APPROVED

FEDERAL PURCHASE 

PROGRAM 

SPECIFICATION (FPPS) 

FOR DICED BEEF, 

FROZEN

Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS)

Livestock, Poultry and Seed (LPS) Program 

Food Safety and Commodity Specification (FSCS) Division

Room 2628 S-Bldg, Phone: (202) 692-0342

Supersedes: FPPS DB January2015 – Changes from 

previous requirements in blue

Effective: April 2016

Approved by CMS

Date Issued: 06/12/08

Date Revised: 04/12/16

100 ITEM DESCRIPTION

110 Diced Beef – This item may be prepared from any portion of the carcass which 

yields product that meets finished product limitations.

120 Dices shall be of a size equivalent to not less than a 1⁄2-inch cube and not more 

than a 3⁄4-inch cube with no individual surface being more than 1 inch in length.

130 Fat content shall not exceed 10 grams per 100 gram basis.

200 APPLICABLE DOCUMENTS

210 Institutional Meat Purchase Specification (IMPS) for Fresh Beef - Series 100, 

effective November 2014.

300 CHECKLIST OF REQUIREMENTS

310 Diced Beef shall be produced in accordance with Food Safety and Inspection 

Service (FSIS) regulations and the AMS Checklist of Requirements. The 

contractor’s production plan, submitted to the FSCS Division, shall adhere to 

the following checklist requirements.

320 MATERIALS

321 The contractor’s production plan shall describe a documented quality control 

program that includes procedures, records, forms, pictures, etc., that 

demonstrate conformance with the following Checklist of Requirements.

330 MEAT COMPONENT

331 Diced Beef may be prepared from any portion of the carcass which yields 

product that meets the end-item requirements by either hand or mechanical 

dicing (grinding is not permitted).
Approved by CMS

Date Issued: 06/12/08

Date Revised: 04/12/16 2

332 Shank, detached cutaneous muscles, and heel meat shall be excluded.

333 Dices shall be of a size equivalent to not less than a 1⁄2-inch cube and not more 

than a 3⁄4-inch cube with no individual surface being more than 1 inch.

334 To facilitate dicing, boneless beef cuts may be frozen and/or tempered, one 

time only.

335 Domestic Origin of Meat Component – Beef shall originate from U.S. produced 

livestock as defined in the Master Solicitation and Supplement.

336 Grade – USDA Select, Choice or Prime.

337 Harvesting – Cattle shall be harvested in establishments that comply with the 

following requirements:

337.1 Humane Handling – All cattle shall be humanely handled in accordance with all 

applicable FSIS regulations and AMS requirements.

337.2 Pathogen Intervention Steps – The harvest process shall include at least two 

pathogen intervention steps. One of the intervention steps shall be a critical 

control point (CCP) in the establishment’s FSIS recognized harvest process 

Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) plan.

337.3 Spinal Cord Removal – All spinal cord material shall be removed during the 

harvesting process.

338 Boneless Beef – Only fresh-chilled boneless beef that complies with the 

requirements of the previous sub-sections (337.1-337.3) of this section and the 

following additional requirements shall be allowed:

338.1 Traceability – Contractor shall provide sufficient product traceability and shall

have records to verify the source of raw materials used in each production lot.

338.2 Handling – All boneless beef shall be maintained in excellent condition. The 

contractor’s production plan shall include detailed production scheduling that 

addresses time and temperature controls necessary to maintain excellent 

condition of the boneless beef. Frozen boneless beef may be used provided it 

is processed into the final product within 60 days from the date of pack

338.3 Objectionable Materials – The following objectionable materials shall be 

excluded:

338.3.1 Major lymph glands (prefemoral and popliteal), and the sciatic (ischiatic) nerve 

(lies medial to the outside round).
Approved by CMS

Date Issued: 06/12/08

Date Revised: 04/12/16 3

338.3.2 All bone, cartilage, silver skin on the outside round, sacrosciatic ligament, 

opaque periosteum, tendinous ends of shanks, gracilis membrane, patellar 

ligament (associated with the stifle joint), achilles tendon, back strap and 

abdominal tunic .

338.4 Mechanically Separated – Beef that is mechanically separated from bone with 

automatic deboning systems or advanced meat (lean) recovery (AMR) systems 

shall notbe allowed.

340 FINISHED PRODUCT LIMITATIONS

341 Fat - Surface and/or seam fat shall not exceed 1⁄8-inch at any point. The 

maximum surface fat thickness at any one point is evaluated by visually 

determining the areas on the edges of either side of the dice which have the 

thickest amount of fat and measuring the thickness of fat in these areas. The 

maximum seam fat thickness at any one point is evaluated by visually 

determining the areas of fat between layers of lean on any side of the dice 

which have the thickest deposits of fat and measuring the width in these areas. 

The resulting fat content shall not exceed 10 grams per 100 gram basis.

342 Dimensions - Dices shall be of a size equivalent to not less than a 1⁄2-inch cube 

and not more than a 3⁄4-inch cube with no individual surface being more than 1

inch.

343 Objectionable Materials - Dices shall be free of objectionable materials listed in 

Section 338.3.

344 Dices not meeting these requirements shall not exceed 10 percent, by weight, 

of the finished product.

360 STATE OF REFRIGERATION

361 Product shall be frozen to an internal temperature of not higher than 

0°F (-17.8°C) within 72 hours from the time of final fabrication of the lot.

370 METAL DETECTION

371 All product shall be free of metal contaminants. Detection of stainless steel, 

ferrous, and non-ferrous (e.g., lead, copper, and aluminum) metals is required. 

The contractor's production plan shall identify and describe the equipment, 

location, detection procedure, sensitivity levels, frequency of equipment 

validation, and corrective action procedures. 

