FSC 8920/8940

METRIC

A-A-20052C

February 17, 2021

SUPERSEDING

A-A-20052B

May 11, 1998

COMMERCIAL ITEM DESCRIPTION

BREAD, FRESH OR FROZEN

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has authorized

the use of this Commercial Item Description (CID).

1. SCOPE. This CID covers fresh or frozen bread (bread), packed in commercially acceptable 

containers, suitable for use by Federal, State, local governments, and other interested parties. 

Please note: This document does not guarantee purchase of this item by USDA.1

2. PURCHASER NOTES.

2.1 Purchasers must specify the following:

• Type(s), style(s), product state(s), loaf size(s), bake type(s), shape(s), slice type(s), 

enrichment type(s), seed type(s), when applicable, child nutrition meal pattern 

contribution(s), and agricultural practice(s) desired (Sec. 3).

• When the age requirement at the time of delivery is other than specified (Sec. 5.5).

• Manufacturer’s/distributor’s certificate (Sec. 10.3) or USDA certification (Sec. 10.4).

2.2 Purchasers may specify the following:

• Food Defense (Sec. 10.1) and Manufacturer’s Quality Assurance (Sec. 10.2). Purchaser may 

specify one of the following combinations: Sec. 10.1.1 with 10.2.1 or 10.1.2 with 10.2.2.

• Packaging requirements other than commercial (Sec. 11).

3. CLASSIFICATION. The bread must conform to the following list which must be specified 

in the solicitation, contract, or purchase order.

1 USDA purchase specifications are available at: https://www.ams.usda.gov/selling-food/product-specs.
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Types, styles, product states, loaf sizes, bake types, shapes, slice types, enrichment types, 

seed types, when applicable, child nutrition meal pattern contributions, and agricultural 

practices.

2

Type I - White, enriched (21 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) §136.115)

Style A - Thin

Style B - Regular

Style C - Thick (for “Texas toast”)

Type II - Whole wheat (21 CFR §136.180)

Type III - White wheat

Type IV - Wheat

Type V - Raisin (21 CFR §136.160)

Type VI - Rye

Type VII - French

Type VIII - Pumpernickel

Type IX - Marble (rye swirl or pumpernickel)

Type X - Buttermilk

Type XI - Italian

Style A - Seasoned with garlic and butter

Style B - Unseasoned

Type XII - White, enriched, reduced calorie3

Type XIII - Wheat, reduced calorie3

Type XIV - Other (as specified by the purchaser)

Product state 1 - Fresh (21 CFR §101.95)

Product state 2 - Frozen (21 CFR §101.95)

Loaf size a - 454 grams (g) (16 ounces (oz))

Loaf size b - 510 g (18 oz)

Loaf size c - 567 g (20 oz)

Loaf size d - 680 g (24 oz)

Loaf size e - 908 g (32 oz)

Loaf size f - Other (as specified by the purchaser)

Bake type 1) - Pan baked

Bake type 2) - Hearth baked

2 Not all options are available from every manufacturer. Check with the manufacturer/distributor for availability. 3 Reduced calorie food contains at least 25 percent fewer calories per reference amount customarily consumed (RACC) than an appropriate 

reference food (21 CFR §101.60(b)(4)(i)). (The reference food may not be low calorie.)
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Shape a) - Round top4

Shape b) - Sandwich4

Slice type (1) - Sliced

Slice type (2) - Unsliced

Enrichment type (a) - Meet the standard for enrichment in 21 CFR §136.115, Enriched 

bread, rolls, and buns

Enrichment type (b) - Unenriched

Seed type (i) - Seeded5

Seed type (ii) - Seedless5

When child nutrition meal pattern contribution information is required:6

Grain (ounce equivalent (oz eq)) aa) - 1⁄4 oz eq = 7 g (0.25 oz)

Grain oz eq bb) - 1⁄2 oz eq = 14 g (0.5 oz)

Grain oz eq cc) - 3⁄4 oz eq = 21 g (0.75 oz)

Grain oz eq dd) - 1 oz eq = 28 g (1.0 oz)

Agricultural practice i) - Conventional

Agricultural practice ii) - Organic

4. MANUFACTURER’S/DISTRIBUTOR’S NOTES. Manufacturer’s/distributor’s 

products must meet the requirements of the:

• Processing guidelines (Sec. 5).

• Salient characteristics (Sec. 6).

• Manufacturer’s/distributor’s product assurance (Sec. 8).

