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SECTION C

This document covers thermostabilized vegetable crumbles with pasta in taco style sauce 

packaged in a flexible pouch for use by the Department of Defense as a component of 

operational rations.

C-1 ITEM DESCRIPTION

PCR-V-010, VEGETABLE CRUMBLES WITH PASTA IN TACO STYLE 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 food shall be processed until commercially sterile.

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

months at 80°F.

 D. Appearance.

(1) General. The finished product shall be a uniform mixture of vegetable sausage 

crumbles, mafalda noodles, black beans, and vegetables in a taco style sauce. The finished 

product shall be free from foreign materials.

(2) Pasta. The mafalda noodles shall be an enriched pasta product. The cooked

mafalda noodles shall be broad and flat with ruffled edges, approximately 1-1/4 inches in 

length by 3/4 inch in width and shall have a cooked pasta color.
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(3) Vegetable sausage crumbles. The vegetable sausage crumble pieces shall be of 

random size with the largest piece not to exceed 1/2 inch. The vegetable sausage crumbles

shall have a cooked ground meat appearance.

(4) Sauce. The taco style sauce shall be glossy, opaque, an orange-brown color and 

shall contain whole black beans. The sauce shall have discernible pieces of tomato, diced 

green and red bell peppers, and onions and may contain flecks of herbs and spices.

 E. Odor and flavor. The packaged food shall be free from foreign odors and flavors.

(1) Pasta. The mafalda noodles shall have a cooked pasta odor and flavor.

(2) Vegetable sausage crumbles. The vegetable sausage crumbles shall have the odor

and flavor typical of cooked ground meat, and may have a slight soy protein odor and flavor.

(3) Sauce. The sauce shall have a moderately intense taco seasoning odor and flavor 

and shall elicit a sensation of mild heat. The sauce shall have a flavor of tomatoes, green and 

red bell peppers, onions and black beans.

 F. Texture.

(1) Pasta. The mafalda noodles shall be slightly soft to slightly firm and shall not be

pasty.

(2) Vegetable sausage crumbles. The vegetable sausage crumbles shall have a texture

similar to cooked ground meat.

(3) Sauce. The taco style sauce shall be smooth and moderately thick. The tomatoes, 

green and red bell peppers, and onions shall be tender. The black beans shall be slightly firm.

 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 vegetable sausage crumbles, pasta, and 

black beans (combined) shall be not less than 5.6 ounces (159 grams). The drained weight of 

vegetable sausage crumbles, pasta, and black beans (combined) in an individual pouch shall 

be not less than 5.2 ounces (148 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.
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 J. Analytical requirements.

(1) Protein. The protein content shall be not less than 4.6 percent.

(2) Fat. The fat content shall be not greater than 3.4 percent.

(3) Salt. The salt content shall be not less than 0.5 percent and not greater than 1.4

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.

C-3 MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION

THE FOLLOWING IS FOR INFORMATION ONLY. THIS IS NOT A MANDATORY 

CONTRACT REQUIREMENT.

 A. Ingredients. Water, tomatoes in juice, vegetarian sausage crumbles (no meat) (water, 

texture soy flour [soy flour, caramel color], spices [including paprika], salt, sugar, dextrose, 

dehydrated garlic, sodium phosphate), red bell peppers, green bell peppers, whole grain pasta 

[whole durum wheat flour, semolina (wheat), oat fiber, egg whites, niacin, iron (ferrous 

sulfate), thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin and folic acid], black beans, cheddar cheese blend 

(cheddar cheese [milk, salt, cheese cultures, enzymes], disodium phosphate and annatto), 

taco seasoning (spices [including chili pepper and paprika], dehydrated onion and garlic, 

monosodium glutamate), contains 2 percent or less of the following: tomato paste, olive oil, 

dehydrated onion, salt, garlic (garlic and water), guar gum, xanthan gum.

SECTION D

D-1 PACKAGING

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

Packaging of Food in Flexible Pouches, Type I, Style 1.
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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 2014 would be coded as 4045). 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/

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.
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(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.

VEGETARIAN TACO PASTA (VEGETABLE CRUMBLES WITH PASTA 

IN TACO STYLE 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.

(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.
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(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-CFF

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.

(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. 
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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/

Category Defect

Major Minor

Appearance

101 Product not a uniform mixture of vegetable sausage crumbles, mafalda 

noodles, black beans, and vegetables in a taco style sauce.

201 Cooked mafalda noodles not broad or not flat or without ruffled edges.

202 Cooked mafalda noodles not 1-1/4 inches in length or not 3/4 inch in 

width.

203 Mafalda noodles not a cooked pasta color.

204 Vegetable sausage crumble pieces not of random size.

205 Largest vegetable sausage crumble piece exceeds 1/2 inch.

206 Vegetable sausage crumbles do not have a cooked ground meat 

appearance.

207 Sauce not glossy or not opaque or not an orange-brown color.

208 Sauce does not contain whole black beans.

209 Sauce does not have discernible pieces of tomato, diced green and red 

bell peppers, or onions.
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TABLE I. Product defects 1/ 2/ 3/ 4/ - Continued

Category Defect

Major Minor

Odor and flavor

102 Mafalda noodles do not have a cooked pasta odor or flavor.

103 Vegetable sausage crumbles do not have the odor or flavor typical of 

cooked ground meat.

104 Sauce does not have a moderately intense taco seasoning odor or flavor 

or does not elicit a sensation of mild heat.

105 Sauce does not have a flavor of tomatoes or green and red bell peppers 

or onions or black beans.

Texture

210 Mafalda noodles not slightly soft to slightly firm.

211 Mafalda noodles pasty.

212 Vegetable sausage crumbles do not have a texture similar to cooked 

ground meat.

213 Sauce not smooth or not moderately thick.

214 Tomatoes or green and red bell peppers or onions not tender.

215 Black beans not slightly firm.

Net weight

216 Net weight of an individual pouch less than 7.5 ounces (213 grams). 5/

Drained weight

217 Drained weight of vegetable sausage crumbles, pasta, and black beans 

(combined) in an individual pouch less than 5.2 ounces (148 grams). 6/
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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/ Verification of pasta as enriched shall be with the statement of ingredients on the label or 

verified by the producer’s Certificate of Conformance (CoC).

4/ Product shall be verified as meeting vegetarian requirement by a CoC.

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

the lot.

6/ Sample average drained weight of vegetable sausage crumbles, pasta, and black beans 

(combined) less than 5.6 ounces (159 grams) shall be cause for rejection of the lot.

 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. The pouch contents shall be poured into a flat-bottom container. A 

minimum of three times the volume of the pouch of not less than 140°F and not greater than 

190°F water shall be added to the container so as to cover the contents. The contents and 

water shall be gently agitated so as to remove the sauce without breaking the pasta, vegetable 

sausage crumbles or black beans. The contents shall then be poured into a U.S. Standard No. 

14 sieve in a manner that will distribute the product over the sieve without breaking the 
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pasta, vegetable sausage crumbles or black beans. 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 such an angle to assure complete drainage of liquid from the product. Drain product 

for two minutes before determining the combined drained weight by subtracting the sieve 

tare weight from the gross weight. The drained weight shall be reported to the nearest 0.1 

ounce or to the nearest 1 gram. Use a U.S. Standard No. 14 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 flatbottom 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 vegetable sausage crumbles, pasta, and 

black beans (combined) 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 vegetable sausage crumbles, pasta, and black beans

(combined). 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).

(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

Protein 988.05, 992.15

Fat 991.36, 2007.04 or 2008.06
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Salt 935.47

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 requirement 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/

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 
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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 the AOAC International