Food and Drinking Water Safety in Child Care Centres

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Nutrition guidelines

Licensed child care centres and home child care providers must follow the nutrition requirements in the Child Care and Early Years Act.  

Children over one year of age must be given food and drinks that meet the recommendations in the most current versions of the Health Canada documents:

The Ministry of Education licensing manuals provide information to help meet the licensing requirements for child care settings.

The Ontario Dietitians in Public Health (ODPH) child care resources can help support understanding and applying Canada’s Food Guide in the child care setting.

What a child care provider can do

To help serve nutritious healthy foods and create a supportive environment you can:

  • Develop a food and nutrition policy. View sample policies from ODPH.
  • Plan menus to ensure that a variety of foods are offered.
  • Practice responsive feeding.
  • Use resources from ODPH on the roles that caregivers and children have during feeding.
  • Create a space that protects, promotes and supports breast/chestfeeding for families and child care staff.
  • Include food and nutrition themes in programming. Use the Paint Your Plate toolkit for activity ideas.
  • Provide nutrition education training opportunities for staff.
  • Promote Nutri-eSTEP nutrition questionnaires for toddlers and preschoolers to help parents learn about their child's eating habits.
  • If there is a concern about a child’s eating, advise parents/guardians to talk to their health care provider or to a registered dietitian.

Child care menu planning resources

The ODPH Menu Planning Practical Guide supports providers in meeting healthy eating recommendations for children one year of age and older. The guide aligns with the food and drink requirements in the Child Care and Early Years Act.

The Menu Revision Tool can help improve menus so they meet these requirements.

Infant feeding resources (up to 12 months of age)

It is important to support parents in their infant feeding decisions and to handle, store and feed the food safely (as per the Child Care and Early Years Act).

The World Health Organization (WHO), Health Canada and the Canadian Paediatric Society recommend exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life, and continued breastfeeding with the introduction of solids for up to two years and beyond. 

For information on storing and thawing breast milk, see Canadian Paediatric Society: Breastfeeding.

Use the following guides for introducing solid foods around six months of age: 

Additional resources for nutrition

Food safety

Food safety and the prevention of foodborne illnesses are important in child care settings. All food premises in Ontario including those in child care settings must comply with Ontario Food Premises Regulation 493/17.

All food served to children in child care settings must come from an inspected source. An “inspected source” is a food premise that is routinely inspected by Public Health (or other governmental food safety agency). This includes an inspected grocery store, bakery, caterer or a restaurant. Foods that are prepared in the homes of parents and staff should NOT be served to the children. The only exception is made when parents provide food such as a bagged lunch for their own child. 

Feeding children safely

  • Prepare food that is safe to eat.
  • Have children and adults wash their hands before and after all meals and snacks
  • Always have an adult sitting at the table with the children for meals and snacks.
  • Watch for signs of food allergy, such as: skin rash, hives, runny nose, itchy and watery eyes, vomiting or swelling of the mouth or face.
    • If there are any signs of allergy, stop feeding the food. Call 911 if the child has trouble breathing.
    • For more information on food allergies, visit Food Allergy Canada.
  • Serve food in containers with lids so that it can be covered easily.
  • Provide appropriate serving utensils (such as spoons and tongs) for the food being offered.
  • Children should not touch the food or parts of the container or utensils that touches the food.
  • Keep extra serving utensils on hand in case someone drops or accidentally touches it.
  • Throw away leftover food or beverages at the end of the meal or snack.

Choking prevention tips

Any food can cause choking, some foods are more unsafe than others. Always supervise children when they are eating. For children under four years of age, do not offer foods that are:

  • Hard (such as raw carrots)
  • Small and round (such as whole cherry tomatoes)
  • Smooth and sticky (such as peanut/nut butter spread thickly or on a spoon)
  • Hard to chew (such as dried fruit)

For more on preparing food safely, see tips to prevent choking in children (Parachute Canada).

Children helping with food preparation

Children can help in their own meal and snack preparation to develop food skills and to build their self-confidence. Children should always be supervised by an adult when handling food.

Follow these food safety tips when children are helping to make their own food

  • Choose foods and tasks according to the children’s age and abilities.
  • Do not allow children to handle raw meats, raw eggs or unwashed fruit or produce.
  • Food preparation by children should not be done in the kitchen. Use the tables where children sit and eat for food preparation.
  • Clean and sanitize all surfaces used for food preparation.
  • Children must always wash their hands before and after handling food.
  • Provide each child with a plate or napkin to place their pre-portioned foods on.
  • Each child must use their own utensil to choose their own ingredients.
  • Children should only make food for themselves and not for other children. 
  • Label food with the child’s name to make sure the food is served to the correct child if it is not being eaten right away.

Safe drinking water

All child care centres must have a constant supply of potable water in order to operate safely when serving food, washing hands, drinking and during water play.

For more on safe drinking water requirements for child care centres, see the Safe Drinking Water Act, 2002 and Ontario Regulation 243.

Child care centres may get their water from a municipal water supply systems, which have their water monitored, tested and treated on a constant basis in accordance with the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change regulations.

A childcare centre may also have their own private water supply, and would be classified as a Designated Facility, which will have requirements, in accordance with Ontario Regulation 170 (under the Safe Drinking Water Act), for monitoring, testing and treatment to ensure safe water.

Flushing and sampling for lead

Schools, private schools and child care centres must periodically test their drinking water for lead content and report all adverse test results, in accordance with Ontario regulations (243/07) administered by the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change.

For more information about your flushing and sampling obligations see the Government of Ontario guide for schools, private schools and day nurseries on flushing and testing for lead.

Service disruption 

In the event that water service or power has been disrupted, all food preparation and service must stop. Report all service disruptions to Public Health at  519-575-4400.

See more in the emergency preparedness section of this guide.

Additional resources for food and drinking water safety

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