PCR-I-003

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SECTION C

This document covers shelf stable Italian sausage with peppers and onions in marinara sauce

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

operational rations.

C-1 ITEM DESCRIPTION

PCR-I-003, ITALIAN SAUSAGE WITH PEPPERS AND ONIONS IN MARINARA 

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 80oF.

 D. Appearance.

(1) General. The finished product shall be cooked sliced Italian sausage with red and 

yellow bell peppers and onions in marinara sauce. The finished product shall be free from 

foreign materials.

(2) Sausage. The cooked sliced Italian sausage rounds shall have a tan to light brown 

cooked sausage color and may have a red to reddish-brown color from absorbed sauce. The

cooked sliced Italian sausage rounds shall be 1-1/4 ± 1/8 inches in diameter and 1/8 to 1/4 

inches in width. The finished product shall contain a minimum of 6 intact sausage rounds.

The packaged food shall be practically free of bone or bone fragments, cartilage, coarse 

connective tissue, tendons or ligaments, and glandular material. 
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(3) Peppers. The cooked bell peppers shall be strips and shall have a red and yellow

bell pepper color.

(4) Onions. The cooked onions shall be strips and shall be a translucent off-white 

color.

(5) Sauce. The sauce shall be a glossy opaque red to reddish-brown color. The sauce 

shall have flecks of herbs and spices and may have pieces of tomatoes.

 E. Odor and flavor. The packaged food shall have a cooked sweet and spicy sausage, 

tomato, bell pepper, onion, garlic, basil, and oregano odor and flavor. The packaged food 

shall have a moderate red chili pepper flavor. The packaged food shall be free from foreign 

odors and flavors.

 F. Texture.

(1) Sausage. The cooked sliced Italian sausage rounds shall be moderately firm with a 

tender chew and shall not be mushy or dry.

(2) Vegetables. The cooked bell peppers and onions shall be tender.

(3) Sauce. The sauce shall be slightly thick.

 G. Viscosity. The viscosity of the sauce shall be not less than 6.0 cm per thirty seconds or 

not greater than 10.0 cm per thirty seconds.

 H. 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).

 I. Drained weight.

(1) Sausage and vegetables. The average drained weight of the sliced sausage rounds 

and vegetables (combined) shall be not less than 3.5 ounces (99 grams). The drained weight 

of the sliced sausage rounds and vegetables (combined) in an individual pouch shall be not 

less than 3.0 ounces (85 grams).

(2) Sausage. The average drained weight of the sliced sausage rounds shall be not less 

than 2.5 ounces (71 grams). The drained weight of the sliced sausage rounds in an individual 

pouch shall be not less 2.2 ounces (62 grams). 

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

the approved product standard in palatability and overall appearance.

 K. Analytical requirements.

(1) Fat. The fat content shall be not greater than 13.0 percent.

(2) Salt. The salt content shall be not greater than 1.5 percent.

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.

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

 Official establishment number (Optional)

 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 2020 would be coded as 0045). 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.
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(3) USDA official inspection legend for the packer’s plant 1/

1/ May be placed on the paperboard sleeve if labeled under USDA/FSIS supervision as an 

identification service.

 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 USDA 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 USDA 

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

with the following product name. 

ITALIAN SAUSAGE WITH PEPPERS AND ONIONS IN MARINARA 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, minimum burst grade 200 or ECT 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.
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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.

(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:
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DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY

FCDD-SCC-EMR

COMBAT CAPABILITIES DEVELOPMENT COMMAND-SOLDIER CENTER

10 GENERAL GREENE AVENUE

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. 

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. 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. For drained weight inspection, a separate set of 

pouches shall be selected from the lot using the same sampling criteria as above.

TABLE I. Product defects 1/ 2/ 

Category Defect

Major Minor

Appearance 

101 Product not cooked sliced Italian sausage with red or yellow bell 

peppers or onions in marinara sauce.

