AMENDMENT 4 TO 

SUPPLEMENT 704 CANNED 

MEAT PRODUCTS, July 2012

 APPROVED

Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS)

Livestock, Poultry and Seed (LPS) Program

Food Safety and Commodity Specification (FSCS) Division

Room 2624 S-Bldg, Phone: (202) 692-0342

 Effective: April 2015

Approved by CMS

Date Issued: 04/01/2015

AMENDMENT 4 TO SUPPLEMENT 704 TO THE AMS MASTER SOLICITATION FOR 

THE PURCHASE OF CANNED MEAT PRODUCTS FOR DISTRIBUTION TO CHILD 

NUTRITION AND OTHER FEDERAL FOOD AND NUTRITION ASSISTANCE

PROGRAMS

This amendment is issued to make the following changes to Supplement 704:

1) All references to the Contracting Officer’s Technical Representative (COTR) are to 

be replaced with “Food Safety and Commodity Specification (FSCS) Division.”

2) Replace Attachments I, II, III, and V with the attached Federal Purchase Program 

Specifications (FPPS) Canned Beef and Pork, Canned Chili without Beans, Canned 

Beef Stew, dated March 2015, and Animal Handling and Welfare dated January 

2015.

All other terms and conditions remain unchanged.
APPROVED

FEDERAL PURCHASE 

PROGRAM SPECIFICATION 

(FPPS) FOR 

CANNED/POUCHED BEEF 

WITH JUICES AND 

CANNED/POUCHED PORK 

WITH JUICES

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

Effective: March 2015

Approved by CMS 

Date Issued: 04/01/09

Date Revised: 03/30/15

100 ITEM DESCRIPTION

110 Canned/Pouched Beef with Juices – This item consists of coarse ground beef 

cooked in its own juices for use in a variety of applications, including barbecue 

beef, pizza, soups, stews, spaghetti sauce, vegetable stir-fry, casseroles, and 

similar items.

120 Canned/Pouched Pork with Juices – This item consists of coarse ground pork 

cooked in its own juices for use in a variety of applications, including barbecue 

pork, pizza, soups, stews, spaghetti sauce, vegetable stir-fry, casseroles, and 

similar items.

130 Formula - Beef or pork with juices contains all meat with a small amount of salt 

for flavoring.

140 Fat/Sodium – Fat shall not exceed 15 g / 100 g basis. Sodium level shall not 

exceed 275 mg / 100 g basis.

150 Packaging/Packing - Individual cans/pouches of beef stew will have a net 

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

of 36 pounds.

200 CHECKLIST OF REQUIREMENTS

210 Canned/Pouched meat items must be produced in accordance with Food 

Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) regulations. The contractor’s technical 

proposal, submitted to the FSCS Division, must adhere to the following AMS 

Checklist of Requirements.

300 MATERIALS

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

conformance with the following material requirements:

ATTACHMENT I
Approved by CMS

Date Issued: 04/01/09

Date Revised: 03/30/15 2

320 MEAT COMPONENT

321 Beef or pork shall be the only meat component allowed. 

322 Domestic Origin – All beef and pork shall originate from U.S. produced livestock 

as described in the Master Solicitation and Supplement.

323 Harvesting – Boneless meat shall be derived from livestock harvested at 

facilities that comply with the following harvest requirements.

323.1 Humane Handling – Livestock shall be humanely handled in accordance with 

all applicable FSIS regulations and AMS requirements.

323.2 Non-Ambulatory – Meat from carcasses of non-ambulatory disabled livestock 

will not be included in USDA Purchase Programs.

323.3 Spinal Cord Removal – All spinal cord tissue shall be removed. For cattle, all 

spinal cord tissue must be removed during the harvesting process.

324 Boneless Meat – Boneless meat shall comply with the following requirements:

324.1 Traceability – Contractors are responsible for providing sufficient product 

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

each production lot.

324.2 Handling – All boneless meat must be maintained in excellent condition. The 

contractor’s technical proposal will include detailed time and temperature 

controls necessary to maintain excellent condition of the boneless meat. Frozen 

boneless meat may be used provided it is processed into the final product 

within 60 days from the date of pack.

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

pathogen test results will not be allowed.

324.4 Objectionable Materials – The following objectionable materials shall be 

excluded:

324.4.1 Beef - 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.

324.4.2 Pork - Skin, bones, cartilages, organ tissue, heavy connective tissue, significant 

glandular tissue, spinal cord, and foreign materials.

