APPROVED

FEDERAL PURCHASE 

PROGRAM 

SPECIFICATION (FPPS) 

FOR BEEF SPECIAL TRIM

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 ST March 2015 – Changes from 

previous requirements in blue

Effective: April 2016

Approved by CMS

Date Issued: 02/01/08

Date Revised: 04/05/16

100 ITEM DESCRIPTION

110 Beef Special Trim shall be limited to any combination of the following muscle 

systems: 

111 Peeled Knuckle – The peeled knuckle shall include the rectus femoris, and 

vastus lateralis, and may include the vastus medialis, and vastus intermedius.

112 Chuck Tender – The chuck tender shall consist of the supraspinatus muscle 

only. 

113 Shoulder Clod Arm Meat – The shoulder clod arm meat shall include the 

triceps brachii muscles (long, medial and lateral head) only.

200 CHECKLIST OF REQUIREMENTS

201 All items shall be produced in accordance with Food Safety and Inspection 

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

contractor’s technical proposal, submitted to the FSCS Division, shall adhere 

to the following checklist requirements. 

210 MATERIALS

211 MEAT COMPONENT

211.1 The contractor’s technical proposal shall describe the necessary processing 

steps (including pictures) to comply with the items below.
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Date Issued: 02/01/08

Date Revised: 04/05/16 2

211.1.2 Beef Round, Knuckle, Peeled or Beef Round, Knuckle, Full, Peeled - This 

item consists of the full knuckle or posterior portion of the full knuckle (rectus 

femoris, vastus lateralis, and may include vastus medialis, vastus 

intermedius). The knuckle shall (1) have the tensor faciae latae removed 

(peeled); (2) be butterflied to expose and remove the heavy connective tissue 

within the rectus femoris muscle and between the rectus femoris and vastus 

lateralis; (3) have the tendinous ends removed; and (4) have the sartorius

removed. 

211.1.3 Beef Chuck Tender - This item consists of the supraspinatus muscle, which 

lies dorsal to the medial ridge of the blade bone. The chuck tender shall be 

separated from other muscles through the natural seams. The large end 

(anterior end) shall be butterflied to expose and remove the heavy connective 

tissue within the muscle.

211.1.4 Beef Chuck, Shoulder Clod Arm Meat - This item is derived from the beef 

shoulder clod and shall consist of the large muscle system of the thick end of 

the clod (triceps brachii – long, medial and lateral heads only). The shank 

end shall be butterflied to expose and remove heavy connective tissue 

associated with the elbow tendon.

211.2 Domestic Origin Of Meat Component – Beef shall originate from U.S. 

produced livestock as defined in the Master Solicitation and Supplement.

211.3 Harvesting (Slaughtering) – Cattle shall be harvested in facilities that comply 

with the following requirements:

211.3.1 Humane Handling – Cattle shall be humanely handled in accordance with all 

applicable FSIS regulations and AMS requirements.

211.3.2 Pathogen Intervention Steps – Include at least two pathogen intervention 

steps. One of the intervention steps shall be steam pasteurization, an organic 

acid rinse, or a 180°F hot water wash and shall be a critical control point 

(CCP) in the establishment’s FSIS recognized slaughter process Hazard 

Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) plan.

211.3.3 Spinal Cord Removal – Remove all spinal cord material during the harvesting 

process.

211.4 Boneless Beef – Only fresh-chilled boneless special trim that complies with 

211.2 – 211.3.3 and the following requirements and has never been 

previously frozen shall be allowed:

211.4.1 Traceability – Contractors shall provide sufficient product traceability and shall

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

Date Issued: 02/01/08

Date Revised: 04/05/16 3

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

contractor’s technical proposal shall include detailed production scheduling 

that addresses time and temperature controls necessary to maintain excellent 

condition of the boneless beef.

211.4.3 Objectionable Materials – The following objectionable materials shall be 

excluded: Major lymph glands (prefemoral, popliteal, and prescapular), 

thymus gland, bone, cartilage, sciatic (ischiatic) nerve, heavy connective 

tissue (shoulder tendon, elbow tendon, silver skin, sacrosciatic ligament, 

opaque periosteum, tendinous ends of shanks, patellar ligament (stifle joint).

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

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

systems is not allowed.

212 NON-MEAT COMPONENTS

212.1 Non-meat components such as spinal cord, organ tissue, and foreign material 

are not allowed.

