APPROVED

FEDERAL PURCHASE 

PROGRAM 

SPECIFICATION (FPPS) 

FOR FRESH BEEF ROUND 

ROASTS, BONELESS, 

FROZEN

Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS)

Livestock, Poultry and Seed (LPS) Program 

Food Safety and Commodity Specification (FSCS) Division

Room 2633 S-Bldg, Phone: (202) 692-0342

Supersedes: FPPS BR April 2016 – Changes from 

previous requirements in blue

Effective: February 2019

Approved by CMS

Date Issued: 06/12/08

Date Revised: 02/12/19

100 ITEM DESCRIPTION

110 Fresh Beef Round Roasts, Boneless, Frozen – This item consists of beef round 

roasts that weigh 2-3 pounds, inclusive, individually vacuum packaged and 

frozen, derived from USDA Select, Choice, or Prime beef carcasses.

200 APPLICABLE DOCUMENTS

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

effective November 2014.

300 CHECKLIST OF REQUIREMENTS

310 Beef round roasts 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 Beef shall be the only meat component allowed. Roasts shall be intact muscles 

portioned from any combination of the following IMPS items:

167D – Beef Round, Sirloin Tip (Knuckle), Peeled, 2-Piece

169A – Beef Round, Top (Inside), Cap Off

171C – Beef Round, Eye of Round (Individual Muscle (IM))

171D – Beef Round, Outside Round, Side Muscle Removed (IM)

171E – Beef Round, Outside Round, Side Roast (IM)
Approved by CMS

Date Issued: 06/12/08

Date Revised: 02/12/19 2

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

livestock as defined in the Master Solicitation and Supplement.

333 Grade – USDA Select, Choice or Prime.

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

requirements:

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

applicable FSIS regulations and AMS requirements.

334.2 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.

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

harvesting process.

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

requirements of the previous sub-sections (334.1-334.3) of this section and the 

following additional requirements and has never been previously frozen shall be 

allowed:

335.1 Traceability – Contractor shall provide sufficient product traceability and shall

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

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

contractor’s production plan shall include time and temperature controls 

necessary to maintain excellent condition of the boneless beef.

335.3 Objectionable Materials – The following objectionable materials shall be 

excluded:

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

(lies medial to the outside round).

335.3.2 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), and achilles tendon.

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

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

is not allowed.

340 NON-MEAT COMPONENT

341 Seasonings and Other Ingredients – Seasonings and other ingredients are not 

allowed in the manufacture of this beef item.
Approved by CMS 

Date Issued: 06/12/08

Date Revised: 02/12/19 3 

350 FAT LIMITATIONS

351 Peeled/Denuded (≥90% lean exposed). Remaining “flake” fat not to exceed 

1/8-inch (3mm) in depth.

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 contaminates. 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.

380 PREPARATION FOR DELIVERY

381 The contractor shall assure that all packaging, packing, labeling, closure, 

marking, and palletization comply with the National Motor Freight Regulations, 

FSIS regulations, and the requirements listed below.

390 PACKAGING

391 All roasts shall be individually vacuum packaged prior to freezing.

400 PACKING

401 Each individual roast shall weigh 2-3 pounds.

402 Sixteen (16) individually packaged roasts shall be snuggly packed in a 40 ± 2 

pound (net weight) shipping container.

410 CLOSURE

411 Shipping containers shall be strapped or taped.

420 LABELING

421 Both immediate and shipping containers shall be labeled to include all 

information required by FSIS regulations. Labels shall be illustrated in the 

contractor’s production plan and contain the following information: 

421.1 Immediate Container Labels – Immediate container labels will be commercially 

labeled (e.g. “Brand X”) and contain the following information:

421.2 Product name.
Approved by CMS 

Date Issued: 06/12/08

Date Revised: 02/12/19 4 

421.3 Manufacturer name and address.

421.4 Ingredient declaration (including single ingredient products).

421.5 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: Contains ______.

421.6 A traceability code that includes information regarding production 

establishment, production date and production lot.

421.7 Nutrition Facts panel based on actual nutritional analysis of the product.

421.8 Cooking Instructions.

421.9 Safe handling instructions.

421.10 A “Best-If-Used-By” date that is 180 calendar days from the date of production.

422 Shipping Container

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

on the principal display panel. 

 

422.2 Applicable purchase order number.

422.3 A traceability code that is traceable back to establishment number, production 

lot, and date.

422.4 Material number: 100166.

422.5 Product Name “Beef Round Roasts, Boneless, Frozen”.

422.6 Ingredient declaration (including single ingredient products).

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

422.8 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: 02/12/19 5

430 PALLETIZED UNIT LOADS

431 All products 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.

440 DELIVERY UNIT

441 The delivery unit shall consist of a 1000 shipping containers and be 40,000 

pounds (net weight). A tolerance of minus 60 pounds is permissible.

450 DELIVERED PRODUCT

460 SIZE AND STYLE OF CONTAINER

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

unit.

470 TEMPERATURE

471 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: 02/12/19 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 CONTRACTOR CHECKLOADING

620.1 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:

620.1.1 Purchase Order Number/Purchase Order Line Item Number;

620.1.2 Sales Order Number/Sales Order Line Item Number;

620.1.3 Destination of shipment;

620.1.4 Name of Product and applicable Material Number;

620.1.5 Shipping Date;

620.1.6 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;

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

lot;

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

applicable;

620.1.9 Contractor certification that product conforms with the applicable specification

(FPPS-BR-2019);

620.1.10 Count and projected net weight verified and;

620.1.1 Signature of company official responsible for checkloading.

700 AMS MONITORING AND PRODUCTION ASSESSMENT
Approved by CMS

Date Issued: 06/12/08

Date Revised: 02/12/19 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 be conducting 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.