APPROVED

FEDERAL PURCHASE 

PROGRAM SPECIFICATION 

(FPPS) FOR 

CANNED/POUCHED 

CHILI WITHOUT BEANS

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 Chili without Beans

March 2015 – changes from previous requirements in blue

Effective: March 2016

Approved by________CMS 

Date Issued: 04/01/09 

Date Revised: 03/21/16

100 ITEM DESCRIPTION 

110 Chili (Chili Con Carne), without Beans – This chili item consists of 40 percent 

beef with a mild chili flavored sauce without beans. 

120 Fat/Sodium - Fat shall not exceed 8 g / 100 g basis. A labeling claim of “less 

sodium” is required on both the immediate and shipping containers. 

130 Cans/Pouches/Cases - Individual cans/pouches of chili 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 Canned/Pouched Chili without Beans 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. 

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

livestock as described in the Master Solicitation and Supplement. 

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

requirements: 

SUPPLEMENT 704 to AMS MASTER SOLICITATION EXHIBIT A
Approved by________CMS 

Date Issued: 04/01/09 

Date Revised: 03/21/16 2 

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. 

324.4 Objectionable Materials - The following objectionable materials shall be 

excluded: 

324.4.1 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. 

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

324.5.1 Beef that is mechanically separated from bone with automatic deboning 

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

324.5.2 Finely Textured Beef – Low temperature rendered beef that is processed from 

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

330 NON-MEAT COMPONENT 

331 Domestic Origin – Significant ingredients (more than 1 percent) shall be derived 

from U.S. produced products. 

332 Flavoring and Sauce – Seasonings and ingredients used for flavoring and 

sauce shall be similar to those normally used for commercially marketed mildflavored chili products. 

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

SUPPLEMENT 704 to AMS MASTER SOLICITATION EXHIBIT A
Approved by________CMS 

Date Issued: 04/01/09 

Date Revised: 03/21/16 3 

400 PROCESSING 

410 GRINDING

411 Fresh chilled or fresh frozen boneless beef shall be finely ground to no larger 

than 3/16-inch grind prior to the cooking/canning process. 

420 BONE COLLLECTOR / EXTRUDER SYSTEM

421 A bone collector/extruder system shall be in operation to remove bone, 

cartilage, and heavy connective tissue during the final grind. 

430 METAL DETECTION

431 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. 

500 FINISHED PRODUCT LIMITATIONS

510 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 label according to FSIS regulations. 

520 FAT CONTENT 

521 The fat content, as packaged, shall not exceed 8 grams / 100 grams of finished 

product. The calculation shall be as follows: 

521.1 (Total Fat ÷ Serving Size (racc)) x 100). 

521.2 Example: 4 g of Fat ÷ 56 g = 0.71 X 100 = 7.1 g of fat / 100 g. 

530 SODIUM CONTENT 

531 A labeling claim of “Less sodium” is required on both immediate and shipping 

containers. 

SUPPLEMENT 704 to AMS MASTER SOLICITATION EXHIBIT A
Approved by________CMS 

Date Issued: 04/01/09 

Date Revised: 03/21/16 4 

600 PREPARATION FOR DELIVERY 

610 PACKAGING AND PACKING 

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

612 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. 

620 LABELING2/

621 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: 

622 Immediate Containers – Commercially marked can/pouch labels shall contain 

the following information: 

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

and date. 

622.2 A claim of “Less sodium”. 

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

623 Shipping Containers – Commercially marked shipping containers shall include 

the following information: 

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

on the principal display panel. 

 

623.2 Applicable purchase order number. 

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

each solicitation. 

2/Commercial labeling (Brand “X”) of immediate and shipping containers is permissible.

SUPPLEMENT 704 to AMS MASTER SOLICITATION EXHIBIT A
Approved by________CMS 

Date Issued: 04/01/09 

Date Revised: 03/21/16 5 

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

and date. 

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

623.5 A labeling claim of “Less sodium”. 

623.6 The product name – Canned Chili without Beans or Pouched Chili without 

Beans. 

623.7 Material number – 100138. 

623.8 Ingredient declaration. 

623.9 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 ______. 

630 PALLETIZED UNIT LOADS 

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

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

632 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 product identification and 

certification examinations. 

700 DELIVERY UNIT 

710 Each delivery unit shall consist of 1,000 shipping containers with a net weight of 

36,000 pounds. 

800 DELIVERED PRODUCT 

810 SIZE AND STYLE OF CONTAINERS 

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

shipping unit. 

820 SEALING 

821 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. 

SUPPLEMENT 704 to AMS MASTER SOLICITATION EXHIBIT A
Approved by________CMS 

Date Issued: 04/01/09 

Date Revised: 03/21/16 6 

900 PRODUCT ASSURANCE 

910 WARRANTY AND COMPLAINT RESOLUTION 

911 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. 

912 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. 

920 NON-CONFORMING PRODUCT 

921 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 cooked product or 

destroyed). 

930 CONTRACTOR CHECKLOADING 

931.1 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: 

931.1.1 Purchase Order Number/Purchase Order Line Item Number; 

931.1.2 Sales Order Number/Sales Order Line Item Number; 

931.1.3 Destination of shipment; 

931.1.4 Name of Product and applicable Material Number; 

931.1.5 Shipping Date; 

931.1.6 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; 

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

 lot; 

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

 applicable; 

SUPPLEMENT 704 to AMS MASTER SOLICITATION EXHIBIT A
Approved by________CMS 

Date Issued: 04/01/09 

Date Revised: 03/21/16 7 

931.1.9 Contractor certification that product conforms with the applicable specification 

 (FPPS-CWB-2016); 

931.1.10 Count and projected net weight verified and; 

931.1.11 Signature of company official responsible for checkloading. 

940 AMS MONITORING AND PRODUCTION ASSESSMENT 

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

monitoring and production assessment system.

942 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. 

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

employed.

SUPPLEMENT 704 to AMS MASTER SOLICITATION EXHIBIT A