213 FAT LIMITATIONS

213.1 Maximum average surface fat thickness – Peeled/Denuded, Surface 

Membrane Removed (90 percent lean exposed). Flake fat shall not exceed 

1⁄8-inch in depth at any point.

214 GRADE REQUIREMENT

214.1 No grade requirement.

215 STATE OF REFRIGERATION

215.1 Fresh-Chilled or Frozen as specified in the Supplement and/or Solicitation. 

When Fresh-Chilled is specified, product shall be maintained and delivered at 

a temperature not less than 28°F (-2.2°C) or higher than 40°F (4.4°C). When 

frozen is specified, 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.

220 PREPARATION FOR DELIVERY

220.1 The contractor’s technical proposal 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.

221 PACKAGING
Approved by CMS

Date Issued: 02/01/08

Date Revised: 04/05/16 4

221.1 For Beef Special Trim to be delivered frozen, product shall be bulk packaged 

without use of plastic liner material. When Beef Special Trim is to be

delivered fresh-chilled, product shall be placed into plastic lined combo bins 

and shall be covered so that the container arrives at the destination intact.

222 PACKING

222.1 Frozen bulk packaged Beef Special Trim shall be packed into containers to a 

net weight of 60 pounds. Only one style and size of leak proof container shall

be used for each item within any one delivery unit. Fresh-chilled Beef Special 

Trim bulk packaged product shall be placed in plastic lined combo-bins to a 

weight of between 1850 to 2250 pounds.

223 CLOSURE

223.1 Sixty (60) pound shipping containers shall be strapped. Combo-bins shall be 

sealed.

224 LABELING

224.1 Shipping container labels shall be illustrated in the contractor’s technical 

proposal and contain the following information:

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

or on the principal display panel.

224.3 Applicable purchase order number.

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

lot, and date.

224.5 The appropriate product name and material number listed in the table below 

for each of the items.

Item Material Number 

Beef, Boneless, Special Trim, Frozen 100156

Beef ,Boneless, Special Trim, Chilled 100171 

224.6 The words “For Further Processing into Cooked Product” shall appear on the 

principal display panel.
Approved by CMS

Date Issued: 02/01/08

Date Revised: 04/05/16 5

224.7 A nutrition facts panel based on actual nutritional analysis of the product.

224.8 Ingredient declaration (including single ingredient products).

224.9 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 ______.

230 PALLETIZED UNIT LOADS

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

with shrink wrap plastic, unless otherwise specified in the solicitation. 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.

240 DELIVERY UNIT

241 The delivery unit shall be 42,000 pounds (18,900 kg.) net weight (700 frozen 

shipping containers or 20 fresh-chilled combo-bins).

250 DELIVERED PRODUCT

251 SIZE AND STYLE OF CONTAINER

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

delivery unit.

252 TEMPERATURE

252.1 Product temperature shall not exceed 0°F at the time of shipment and 

delivery for frozen delivery, 40°F at the time of shipment and delivery for 

fresh-chilled delivery.

253 SEALING

253.1 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. 

260 PRODUCT ASSURANCE

261 WARRANTY AND COMPLAINT RESOLUTION
Approved by CMS

Date Issued: 02/01/08

Date Revised: 04/05/16 6

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

contractual requirements required under the Master Solicitation and 

Supplement.

261.2 Complaint Resolution – The contractor’s technical proposal shall provide 

steps taken to resolve complaints received on the product (i.e. point of 

contact, cause and effect analysis, corrective and preventative actions taken, 

and product replacement).

262 NON-CONFORMING PRODUCT

262.1 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).

263 CONTRACTOR CHECKLOADING

263.1 Contractor will 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:

263.1.1 Purchase Order Number/Purchase Order Line Item Number;

263.1.2 Sales Order Number/Sales Order Line Item Number;

263.1.3 Destination of shipment;

263.1.4 Name of Product and applicable Material Number;

263.1.5 Shipping Date;

263.1.6 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;

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

 lot;

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

 applicable;

263.1.9 Contractor certification that product conforms with the applicable specification 

 (FPPS-ST-2016);

263.1.10 Count and projected net weight verified and;
Approved by CMS

Date Issued: 02/01/08

Date Revised: 04/05/16 7

263.1.11 Signature of company official responsible for checkloading.