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SECTION C 

This document covers thermostabilized elbow macaroni in tomato sauce packaged in a 

flexible pouch for use by the Department of Defense as a component of operational rations. 

C-1 ITEM DESCRIPTION 

PCR-E-019, ELBOW MACARONI IN TOMATO SAUCE, PACKAGED IN A 

FLEXIBLE POUCH, SHELF STABLE 

C-2 PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS 

 A. Product standard. A sample shall be subjected to first article (FA) or product 

demonstration model (PDM) inspection as applicable, in accordance with the tests and 

inspections of Section E of this Performance-based Contract Requirements (PCR) document. 

The approved sample shall serve as the product standard. Should the contractor at any time 

plan to or actually produce the product using different raw material or process methodologies 

from the approved product standard, which result in a product noncomparable to the product 

standard, the contractor shall submit a replacement FA or PDM for approval. In any event, all 

product produced must meet all requirements of this document including product standard 

comparability. 

 B. Commercial sterility. The packaged product shall be processed until commercially 

sterile. 

 C. Shelf life. The packaged product shall meet the minimum shelf life requirement of 36 

months at 80oF. 

 D. Appearance. 

 (1) General. The finished product shall be a uniform mixture of elbow macaroni in 

tomato sauce. The finished product shall be free from foreign materials. 

 (2) Macaroni. The elbow shaped macaroni shall be an enriched whole grain pasta 

product. The cooked elbow shaped macaroni shall be not less than 3/4 inch and not greater 

than 1-1/2 inches in length. The cooked elbow shaped macaroni shall be intact and have a 

medium tan color. 

 (3) Sauce. The sauce shall be a medium reddish-orange color and shall contain 

visible flecks of herbs and spices. The sauce may contain pieces of diced tomato. 
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 E. Odor and flavor. The packaged food shall have an odor and flavor of cooked whole 

grain pasta in a mild garlic and onion seasoned tomato sauce. The packaged food shall be 

free from foreign odors and flavors. 

 F. Texture. 

 (1) Macaroni. The cooked elbow shaped macaroni shall be slightly soft to slightly 

firm and shall not be pasty. 

 (2) Sauce. The sauce shall be slightly thin to moderately thick and free flowing. 

 G. Net weight. The average net weight shall be not less than 8.0 ounces (227 grams). The 

net weight of an individual pouch shall be not less than 7.5 ounces (213 grams). 

 H. Drained weight. The average drained weight of the elbow macaroni shall be not less 

than 4.0 ounces (113 grams). The drained weight of the elbow macaroni in an individual 

pouch shall be not less than 3.5 ounces (99 grams). 

 I. Palatability and overall appearance. The finished product shall be equal to or better than 

the approved product standard in palatability and overall appearance. 

 J. Analytical requirements. 

 (1) Fat. The fat content shall be not greater than 2.5 percent. 

(2) Salt. The salt content shall be not greater than 1.0 percent. 

 K. Vegetarian requirement. This product shall contain no ingredients, major or trace, and/or 

processing aids derived from the flesh, skin, blood, entrails, or bones of animals. This 

includes, but is not limited to oils, fats, fatty acids and their esters, flavorings, gelling agents, 

coagulants, binders, emulsifiers, fatty alcohol, aldehydes, and ketones, lactones, glycerol, 

amino acids, hydrolyzed proteins, enzymes, and enzyme modified products. Furthermore, 

these products shall contain no ethyl alcohol, or ingredients derived from or containing 

methyl alcohol. Milk and eggs, and ingredients derived from them such as yogurt, or cheese 

(produced without animal based rennet or pepsin), are allowed. 
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SECTION D 

D-1 PACKAGING 

Product shall be filled into pouches and processed in accordance with MIL-PRF-44073, 

Packaging of Food in Flexible Pouches, Type I, Style 1. 

D-2 LABELING 

 A. Pouches. Each pouch shall be correctly and legibly labeled. Printing ink shall be 

permanent black ink or any other contrasting color, which is free of carcinogenic elements.

Prior to thermal processing of the pouches, the product name, lot number, filling equipment 

number and time stamp shall be applied. All other marking may be applied before or after 

thermal processing. 

(1) Product name (not less than 1/8 inch high). Commonly used abbreviations 

may be used. 

(2) Pouch code includes: 1/ 

 Lot number

 Filling equipment identification number

 Company code 

 Retort identification number and Retort cook number (Optional) 

 Time stamp (hour and minute of filling/sealing operation) 

1/ The lot number shall be expressed as a four digit Julian code. The first digit shall indicate 

the year of production and the next three digits shall indicate the day of the year (Example, 

14 February 2016 would be coded as 6045). The Julian code shall represent the day the 

product was packaged into the pouch and processed. Following the four digit Julian code, the 

other required code information shall be printed in the sequence as listed above. 

 B. Paperboard sleeves.

 (1) The sleeves shall be clearly printed on one of the panels with permanent black ink 

as follows: 1/ 
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Product name (7/32 to 9/32 inch block letters) 

Ingredients 

Net weight 

Name and address of packer

“Nutrition Facts” label in accordance with the Nutrition Labeling and 

Education Act (NLEA) and all applicable FDA regulations 

1/ With contracting officer approval, this information may be printed on the pouch in lieu of 

the paperboard sleeve. 

(2) The product shall be formulated and labeled in accordance with all FDA labeling 

regulations and policies. The sleeves (or pouches, as applicable) shall be labeled with the 

following product name. 

 ELBOW MACARONI IN TOMATO SAUCE 

D-3 PACKING 

 A. Packing. Not more than 40 pounds of product shall be packed in a fiberboard shipping 

box constructed in accordance with style RSC of ASTM D5118/D5118M, Standard Practice 

for Fabrication of Fiberboard Shipping Boxes. The fiberboard shall conform to type CF, class 

D, variety SW, burst grade 200 or ECT grade 32 of ASTM D4727/D4727M, Standard 

Specification for Corrugated and Solid Fiberboard Sheet Stock (Container Grade) and Cut 

Shapes. Each box shall be closed in accordance with ASTM D1974/D1974M, Standard 

Practice for Methods of Closing, Sealing, and Reinforcing Fiberboard Boxes. 

D-5 MARKING 

 A. Shipping containers. Shipping containers shall be marked in accordance with DLA 

Troop Support Form 3556, Marking Instructions for Boxes, Sacks, and Unit Loads of 

Perishable and Semiperishable Subsistence. 

SECTION E INSPECTION AND ACCEPTANCE 

The following quality assurance criteria, utilizing ANSI/ASQ Z1.4, Sampling Procedures and 

Tables for Inspection by Attributes, are required. Unless otherwise specified, single sampling 

plans indicated in ANSI/ASQ Z1.4 will be utilized. When required, the manufacturer shall 

provide the Certificate(s) of Conformance to the appropriate inspection activity. 

Certificate(s) of Conformance not provided shall be cause for rejection of the lot. 

 A. Definitions. 
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 (1) Critical defect. A critical defect is a defect that judgment and experience indicate 

would result in hazardous or unsafe conditions for individuals using, maintaining, or 

depending on the item; or a defect that judgment and experience indicate is likely to prevent 

the performance of the major end item, i.e., the consumption of the ration. 

 (2) Major defect. A major defect is a defect, other than critical, that is likely to result 

in failure, or to reduce materially the usability of the unit of product for its intended purpose. 

(3) Minor defect. A minor defect is a defect that is not likely to reduce materially the 

usability of the unit of product for its intended purpose, or is a departure from established 

standards having little bearing on the effective use or operation of the unit. 

 B. Classification of inspections. The inspection requirements specified herein are classified 

as follows: 

(1) Product standard inspection. The first article or product demonstration model shall 

be inspected in accordance with the provisions of this document and evaluated for 

appearance, odor, flavor, and texture. Any failure to conform to the performance 

requirements or any appearance or palatability failure shall be cause for rejection of the lot. 

(2) Periodic review evaluation. The approved first article or product demonstration 

model shall be used as the product standard for periodic review evaluations. All food 

components that are inspected by the USDA shall be subject to periodic review sampling and 

evaluation. The USDA shall select sample units during production of contracts and submit 

them to the following address for evaluation: 

US Army Research, Development and Engineering Command 

Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center 

RDNS-SEC-F 

15 Kansas Street 

Natick, MA 01760-5056 

One lot shall be randomly selected during each calendar month of production or as otherwise 

specified in the contract. Three (3) sample units shall be randomly selected from that one 

production lot. The three (3) sample units shall be shipped to Natick within five (5) working 

days from the end of the production month from which they are randomly selected and upon 

completion of all USDA inspection requirements. The sample units will be evaluated for 

overall quality against the current first article or product demonstration model. 
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(3) Conformance inspection. Conformance inspection shall include the 

examinations/tests and methods of inspection cited in this section and in section 4 of MILPRF-44073. 

E-5 QUALITY ASSURANCE PROVISIONS (PRODUCT) 

 A. Product examination. The finished product shall be examined for compliance with the 

performance requirements specified in Section C of this Performance-based Contract 

Requirements document utilizing the double sampling plans indicated in ANSI/ASQ Z1.4. 

The lot size shall be expressed in pouches. The sample unit shall be the contents of one 

pouch. The inspection level shall be S-3 and the acceptable quality level (AQL), expressed 

in terms of defects per hundred units, shall be 1.5 for major defects and 4.0 for minor 

defects. Defects and defect classifications are listed in table I. For drained weight 

inspection, a separate set of pouches shall be selected from the lot using the same sampling 

criteria as above. The pouches shall be immersed in not less than 140F and not greater 

than 190°F water for 10 minutes prior to conducting the product examination and the 

drained weight inspection. 

TABLE I. Product defects 1/ 2/ 3/ 4/ 5/

Category Defect 

Major Minor

 Appearance 

101 Product not a uniform mixture of elbow macaroni in tomato 

sauce. 

 201 Cooked elbow shaped macaroni not intact. 

 202 Cooked elbow shaped macaroni does not have a medium tan 

color. 

 203 Sauce not a medium reddish-orange color or not with visible 

flecks of herbs and spices. 

 Odor and flavor 

102 Product does not have an odor or flavor of cooked whole grain 

pasta in a mild garlic and onion seasoned tomato sauce. 
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TABLE I. Product defects 1/ 2/ 3/ 4/ 5/ - Continued

Category Defect 

Major Minor

 Texture 

 204 Cooked elbow shaped macaroni not slightly soft to slightly firm 

or is pasty. 

 205 Sauce not slightly thin to moderately thick or not free flowing. 

 Net weight 

 206 Net weight of an individual pouch less than 7.5 ounces (213 

grams). 6/ 

 Drained weight 

 207 Drained weight of elbow macaroni in an individual pouch less 

than 3.5 ounces (99 grams). 7/ 

1/ Presence of any foreign materials such as, but not limited to dirt, insect parts, hair, glass, 

wood, or metal, or any foreign odors or flavors such as, but not limited to burnt, scorched, 

rancid, sour, stale, musty or moldy shall be cause for rejection of the lot. 

2/ Finished product not equal to or better than the approved product standard in palatability 

and overall appearance shall be cause for rejection of the lot. 

3/ Product shall be verified as meeting the vegetarian requirement by CoC. 

4/ Verification of the elbow shaped macaroni as enriched whole grain product that includes 

51 percent of whole grain, as whole durum wheat flour, by total weight of ingredients shall 

be verified by the producer’s CoC. 

5/ Length of the cooked whole grain elbow shaped macaroni product shall be verified by 

CoC. 

6/ Sample average net weight less than 8.0 ounces (227 grams) shall be cause for rejection of 

the lot. 

7/ Sample average drained weight less than 4.0 ounces (113 grams) shall be cause for 

rejection of the lot. 
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 B. Methods of inspection. 

 (1) Commercial sterility. Commercial sterility shall be verified in accordance with 

FDA regulations. 

 (2) Shelf life. The contractor shall provide a Certificate of Conformance that the 

product has a 36 month shelf life when stored at 80F. Government verification may include 

storage for 6 months at 100F or 36 months at 80F. Upon completion of either storage 

period, the product will be subjected to a sensory evaluation panel for appearance and 

palatability and must receive an overall score of 5 or higher based on a 9 point quality scale 

to be considered acceptable. 

(3) Net weight. The net weight of the filled and sealed pouches shall be determined 

by weighing each sample on a suitable scale tared with a representative empty pouch. 

Results shall be reported to the nearest 0.1 ounce or to the nearest 1 gram. 

(4) Drained weight. Use a U.S. Standard 1/4 inch sieve for the drained weight examination. 

Heat all the pouches at the same time for 10 minutes in hot water. 1/ Pour the contents of the 

pouch into a flat-bottom container and repeatedly add hot water until all of the product has 

been removed from the pouch. 1/ Additional hot water may be added to the flat-bottom 

container so as to cover all of the contents. 1/ The mixture shall be gently agitated so as to 

liquefy rendered fat without breaking the product. 2/ The mixture shall not sit for greater than 

two minutes. The contents shall then be poured into the sieve in a manner that will distribute 

the product over the sieve without breaking up the product. The sieve area shall be such that 

the distributed product does not completely cover all the openings of the sieve. The sieve 

shall be tilted at an angle from 30 to 45 degrees to ensure complete drainage of liquid from 

the product. Drain product for two minutes. Place the sieve and its contents onto the scale 

and tare the scale to zero. Remove the elbow macaroni from the sieve by turning the sieve 

upside down and dumping the product. Place the sieve back on the scale and record the 

weight as a positive number. This value is the drained weight of the elbow macaroni. When 

necessary, rinse the screen before performing the next drained weight exam. The drained 

weight shall be reported to the nearest 0.1 ounce or to the nearest 1 gram. 3/ 

1/ Water temperature shall be not less than 140°F and not greater than 165°F. 

2/ Additional hot water may be required for completely removing sauce and liquefying 

rendered fat. 

3/ The initial unit of measurement shall be maintained throughout the exam (example: if 

ounce is used, the unit of measurement shall remain as ounces throughout the exam). 
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(5) Analytical. The sample to be analyzed shall be a composite of eight filled and 

sealed pouches which have been selected at random from the lot. The composite sample shall 

be prepared and analyzed in accordance with the following methods of the Official Methods 

of Analysis (OMA) of AOAC International. 

Test Method Number

Fat 991.36 or 2008.06 

Salt 935.47 or 971.27 

Test results shall be reported to the nearest 0.1 percent. Government verification will be 

conducted through actual testing by a Government laboratory. Any result not conforming to 

the analytical requirements shall be cause for rejection of the lot. 

E-6 QUALITY ASSURANCE PROVISIONS (PACKAGING AND PACKING 

MATERIALS) 

 A. Packaging. 

(1) Pouch material testing. The pouch material shall be examined for the 

characteristics listed in table I of MIL-PRF-44073 for Type I. The lot size, sample unit, and 

inspection level criteria for each of the test characteristics are listed below. Any test failure 

shall be classified as a major defect and shall be cause for rejection of the lot. 

Characteristic Lot size expressed in Sample unit Inspection level 

Oxygen transmission rate yards 1/2 yard S-1 

Water vapor transmission rate yards 1/2 yard S-1 

Camouflage yards 1/2 yard S-1 

Thermal processing pouches 1 pouch S-2 

Low temperature pouches 1 pouch S-2 

High temperature pouches 1 pouch S-2 

Directional tear pouches 1 pouch S-3 

(2) Filled and sealed pouch testing. The filled and sealed thermoprocessed or hot-fill 

processed pouches shall be examined for the characteristics listed in table I of MIL-PRF44073 for Type I. The lot size, sample unit, and inspection level criteria for each of the test 

characteristics are listed below. Any test failure shall be classified as a major defect and shall 

be cause for rejection of the lot. 

Characteristic Lot size expressed in Sample unit Inspection level 

Residual gas volume pouches 1 pouch S-2 

Internal pressure pouches 1 pouch S-2 1/
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1/ When a three-seal tester is used, a separate set of samples is required for testing of the 

closure seal. 

(3) Pouch examination. The pouches shall be examined for the defects listed in table 

II of MIL-PRF-44073 for Type I. The lot size shall be expressed in pouches. The sample unit 

shall be one thermal processed pouch. The inspection level shall be I and the AQL, expressed 

in terms of defects per hundred units, shall be 0.65 for major A defects, 2.5 for major B 

defects, and 4.0 for minor defects. Two hundred sample units shall be examined for critical 

defects. The finding of any critical defect shall be cause for rejection of the lot. 

 (4) Sleeve examination. The sleeves shall be examined for the defects listed in table 

III of MIL-PRF-44073 for Type I. The lot size shall be expressed in units of sleeves. The 

sample unit shall be one sleeve. The inspection level shall be S-3 and the AQL, expressed in 

terms of defects per hundred units, shall be 0.65 for major defects and 2.5 for minor defects. 

 B. Packing. 

(1) Shipping container and marking examination. The filled and sealed shipping containers 

shall be examined for the defects listed in table II. The lot size shall be expressed in shipping 

containers. The sample unit shall be one shipping container fully packed. The inspection 

level shall be S-3 and the AQL, expressed in terms of defects per hundred units, shall be 4.0 

for major defects and 10.0 for total defects. 

TABLE II. Shipping container and marking defects 

Category Defect 

Major Minor

101 Marking missing or incorrect or illegible. 

102 Inadequate workmanship. 1/ 

 201 More than 40 pounds of product. 

1/ Inadequate workmanship is defined as, but not limited to, incomplete closure of container 

flaps, loose strapping, inadequate stapling, improper taping, or bulged or distorted container. 
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SECTION J REFERENCE DOCUMENTS

Unless otherwise specified, the applicable version of these documents is that which is active 

on the date of the solicitation or contract. 

DLA Troop Support Form 

Form 3556 Marking Instructions for Boxes, Sacks, and Unit 

Loads of Perishable and Semiperishable Subsistence 

MILITARY SPECIFICATION 

MIL-PRF-44073 Packaging of Food in Flexible Pouches 

NON-GOVERNMENTAL STANDARDS 

AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR QUALITY (ASQ) www.asq.org

ANSI/ASQ Z1.4 Sampling Procedures and Tables for Inspection by 

Attributes 

ASTM INTERNATIONAL www.astm.org

D1974/D1974M Standard Practice for Methods of Closing, 

Sealing, and Reinforcing Fiberboard Boxes 

D4727/D4727M Standard Specification for Corrugated and Solid 

Fiberboard Sheet Stock (Container Grade) and 

Cut Shapes 

D5118/D5118M Standard Practice for Fabrication of Fiberboard 

Shipping Boxes 

AOAC INTERNATIONAL www.aoac.org

Official Methods of Analysis (OMA) of AOAC International