CN-D) is required to be part of the software programs approved by USDA for use with Nutrient Standard Menu Planning (NSMP) or conducting analyses to meet School Meals Initiative (SMI) requirements. Data is collected on the following 15 nutrients: calories, total fat, saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, sodium, carbohydrate, dietary fiber, protein, vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, iron, ash and moisture.

Comments and Notes for CN14 Release

CN14 Release: A record with a date after 3/1/2009 in the “date added” field is a new record in the CN14 release. A record with a date after 3/1/2009 in the “last modified” field contains a revised value in one or more of its fields with the CN14 release. All products marked as discontinued in CN13 have been removed from CN14 (82 products).

The FINCL, FSUBCOD, and FSUBDES files were removed for CN14. Additionally, the corresponding fields (“CN Subcode” and “Include Line Number”) were removed from the WEIGHTS and DQC files.

The USDA Foods (commodity foods) used in the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program were added to CN14. These 184 items replaced the commodity items in CN13. The existing commodity items (source code 4) were either marked as discontinued or changed to source code 1 (if still active in the USDA Nutrient Database for Standard Reference (SR)). To accommodate the Commodity code, the “Recipe Code” field in the FDES table has been renamed to “Commodity or Recipe Code”.

Note for CN14: All Standard Reference 22 updates have been applied to the CN SREF products included in this release. 111 additional SREF products have been added and 33 SREF products have been coded as discontinued in this release. Nutrient and Weight change information was applied to the SREF products included in this release.

System Components and File Formats (documentation)
(MS Word) (plain text)

Child Nutrition Database in Access Format
Access Database
(right click and choose "Save Target As" or "Save Link As")
This file includes all the components listed below under the Comma Delimited Format

Child Nutrition Database in Plain Text Format

• Food Description File
• Food Category Name File
• Weight File
• Nutrient Values File
• Nutrient Description File
• Food Buying Guide File
• Food Buying Guide Link File
• Data Quality Control Table for FNS Purposes Only

Please submit any issues or concerns regarding the Child Nutrition (CN) Database to: