APPROVED

FEDERAL PURCHASE 

PROGRAM SPECIFICATION 

(FPPS) FOR 

CANNED/POUCHED 

BEEF STEW

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 for Canned/Pouched Beef Stew

March 2016 – changes from previous requirements in blue

Effective: May 2017

Approved by CMS

Date Issued: 04/01/09

Date Revised: 05/02/2017

100 ITEM DESCRIPTION

110 Beef stew shall contain discernible chunks of beef, carrots and potatoes in 

gravy. One additional vegetable is permitted.

120 Fat/Sodium - Fat shall not exceed 5 g per 100 g basis. Sodium level will not 

exceed 325 mg per 100 g basis.

130 Packaging/Packing - Individual cans/pouches of beef stew shall have a net 

weight of 24 ounces. Twenty-four cans/pouches shall be unitized to a net 

weight of 36 pounds.

200 CHECKLIST OF REQUIREMENTS

210 Beef stew shall be produced in accordance with Food Safety Inspection 

Service (FSIS) regulations. The contractor’s technical proposal, submitted to 

the FSCS Division, shall adhere to the following AMS Checklist of 

Requirements.

300 MATERIALS

310 The contractor’s technical proposal shall include procedures to address 

conformance with the following material requirements:

320 MEAT COMPONENT

321 Beef shall be the only meat component allowed and shall be processed so that 

there are discernible aggregates, measuring at least one-half inch (1⁄2-in), in the 

finished product. 

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

livestock as described in the Master Solicitation and Supplement.
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Date Issued: 04/01/09

Date Revised: 05/02/2017 2

323 Harvesting – Cattle shall be harvested in facilities that comply with the following 

requirements:

323.1 Humane Handling – All cattle destined to provide meat for this FPPS shall be 

humanely handled in accordance with all applicable FSIS regulations and AMS 

requirements.

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

harvesting process.

324 Boneless Beef – Boneless beef shall comply with the following requirements:

324.1 Traceability – Contractors are responsible for providing sufficient product 

traceability and shall have records to verify the source of raw materials used in 

each production lot.

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

contractor’s technical proposal shall include detailed 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 90 days from the date of pack.

324.3 Pathogen Testing - Production lots of boneless beef associated with positive 

pathogen test results shall not be allowed.

324.5 Objectionable Materials - The following objectionable materials shall be 

excluded:

324.5.1 Major lymph glands (prefemoral, popliteal, and prescapular), thymus gland, 

sciatic (ischiatic) nerve, internal fat (kidney, pelvic, and heart fat). All bone, 

cartilage, shoulder tendon, elbow tendon, silver skin, sacrociatic ligament, 

opaque periosteum, serous membrane (peritoneum), tendinous ends of 

shanks, gracilis membrane, patellar ligament (associated with the stifle joint), 

achilles tendon, back strap and abdominal tunic.

325 Mechanically Separated – Boneless beef shall comply with the following:

325.1 Meat that is mechanically separated from bone with automatic deboning 

systems or advanced meat (lean) recovery (AMR) systems is not allowed. 

325.2 Finely Textured Meat – Low temperature rendered meat that is processed from 

fat boneless meat trimmings and is finely textured is not allowed.

330 VEGETABLE COMPONENT

331 Carrots and potatoes shall be the primary vegetables as listed on the ingredient 

statement. One additional vegetable is permitted. All vegetable pieces shall 

be at least one-half inch (1⁄2-in) so that they are discernible in the finished 

product. 
Approved by CMS

Date Issued: 04/01/09

Date Revised: 05/02/2017 3

332 All vegetables and other significant ingredients (more than one percent) shall 

be derived from U.S. produced products. 

340 OTHER INGREDIENT COMPONENTS

341 Seasonings and ingredients used for flavoring and gravy shall be similar to 

those normally used for commercially marketed beef stew.

342 Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) – MSG is not allowed.

350 METAL DETECTION

351 All products 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 technical proposal shall identify and describe the equipment, 

location, detection procedure, sensitivity levels, frequency of equipment 

validation, and corrective action procedures.

400 FINISHED PRODUCT LIMITATIONS

410 The declared fat and sodium content and the serving size (“referenced 

amounts customarily consumed” (racc)) shall be stated on the nutrition facts 

panel on each can/pouch label according to FSIS regulations.

420 FAT CONTENT

421 The fat content shall not exceed 5 percent (no more than 5 g per 100 g basis). 

Declared fat content shall be stated on the nutrition facts panel on each 

can/pouch label according to FSIS nutritional labeling regulations. 

421.1 Percent fat = (Total fat ÷ Serving Size) x 100

430 SODIUM CONTENT

431 Sodium level shall not exceed 325 mg per 100 g basis. 

500 PREPARATION FOR DELIVERY

510 PACKAGING AND PACKING

511 Packaging1/ – Individual cans/pouches shall have a net weight of 24 ounces. 

512 Packing – Twenty-four cans/pouches shall be unitized to a net weight of 36 

pounds. All cans/pouches shall be unitized by packing into new fiberboard 

shipping containers, placing on fiberboard trays with plastic shrink wrap or 

plastic shrink wrap only. Only one size and style of unitized containers may be 

offered in an individual shipping unit.

1/The contracting officer shall designate the packaging format (cans or pouches) permitted for each 

solicitation.
Approved by CMS

Date Issued: 04/01/09

Date Revised: 05/02/2017 4

520 LABELING2/

521 The shipping containers shall be in compliance with the National Motor Freight 

Classification, or the Uniform Freight Classification, as applicable. Both the 

immediate and shipping containers shall be labeled to include all information 

required by FSIS regulations, be illustrated in the contractor’s technical 

proposal, and contain the following information:

522 Immediate Container Label – Immediate containers shall include the following 

information:

522.1 A traceability code that is traceable to the establishment number, production lot 

and date.

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

523 Shipping Containers – Shipping containers shall include the following 

information:

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

on the principle display panel.

523.2 Applicable purchase order number.

523.3 A traceability code that is traceable to the establishment number, production lot 

and date.

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

523.5 The product name – Canned Beef Stew or Pouched Beef Stew.

523.6 Material number – 100526.

523.7 Ingredient declaration.

523.8 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 ______.

2/

Commercial labeling (Brand “X”) of immediate and shipping containers is permissible.
Approved by CMS

Date Issued: 04/01/09

Date Revised: 05/02/2017 5

530 PALLETIZED UNIT LOADS

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

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

532 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 principle display panel to facilitate product identification and 

certification examinations.

600 DELIVERY UNIT

610 Each delivery unit shall consist of 1,000 shipping containers of 24 ounce 

cans/pouches with a net weight of 36,000 pounds.

700 DELIVERED PRODUCT

710 SIZE AND STYLE OF CONTAINERS

711 Only one size and style of unitized containers shall be offered in an individual 

shipping unit.

720 SEALING

721 Sealing - 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) 

F 1157-04 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.

800 PRODUCT ASSURANCE

810 WARRANTY AND COMPLAINT RESOLUTION

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

specification requirements, technical proposal declarations, and provisions 

required under the Master Solicitation and Supplement.

812 Complaint Resolution – Customer complaint resolution procedures shall be 

included in the technical proposal. 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.

820 NON CONFORMING PRODUCT

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

that non-conforming product is not delivered under USDA contracts. The plan 
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Date Issued: 04/01/09

Date Revised: 05/02/2017 6

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 cooked product or 

destroyed).

900 CONTRACTOR CHECKLOADING

910 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:

910.1 Purchase Order Number/Purchase Order Line Item Number;

910.2 Sales Order Number/Sales Order Line Item Number;

910.3 Destination of shipment;

910.4 Name of Product and applicable Material Number;

910.5 Shipping Date;

910.6 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;

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

lot;

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

applicable;

910.9 Contractor certification that product conforms with the applicable specification 

 (FPPS-BS-2017);

910.10 Count and projected net weight verified and;

910.11 Signature of company official responsible for checkloading

920 AMS MONITORING AND PRODUCTION ASSESSMENT

921 The contractor has the option for using an AMS audit-based system or an AMS 

monitoring and production assessment system.

922 If the contractor uses the AMS monitoring and production assessment system, 

it shall be implemented in accordance with Sections 460 and 470 of 

Supplement 704.

923 The contractor’s technical proposal shall identify the AMS oversight option 

employed.