• Regulatory requirements (Sec. 9).

• Quality assurance provisions: as specified by the purchaser (Sec. 10).

• Packaging requirements other than commercial: as specified by the purchaser (Sec. 11).

5. PROCESSING GUIDELINES.

5.1 Processing. The bread must be processed in accordance with Current Good Manufacturing 

Practice, Hazard Analysis, and Risk-Based Preventive Controls for Human Food (21 CFR 

Part 117).

4 Applicable to Types I, II, III, IV, V, VI XII, XIII. 5 Applicable to Types VI, VIII, and XI.

6 The bread must be made from enriched and/or whole grains.
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5.2 Food defense. The bread must be processed and transported in accordance with Mitigation 

Strategies to Protect Food Against Intentional Adulteration (21 CFR Part 121). This regulation 

identifies the kinds of preventive measures food manufacturers, processors, or handlers may take 

to minimize the risk that food under their control will be subject to tampering or other malicious, 

criminal, or terrorist actions. The implementation of enhanced food defense preventive measures 

provides for the security of a plant’s production processes and includes the storage and 

transportation of pre-production raw materials, other ingredients, and post-production finished 

product.

5.3 Organic ingredients. When organic bread is specified in the solicitation, contract, or 

purchase order, the organic bread must be produced, handled, and labeled in accordance with the 

USDA organic regulations by an operation that is certified organic in accordance with the 

requirements of the National Organic Program (7 CFR Part 205). A Certificate of Organic 

Production or Handling must be provided to verify that the product was processed and handled in 

accordance with the USDA organic regulations.

5.4 Temperature. When frozen bread is specified, the fresh product must be frozen within 24

hours of baking and reach a temperature lower than -12°C (10°F) within 24 hours after being 

placed in the freezer.

5.5 Age requirement. Unless otherwise specified in the solicitation, contract, or purchase 

order, the fresh bread must be delivered within 48 hours after baking. Unless otherwise specified 

in the solicitation, contract, or purchase order, the frozen bread must be manufactured not more 

than 365 days prior to delivery and must not exceed -12°C (10°F) at any time during storage and 

delivery.

6. SALIENT CHARACTERISTICS.

6.1 Labeling. All ingredients must be declared by their common or usual name in descending 

order of predominance by weight (21 CFR §101.4(a)) unless exempted by 21 CFR §101.100.

6.2 Ingredients. The bread must consist of flour, water, salt, yeast, leavening agents,

emulsifiers or other stabilizers, mold inhibitors, and other ingredients appropriate for the type of 

bread specified in the solicitation, contract, or purchase order. When enriched bread is specified 

in the solicitation, contract, or purchase order, the bread will conform to the U.S. Standards of 

Identity for Enriched bread, rolls, and buns (21 CFR §136.115) and the flour must be milled 

from a variety of hard and/or soft wheat.

6.3 Additional processing ingredients. The mold inhibitors must be of proper levels as 

allowed by the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic (FD&C) Act. When used, all additional 

ingredients must meet the standards specified in the Food Chemicals Codex (FCC) or, in the 

absence of FCC specification at a minimum, meet the specifications for quality set by the U.S.
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Pharmacopeia (USP)-National Formulary. The additional ingredients must be approved food 

additives (21 CFR Part 170) or meet Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) requirements 

(21 CFR Parts 182 and 184) for those uses by Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

6.4 Finished product.

6.4.1 Appearance and color. The bread must have a uniformly brown crust characteristic of 

the product. The bread must have a typical volume, characteristic grain, and be evenly baked 

without any evidence of scorching, burning, or foreign color. When specified in the solicitation, 

contract, or purchase order, the bread must be sliced. The delivered bread must not be crushed or 

damaged.

6.4.2 Flavor and aroma. The bread must have a flavor and aroma characteristic of the type of 

bread specified in the solicitation, contract, or purchase order. There must not be any foreign 

odors or flavors such as but not limited to burnt, scorched, stale, rancid, or moldy.

6.4.3 Texture. The texture of the bread must have a characteristic texture for the type of bread

specified in the solicitation, contract, or purchase order. The bread must be firm, tender, 

uniformly brown crust characteristic of the product, except Type VII, French bread which must 

have a firm, crisp crust. The baked bread must not contain specks of flour on the bottom.

6.4.4 Enrichment. The bread must have the enrichment ingredients evenly distributed in the 

finished product.

6.5 Foreign material. All ingredients must be clean, sound, wholesome, and free from foreign 

material, such as, but not limited to, extraneous plant material, dirt, plastic, insects, insect pieces 

or rodent or insect infestation.

7. ANALYTICAL REQUIREMENTS. NOT APPLICABLE.

8. MANUFACTURER’S/DISTRIBUTOR’S PRODUCT ASSURANCE. The manufacturer/ 

distributor must certify that the bread provided meets the salient characteristics of this CID, 

conform to their own specifications, standards, and quality assurance practices, and be the same

bread offered for sale in the commercial market. The purchaser reserves the right to require 

proof of conformance.

9. REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS. The delivered bread must comply with all applicable 

Federal, State, and local mandatory requirements and regulations relating to the preparation, 

packaging, labeling, storage, distribution, and sale of the bread in the commercial marketplace. 

Delivered bread must comply with all applicable provisions of the Federal FD&C Act, the Fair 

Packaging and Labeling Act, the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act 

(FALCPA), and regulations promulgated thereunder. The allergen statement must be provided 
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in a format which complies with FALCPA for any product which contains wheat, fish, milk, soy, 

tree nuts, eggs, peanuts, and Crustacean shellfish or those in effect on the date of the solicitation, 

contract, or purchase order. When the bread is used for the National School Lunch Program, the 

bread must comply with all applicable provisions of the Child Nutrition (CN) Program. When a 

CN label is specified, the label must be approved in its final format by the Agricultural 

Marketing Service (AMS).

10. QUALITY ASSURANCE PROVISIONS. Purchaser must specify 10.3 or 10.4. 

Purchaser may specify one of the following combinations: 10.1.1 with 10.2.1, or 10.1.2 with 

10.2.2.

10.1 Food defense. When required in the solicitation, contract, or purchase order, a Food 

Defense Systems Survey (FDSS) or audit must be conducted by USDA, AMS, Specialty Crops

Program (SCP), Specialty Crops Inspection (SCI) Division. Food defense requirements include 

a documented and operational food defense plan that provides for the security of a plant’s 

production processes and includes the storage and transportation of pre-production raw materials 

and other ingredients and post-production finished product. The plan must address the following 

areas: (1) food security plan management; (2) outside and inside security of the production and 

storage facilities; (3) processing, including all raw material sources; (4) shipping and receiving; 

(5) storage; (6) water and ice supply; (7) mail handling; (8) personnel security; and 

(9) transportation, shipping, and receiving.

10.1.1 FDSS. When required in the solicitation, contract, or purchase order, a FDSS must be 

conducted by USDA, AMS, SCP, SCI Division. The FDSS verifies that operators of food 

establishments have implemented measures to minimize the risk of tampering or other criminal 

actions against the food under their control. An AMS FDSS verifies the participating company’s 

adherence to Mitigation Strategies to Protect Food Against Intentional Adulteration (21 CFR 

Part 121).

10.1.2 Food defense section of the Plant Systems Audit (PSA). When required in the 

solicitation, contract, or purchase order, a food defense audit will be conducted as part of the 

PSA. The audit will be conducted by USDA, AMS, SCP, SCI Division auditors. This verifies 

that operators of food establishments have implemented measures to minimize the risk of 

tampering or other criminal actions against the food under their control. The food defense 

section of the PSA verifies the participating company’s adherence to Mitigation Strategies to 

Protect Food Against Intentional Adulteration (21 CFR Part 121).

10.2 Manufacturer’s quality assurance. When required in the solicitation, contract, or 

purchase order, the product manufacturer will be required to provide evidence, by certificate that 

the manufacturing plant has undertaken one of the following quality assurance measures within 

12 months prior to providing a bid or no later than 10 business days from the date of the 
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awarding of the contract. Failure to provide this documentation within the proper time frame 

may result in the contract being terminated for cause.

10.2.1 Plant survey. A plant survey conducted by USDA, AMS is required within 12 months 

prior to the date of the awarding of the contract. The plant survey audit verifies that, at the time 

of the survey, the manufacturer produces products in a clean, sanitary environment in accordance 

with Current Good Manufacturing Practice, Hazard Analysis, and Risk-Based Preventive 

Controls for Human Food (21 CFR Part 117).