400 PREPARATION FOR DELIVERY

410 The contractor’s production plan shall assure that all packaging, packing, 

labeling, closure, marking, and palletization comply with the National Motor 

Freight Regulations and FSIS regulations and the requirements listed below.
Approved by CMS

Date Issued: 06/12/08

Date Revised: 04/12/16 4

420 PACKAGING

421 Product shall be bulk packaged without use of plastic liner material directly into 

leak-proof shipping containers with fiberboard that is wax impregnated, have a 

moisture barrier coating, or have plastic laminated interior panels.

430 PACKING

431 Diced Beef shall be packed to a net weight of 60 pounds.

440 CLOSURE

441 Shipping containers shall be closed by strapping or taping.

450 LABELING

451 Shipping containers shall be labeled to include all information required by FSIS 

regulations. Shipping container labels shall be illustrated in the contractor’s 

production plan and contain the following information:

451.1 USDA shield at least 2 inches high and appearing on the top of the container or 

on the principal display panel.

451.2 Applicable purchase order number.

451.3 A traceability code that is traced back to establishment number, production lot, 

and date.

451.4 Material Number: 110196

451.5 The product name “Diced Beef, Frozen”

451.6 Ingredient declaration (including single ingredient products).

451.7 Nutrition facts panel based on actual nutritional analysis of the product.

451.8 An allergen statement in a format which complies with the Food Allergen 

Labeling and Consumer Protection Act (FALCPA) for any product which 

contains milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, soy or wheat; 

e.g. Allergen: This product contains ______.
Approved by CMS

Date Issued: 06/12/08

Date Revised: 04/12/16 5

460 PALLETIZED UNIT LOADS

461 All product shall be stacked on new or well-maintained pallets and palletized 

with shrink wrap plastic, unless otherwise specified in the invitation. Pallet loads 

shall be stacked in a manner that minimizes the overhang of the shipping 

containers over the edges of the pallets and exposes each shipping container’s 

principal display panel to facilitate certification examinations.

470 DELIVERY UNIT

471 The delivery unit shall be 700 shipping containers with a net weight of 42,000 

pounds. No tolerance shall be allowed.

500 DELIVERED PRODUCT

510 SIZE AND STYLE OF CONTAINER

511 Only one size and style of shipping container shall be used in any one delivery 

unit.

520 TEMPERATURE

521 Product temperature shall not exceed 0°F at the time of shipment and delivery.

480 SEALING

481 All products shall be delivered to AMS assigned destinations under seal with 

tamper proof, tamper resistant, serially numbered, high security seals that meet 

the American Society for Testing and Materials Standard (ASTM) F1157-04 

and/or the International Organization for Standards (ISO) 17712-2010 as 

required under the Master Solicitation. Seals shall be 1⁄8th-inch diameter cable, 

high-security bolt, or equivalent.

500 PRODUCT ASSURANCE

510 WARRANTY AND COMPLAINT RESOLUTION

511 Warranty – The contractor shall guarantee that the product complies with all 

specification requirements, production plan declarations, and provisions set 

forth in the Master Solicitation and Supplement.

512 Complaint Resolution – Customer complaint resolution procedures shall be 

included in the production plan. These procedures shall include: a point of 

contact, investigation steps, intent to cooperate with AMS, and product 

replacement or monetary compensation. The procedures shall be used to 

resolve product complaints from recipient agencies or AMS.

600 NON-CONFORMING PRODUCT
Approved by CMS

Date Issued: 06/12/08

Date Revised: 04/12/16 6

610 The contractor shall include a plan and supporting documentation to assure 

that non-conforming product is not delivered under USDA contracts. The plan 

shall address 1) control and segregation of non-conforming product, 2) removal 

of any USDA markings, and 3) disposition of non-conforming product, including 

vendor documentation of final disposition (e.g., diverted to commercial 

production, cooked or destroyed).

620 CONTACTOR CHECKLOADING

621.1 Contractor shall perform checkloading examinations at the time of shipment 

and issue a contractor’s certificate to accompany each shipment that includes 

all of the following information:

621.1.1 Purchase Order Number/Purchase Order Line Item Number;

621.1.2 Sales Order Number/Sales Order Line Item Number;

621.1.3 Destination of shipment;

621.1.4 Name of Product and applicable Material Number;

621.1.5 Shipping Date;

621.1.6 Production lot number(s) and date each lot was produced along with shipping

container and immediate container code(s) and the code used that provides

traceability to establishment number, production lot and date;

621.1.7 Count of shipping containers and total projected net weight in each production

lot;

621.1.8 Identity of car or truck (car numbers and letters, seals, truck license, etc.) as

applicable;

621.1.9 Contractor certification that product conforms with the applicable specification

(FPPS-DB-2016);

621.1.10 Count and projected net weight verified and;

621.1.11 Signature of company official responsible for checkloading.

700 AMS MONITORING AND PRODUCTION ASSESSMENT
Approved by CMS

Date Issued: 06/12/08

Date Revised: 04/12/16 7

710 An AMS Quality Assessment (QA) Division agent shall be present during the 

production of the finished product. The QA Division agent shall monitor and 

verify the processing steps, quality assurance activities, and any corrective 

actions to assure that all requirements outlined in the approved production plan 

are complied with. The QA Division agent shall conduct the monitoring and 

production verification in accordance with the Monitoring and Evaluation 

Protocol for Conformity Assessment of FPPS requirements and applicable QA

Division instructions. Any deviations to contractual requirements shall be 

reported to the contractor and Contracting Officer. The Contracting Officer 

shall make all determinations as to the acceptability of the product relative to 

findings documented by the QA Division agent.