Foodservice earns outstanding record
Even though foodservice staff may prepare more than 4,500 servings of the menu’s main dish every day, inspectors from the Oklahoma State Department of Health have declared Mustang’s cafeterias to have an outstanding record. Comments from reports by the Oklahoma State Department of Health inspector’s reports include “Outstanding,” and “Very clean establishment.”

Child Nutrition Director Tammy Bales agrees.
“Their kitchens are so clean,” she said. “Honestly, you could eat off the floor. They fix their foods and immediately start cleaning. They have a great routine.”

Menus and Nutrition
Menus are carefully analyzed to ensure that meals served provide all the necessary vitamins, calcium, iron and protein to meet state guidelines.

"We also work diligently to ensure our meals provide adequate calories and are low in fat and saturated fat," Bales said.

In recipes for breads and cakes, Mustang Public School’s kitchens replace half the shortening with applesauce, effectively cutting half the calories from fat without compromising the taste or quality of the product. Several years ago, the Child Nutrition Department removed deep-fat fryers from the kitchens in favor of baking. All foods served have nutritional value and high-fat and sugar options have been replaced with healthier alternatives. Fat-free chocolate milk has replaced whole chocolate milk and sugary sodas have been removed in favor of diet options and juices. All the changes garnered Mustang High School recognition as one of the healthiest student bodies in the country by the School Nutrition Association and the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports in November 2007.

Training and Certification
More than 50 of Mustang's Food Service employees are nationally certified through the School Nutrition Association. To earn their certification, these employees completed 30 hours of training in sanitation, food safety and "healthy edge," a course on healthy cooking and promoting healthy eating.

"We may have the highest number of certified employees in the state," Bales said.

Bales also makes sure training is priority with the district’s 79 food service employees. The department purchased a used CPR mannequin from the Red Cross. Every employee, including substitutes, is trained on the Heimlich maneuver and CPR. Bales is a certified instructor.