10.2.2 PSA. A PSA conducted by USDA, AMS is required within 12 months prior to the date 

of the awarding of the contract. The PSA verifies the manufacturer’s capability to produce 

products in a clean, sanitary environment in accordance with Current Good Manufacturing 

Practice, Hazard Analysis, and Risk-Based Preventive Controls for Human Food (21 CFR Part 

117) and verifies that the manufacturer has in place an internal quality assurance program that 

meets or exceeds USDA requirements.

10.3 Manufacturer’s/distributor’s certification. When required in the solicitation, contract, 

or purchase order, the manufacturer/distributor must certify that the bread delivered meets or 

exceeds the requirements of this CID.

10.4 USDA certification. When required in the solicitation, contract, or purchase order that 

product quality and acceptability or both be determined, the USDA, AMS, SCI Division

inspectors, must be the certifying program. SCI Division inspectors must certify the quality and 

acceptability of the bread in accordance with SCI Division procedures, which include selecting 

random samples of the bread, evaluating the samples for conformance with the salient 

characteristics and analytical requirements of this CID and other contractual requirements, and 

documenting the findings on official SCI Division score sheets and/or certificates. In addition, 

when required in the solicitation, contract, or purchase order, SCI Division inspectors will 

examine the bread for conformance to the Standards for Condition of Food Containers (7 CFR 

Part 42) in effect on the date of the solicitation.

11. PACKAGING. Preservation, packaging, packing, labeling, and case marking must be 

commercial unless otherwise specified in the solicitation, contract, or purchase order.

12. USDA INSPECTION NOTES. When Sec. 10.4 is specified in the solicitation, contract, 

or purchase order, USDA certification must include evaluation of the quality and condition 

of samples of bread and compliance with requirements in the following areas:

• Processing guidelines (Sec. 5).

• Salient characteristics (Sec. 6).

• Packaging requirements (Sec. 11 or as specified in the solicitation, contract, or purchase 

order).
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13. REFERENCE NOTES.

13.1 USDA services.

13.1.1 USDA certification. For USDA certification contact: Inspection Operations, SCI 

Division, SCP, AMS, USDA, Room 1536 South Building, STOP 0240, 1400 Independence 

Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20250-0240, telephone (800) 811-2373, fax (202) 720-0393, 

or via E-mail: SCIinspectionoperations@usda.gov.

13.1.2 USDA FDSS, plant survey, and PSA. For a USDA FDSS, plant survey, and PSA 

contact the Chief, Auditing Services Branch, SCI Division, SCP, AMS, USDA, Room 1566

South Building, STOP 0247, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20250-

0247, telephone (202) 720-5021, fax (866) 230-9168, or via E-mail: SCAudits@usda.gov.

13.2 Sources of documents.

13.2.1 Sources of information for nongovernmental documents are as follows:

Copies of the Food Chemicals Codex and U.S. Pharmacopeia may be purchased from: United 

States Pharmacopeia Convention, 12601 Twinbrook Parkway, Rockville, MD 20877, 

telephone (800) 227-8772 or (301) 881-0666, Fax (301) 816-8148 or on the Internet at: 

http://www.usp.org.

13.2.2 Sources of information for governmental documents are as follows:

Applicable provisions of the Standards for Condition of Food Containers are contained in 7 CFR 

Part 42, the National Organic Program are contained in 7 CFR Part 205, the Fair Packaging and 

Labeling Act are contained in 16 CFR Parts 500 to 503, and the Federal Food, Drug, and 

Cosmetic Act are contained in 21 CFR Parts 1 to 199. These documents may be purchased from: 

Superintendent of Documents, New Orders, P.O. Box 979050, St. Louis, MO 63197-9000. 

Credit card (Visa, MasterCard, Discover/NOVUS, and American Express) purchases may 

be made by calling the Superintendent of Documents at (866) 512-1800, (202) 512-1800. 

These documents may also be obtained free of charge on the Internet at: 

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/browse/collectionCfr.action?collectionCode=CFR.

Copies of this CID and the Standards for Condition of Food Containers (7 CFR Part 42) are 

available from: Director, SCI Division, SCP, AMS, USDA, Room 1536 South Building, 

STOP 0240, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20250-0240, via E-mail: 

CIDS@usda.gov or on the Internet at: http://www.ams.usda.gov/grades-standards/cids

and https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CFR-2015-title7-vol2/pdf/CFR-2015-title7-vol2-

part42.pdf.
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CIVIL AGENCY COORDINATING ACTIVITY:

DOJ - BOP

HHS - FDA

USDA - SCP

VA - OSS

PREPARING ACTIVITY:

USDA - SCP

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