324.5 Mechanically Separated – Boneless meat must comply with the following:
Approved by CMS

Date Issued: 04/01/09

Date Revised: 03/30/15 3

324.5.1 Meat 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 Meat – Low temperature rendered meat that is processed from 

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

324.6 Composition – These items shall contain all meat with a small amount of salt for 

flavoring.

330 NON MEAT COMPONENT

331 A small amount of salt shall be added for flavoring at a rate not to exceed the 

sodium requirement in Section 531.

400 PROCESSING

410 PLATE AND BLADE SIZE

411 Beef with Juices – Boneless beef shall be ground by use of a standard feedscrew type grinder which shall have a plate with holes 0.5-inch in diameter and 

a knife with (no more than) 3 blades. Immediately after grinding, meat shall be 

mechanically mixed and placed into cans/pouches.

412 Pork with Juices – Boneless pork shall be ground by use of a standard feedscrew type grinder which shall have a plate with holes 1.5-inch in diameter and 

a knife with (no more than) 3 blades. Immediately after grinding, meat shall be 

mechanically mixed and placed into cans/pouches.

420 METAL DETECTION

421 All products will 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 must 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)) will be stated on the nutrition facts panel on 

each can/pouch label according to FSIS regulations.

520 FAT CONTENT

521 The fat content must not exceed 15 g per 100 g basis. The serving size will not 

exceed the “racc” amount. Fat content will be determined using the following 

formula:

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

Date Issued: 04/01/09

Date Revised: 03/30/15 4

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

530 SODIUM CONTENT

531 Sodium content must not exceed 275 mg per 100 g basis 

531.1 (Declared Sodium Level (mg) X 100 ÷ Declared Serving Size (grams - racc) 

< 275).

600 PREPARATION FOR DELIVERY

610 PACKAGING AND PACKING

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

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

pounds. All cans/pouches will 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 Container Label – Immediate containers will include the following 

information:

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

and date.

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

623 Shipping Containers – Shipping containers will include the following 

information:

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

each solicitation.

2/

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

Date Issued: 04/01/09

Date Revised: 03/30/15 5

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

on the principle display panel. 

623.2 Applicable purchase order number.

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

each of the items. 

623.6 Ingredient declaration.

623.7 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 invitation.

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 principle display panel to facilitate product identification and 

certification examinations.

Item Material Number

Pork with Juices, Canned (24 oz) or

Pork with Juices, Pouched (24 oz) 100139

Beef with Juices, Canned (24 oz) or

Beef with Juices, Pouched (24 oz) 100127
Approved by CMS

Date Issued: 04/01/09

Date Revised: 03/30/15 6

700 DELIVERY UNIT

710 Each delivery unit will consist of 1,000 shipping containers of 24 ounce 

cans/pouches 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 may be offered in an individual 

shipping unit.

820 SEALING

821 Sealing - All products must 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.

900 PRODUCT ASSURANCE

910 WARRANTY AND COMPLAINT RESOLUTION

911 Warranty – The contractor will 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 will be 

included in the technical proposal. These procedures will include: a point of 

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

replacement or monetary compensation. The procedures will be used to 

resolve product complaints from recipient agencies or AMS.

920 NON-CONFORMING PRODUCT

921 The contractor must have documented procedures that assure nonconforming 

product identification, segregation, and disposition in order to prevent misuse 

and that nonconforming product is not delivered to USDA. The plan must 

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

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

vendor notification in writing to the FSCS Division of final disposition (e.g., 

diverted to commercial production, cooked or destroyed).
Approved by CMS

Date Issued: 04/01/09

Date Revised: 03/30/15 7

930 CONTRACTOR CHECKLOADING

930.1 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:

930.1.1 Purchase Order Number/Purchase Order Line Item Number;

930.1.2 Sales Order Number/Sales Order Line Item Number;

930.1.3 Destination of shipment;

930.1.4 Name of Product and applicable Material Number;

930.1.5 Shipping Date;

930.1.6 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;

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

 lot;

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

 applicable;

930.1.9 Contractor certification that product conforms with the applicable specification 

 (FPPS-CBP-2015);

930.1.10 Count and projected net weight verified and;

930.1.11 Signature of company official responsible for checkloading.
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

Effective: March 2015

Approved by CMS 

Date Issued: 04/01/09

Date Revised: 03/30/15

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 must not exceed 8 g per 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 must be produced in accordance with 

Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) regulations. The contractor’s technical 

proposal, submitted to the FSCS Division, must adhere to the following AMS 

Checklist of Requirements. 

300 MATERIALS

310 The contractor’s technical proposal must 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 must originate from U.S. produced 

livestock as described in the Master Solicitation and Supplement. 

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

requirements:

ATTACHMENT II
Approved by CMS

Date Issued: 04/01/09

Date Revised: 03/30/15 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 – Remove all spinal cord material 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 must have records to verify the source of raw materials used in 

each production lot.

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

contractor’s technical proposal will 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 

60 days from the date of pack.

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

pathogen test results will 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 must 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 must be similar to those normally used for commercially marketed mildflavored chili products.
Approved by CMS

Date Issued: 04/01/09

Date Revised: 03/30/15 3

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

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 must 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 must 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)) will be stated on the nutrition facts panel on 

each can label according to FSIS regulations. 

520 FAT CONTENT

521 The fat content, as packaged, must not exceed 8 grams per 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 per 100 g.

530 SODIUM CONTENT

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

containers. 

600 PREPARATION FOR DELIVERY

610 PACKAGING AND PACKING
Approved by CMS

Date Issued: 04/01/09

Date Revised: 03/30/15 4

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

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

pounds. All cans/pouches will 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 will 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.

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.

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

each solicitation.

2/

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

Date Issued: 04/01/09

Date Revised: 03/30/15 5

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 invitation.

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 may be offered in an individual 

shipping unit.

820 SEALING

821 Sealing - All products must 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.

900 PRODUCT ASSURANCE

910 WARRANTY AND COMPLAINT RESOLUTION
Approved by CMS

Date Issued: 04/01/09

Date Revised: 03/30/15 6

911 Warranty – The contractor will 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 will be 

included in the technical proposal. These procedures will include: a point of 

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

replacement or monetary compensation. The procedures will be used to

resolve product complaints from recipient agencies or AMS.

920 NON-CONFORMING PRODUCT

921 The contractor must have documented procedures that assure nonconforming 

product identification, segregation, and disposition in order to prevent misuse 

and that nonconforming product is not delivered to USDA. The plan must 

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

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

vendor notification in writing to the FSCS Division of final disposition (e.g., 

diverted to commercial production, cooked or destroyed).

930 CONTRACTOR CHECKLOADING

931.1 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:

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;

931.1.9 Contractor certification that product conforms with the applicable specification 

 (FPPS-CWB-2015);
Approved by CMS

Date Issued: 04/01/09

Date Revised: 03/30/15 7

931.1.10 Count and projected net weight verified and;

931.1.11 Signature of company official responsible for checkloading.
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

Effective: March 2015

Approved by CMS 

Date Issued: 04/01/09

Date Revised: 03/30/15

100 ITEM DESCRIPTION

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

gravy. One additional vegetable is permitted.

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

exceed 415 mg per 100 g basis.

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

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

of 36 pounds.

200 CHECKLIST OF REQUIREMENTS

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

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

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

Requirements.

300 MATERIALS

310 The contractor’s technical proposal must 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 chunks in the finished product.

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

livestock as described in the Master Solicitation and Supplement.

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

requirements:

ATTACHMENT III
Approved by CMS

Date Issued: 04/01/09

Date Revised: 03/30/15 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 – Remove all spinal cord material during the harvesting 

process.

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

324.1 Traceability – Contractors are responsible for providing sufficient product 

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

each production lot.

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

contractor’s technical proposal will 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 

60 days from the date of pack.

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

pathogen test results will 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 must 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 must be the primary vegetables as listed on the ingredient 

statement. One additional vegetable is permitted. All vegetables shall be of 

size so that they are discernible in the finished product. 

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

be derived from U.S. produced products. 
Approved by CMS

Date Issued: 04/01/09

Date Revised: 03/30/15 3

340 OTHER INGREDIENT COMPONENTS

341 Seasonings and ingredients used for flavoring and gravy must 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 must 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)) will be stated on the nutrition facts panel on 

each can/pouch label according to FSIS regulations.

420 FAT CONTENT

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

Declared fat content will 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 must not exceed 415 mg per 100 g basis. 

500 PREPARATION FOR DELIVERY

510 PACKAGING AND PACKING

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

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

pounds. All cans/pouches will 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 will designate the packaging format (cans or pouches) permitted for 

each solicitation.
Approved by CMS

Date Issued: 04/01/09

Date Revised: 03/30/15 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 will 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 will 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.
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Date Issued: 04/01/09

Date Revised: 03/30/15 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 invitation.

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 will 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 may be offered in an individual 

shipping unit.

720 SEALING

721 Sealing - All products must 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 will 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 will be 

included in the technical proposal. These procedures will include: a point of 

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

replacement or monetary compensation. The procedures will be used to 

resolve product complaints from recipient agencies or AMS.
Approved by CMS

Date Issued: 04/01/09

Date Revised: 03/30/15 6

820 NON CONFORMING PRODUCT

821 The contractor must have documented procedures that assure nonconforming 

product identification, segregation, and disposition in order to prevent misuse 

and that nonconforming product is not delivered to USDA. The plan must 

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

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

vendor notification in writing to the FSCS Division of final disposition (e.g., 

diverted to commercial production, cooked or destroyed).

900 CONTRACTOR CHECKLOADING

901 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:

901.1 Purchase Order Number/Purchase Order Line Item Number;

901.2 Sales Order Number/Sales Order Line Item Number;

901.3 Destination of shipment;

901.4 Name of Product and applicable Material Number;

901.5 Shipping Date;

901.6 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;

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

lot;

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

applicable;

901.9 Contractor certification that product conforms with the applicable specification 

 (FPPS-BS-2015);

901.10 Count and projected net weight verified and;

901.11 Signature of company official responsible for checkloading
APPROVED

FEDERAL PURCHASE 

PROGRAM SPECIFICATION 

(FPPS) FOR ANIMAL 

HANDLING AND WELFARE

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-AHW-2014 June 2014 – Changes 

from previous requirements in blue

Effective: January 2015

Approved by CMS 

Date Issued: 08/11/08

Date Revised: 01/13/15

100 GENERAL

101 This document is for use by the Department of Agriculture (USDA), AMS, LPS

Program to ensure that the animal handling and welfare requirements for 

Federal nutrition assistance programs reflect industry best practices.

110 PROGRAM APPROACH

111 All animal harvest facilities that supply raw materials from bovine, porcine and 

ovine species for the production of AMS destined finished products must 

develop and implement a written program that is consistent with a systematic 

approach to humane animal handling and welfare as outlined in 69 FR 54625. 

The program will ensure proper animal handling and welfare techniques are 

conducted from the time the transportation conveyance enters the facility’s 

premises through the stunning and exsanguination of the animal. 

120 PROGRAM SUBMISSION

121 The program will be submitted as a supporting document to the organization’s 

approved technical proposal and must address the requirements outlined in 

Section 200 – PROGRAM COMPONENTS. 

200 PROGRAM COMPONENTS

201 The contractor must ensure that any facility that harvests animals has a:

210 MANAGEMENT COMMITMENT

211 Steering Committee (internal) which is ultimately accountable for animal 

handling and welfare initiatives within the organization.

212 Mission Statement on animal handling and welfare that is distributed to all 

employees and conspicuously displayed at the premises.

ATTACHMENT V
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Date Issued: 08/11/08

Date Revised: 01/13/15 2

220 TRAINING PROGRAM 

221 Training program on Animal Handling and Welfare that:

221.1 is provided to all employees interacting with animals;

221.2 covers the AMI Recommended Animal Handling Guidelines and Audit Guide 

2013 Edition;

221.3 is facilitated by an employee that has earned and maintained a certification of 

animal handling and welfare training, such as that offered through the 

Professional Animal Auditor Certification Organization (PAACO) or an 

equivalent.

221.4 is conducted no less frequently than once a year for each designated 

employee; and,

221.5 requires signed documentation from each employee and confirmation by 

signature of the designated, certified trainer upon successful completion of 

training.

230 QUALITY MANAGEMENT PLAN

231 Written quality management plan (internal) which addresses all provisions of 

Chapter 3: Transportation Audit Guidelines, 7 Core Criteria and Chapter 4: 

Auditing Animal Handling and Stunning, 7 Core Criteria, of the AMI 

Recommended Animal Handling Guidelines and Audit Guide 2013 Edition, 

found at the following web site address: 

231.1 http://animalhandling.org/ht/d/sp/i/26752/pid/26752

232 This internal quality management plan must also provide for routine 

assessment and monitoring of humane handling through the use of a 

numerical scoring system conducted by a trained employee.

233 All animal harvest facilities that supply raw materials from bovine, porcine and 

ovine species for the production of AMS destined finished products must have 

a fully functioning back-up stunning device onsite wherever animal stunning is 

performed.

240 NON-AMBULATORY AND U.S. SUSPECTS

241 CATTLE

242 Written protocol in-place and enforced that precludes the receipt of or having 

non-ambulatory, disabled cattle on the harvest facility premise. In the event 

that animals become non-ambulatory or disabled at any time while present at 

the harvest facility, the animal will be humanely euthanized and the carcass 
Approved by CMS

Date Issued: 08/11/08

Date Revised: 01/13/15 3

removed from the premise in a timely manner through contracted services or 

other means.

243 HOGS AND SHEEP

244 Written protocol in-place and enforced that ensures all animals designated by 

Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) as U.S. Suspects (9 CFR 301.2) that 

are slaughtered are appropriately segregated during the harvest and 

production processes and precluded from inclusion in any products purchased 

by AMS.

300 PROGRAM EVALUATION AND ELIGIBILITY

301 The program will be audited (external) by AMS or a firm accredited by AMS. 

The accreditation of the firm will be conducted by the Quality Assessment

Division (QAD) through the USDA ISO Guide 65 Program. Alternatively, at 

the option of the organization, the audits can be performed by QAD auditors. 

302 Audit findings thought to be in conflict with Food Safety and Inspection Service 

(FSIS) regulations will be communicated to the establishment’s FSIS Inspector 

in Charge (IIC) or designee. 

310 AUDIT FORMAT

311 AMS or the AMS accredited auditing firm will conduct audits utilizing the 

following format:

312 TRANSPORTATION SEGMENT (CHAPTER 3: AMI RECOMMENDED 

ANIMAL HANDLING GUIDELINES AND AUDIT GUIDE 2013 EDITION)

312.1 Audited organizations must pass Core Criteria 1 and 6 with a minimum scoring 

of excellent, Core Criteria 2 through 5 with a minimum scoring of acceptable 

and Core Criteria 7 must be adhered to with full compliance (zero tolerance) 

each time an audit is performed.

313 ANIMAL HANDLING AND STUNNING SEGMENT (CHAPTER 4: AMI 

RECOMMENDED ANIMAL HANDLING GUIDELINES AND AUDIT GUIDE 

2013 EDITION)

313.1 Audited organizations must adhere to Core Criteria 1, 2, 6 and 7 with full 

compliance (zero tolerance) and to Core Criteria 3, 4 and 5 with a minimum 

scoring of Acceptable each time an audit is performed.1/

313.2 The auditor shall inform FSIS and organization officials in writing of all audit 

findings, including any observations of missed stuns and/or animals regaining 

sensibility following stunning, upon completion of the audit during the exit 

interview.

1/Religious harvest (Kosher and Halal) shall be exempt from the AMS auditing of Core Criteria 1: Effective Stunning.
Approved by CMS

Date Issued: 08/11/08

Date Revised: 01/13/15 4

320 INITIAL AUDIT

321 Initial audit must be performed prior to award of contracts.

330 AUDIT FAILURE

331 If an audit is failed for any of the Core Criteria, the organization is not eligible to 

provide product until such a time that corrective and preventative actions are 

approved by the Food Safety and Commodity Specification (FSCS) Division,

implemented and proven effective.

340 AUDIT FREQUENCY AND STATUS

341 STANDARD - Until four (4) consecutive successfully passed audits are 

attained, an audit must be conducted within 3 months of the previous audit.

342 MONTHLY - If at any time an audit identifies any of the Core Criteria not 

meeting the pass requirements while in the STANDARD phase, auditing will be 

required to be conducted on a monthly basis once corrective and preventative 

actions have been approved by the FSCS Division, implemented and proven 

effective. This schedule will be for a period of time until four (4) successive 

audits are found to meet the passing requirements noted in SECTION 310 –

AUDIT FORMAT; at which time audits shall be conducted on the STANDARD 

basis.

343 If four successfully conducted audits are sequentially completed within a one 

year period while in STANDARD auditing phase, the facility may move to a 

SEMI-ANNUAL audit basis.

344 SEMI-ANNUAL - Semi-annual audits may continue until such time that a failed 

audit is reported or a period of greater than six months has elapsed without any 

audits being performed; at which time the audits must resume as described for 

STANDARD audits.

345 FOR-CAUSE – Any official enforcement actions issued by FSIS for missed 

stuns or for an animal regaining sensibility following stunning shall result in an 

immediate for-cause animal handling and welfare audit by AMS. Subsequent 

audit frequency will be determined by results of the AMS audit, as described 

above.

400 FSCS Division

401 The FSCS Division can declare an organization’s Animal Handing and Welfare 

Program out of compliance at any time.

402 The organization shall immediately notify the FSCS Division when any animal 

handling and welfare official enforcement action is issued by FSIS.