201 Cooked sliced Italian sausage rounds not a tan to light brown 

cooked sausage color.
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TABLE I. Product defects 1/ 2/ - Continued

Category Defect

Major Minor

102 Bone or bone fragment measuring more than 0.3 inch in any 

dimension.

202 Cooked sliced Italian sausage rounds less than 1-1/4 ± 1/8 inches 

in diameter or less than 1/8 to 1/4 inches in width. 3/

203 Product does not contain a minimum of 6 intact sausage rounds. 

4/

204 Total weight of cartilage, coarse connective tissue, tendons or 

ligaments, and glandular material is more than 0.35 ounces (9.9 

grams).

205 Cooked bell peppers not strips or not a red or not a yellow bell

pepper color.

206 Cooked onions not strips or not a translucent off-white color.

207 Sauce not glossy or not an opaque red to reddish-brown color.

208 Sauce does not have flecks of herbs or spices.

Odor and flavor

103 The packaged food does not have a cooked sweet or not a spicy 

sausage or not a tomato or not a bell pepper or not an onion or 

not a garlic or not a basil or not an oregano odor or flavor.

104 The packaged food does not have a moderate red chili pepper 

flavor.

Texture

209 Cooked sliced Italian sausage rounds not moderately firm or not 

with a tender chew or are mushy or are dry.

210 Cooked bell peppers or onions not tender.
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TABLE I. Product defects 1/ 2/ - Continued

Category Defect

Major Minor

211 Sauce not slightly thick.

Net weight

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

grams). 5/

Drained weight

213 Drained weight of sliced sausage rounds and vegetables 

(combined) in an individual pouch less than 3.0 ounces (85 

grams). 6/

214 Drained weight of the sliced sausage rounds in an individual 

pouch less than 2.2 ounces (62 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/ Italian sausage rounds dimensions shall be verified by a Certificate of Conformance 

(CoC).

4/ Intact is defined as a sausage round that is entirely unbroken. 

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 the sliced sausage rounds and vegetables (combined) 

shall be not less than 3.5 ounces (99 grams) shall be cause for rejection of the lot.

7/ Sample average drained weight of the sliced sausage rounds less than 2.5 ounces (71

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 

USDA/FSIS 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 No. 7 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 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 sliced sausage rounds from the sieve. Place the 

sieve back on the scale and record the weight as a positive number. This value is the drained 

weight of the sliced sausage rounds. Empty the remaining contents of the sieve by turning the 

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

record the weight as a positive number. This value is the combined drained weight. 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.
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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) Sauce viscosity. Viscosity testing using a Bostwick Consistometer shall be 

performed on a composite sample of drained sauce from five pouches that have been selected 

at random from the first production lot. The sauce shall be heated to 80°F +1°F. Any result 

not conforming to the requirements specified in Section C of this Performance-based 

Contract Requirements document shall be cause for rejection of the lot. Viscosity testing will 

be conducted on the first production lot of a contract cycle. A CoC for viscosity shall be 

provided on all future lots produced using the same formulation. If the formula is changed or 

a new contract starts, then another test shall be conducted by USDA.

(6) 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 Official Methods of Analysis 

(OMA) of AOAC International:

Test Method Number

Fat 991.36, 2007.04, or 2008.06

Salt 935.47, 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, pouch and sleeve, as applicable, in 

accordance with the lot size, sample unit, and inspection level criteria shall be tested for the 

performance characteristics listed in table I of MIL-PRF-44073, Packaging of Food in 

Flexible Pouches for Type I. Any test failure shall be classified as a major defect and shall be 

cause for rejection of the lot.

(2) Filled and sealed pouch examination. The filled and sealed commercially sterile 

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 
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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.

(3) Paperboard sleeve or paperboard insert card examination. The sleeve or insert 

card (as applicable) 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 or insert cards. The sample unit 

shall be one sleeve or one insert card. 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.

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
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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE SPECIFICATION

MIL-PRF-44073 Packaging of Food in Flexible Pouches

Copies of these documents are available from http://quicksearch.dla.mil/qsSearch.aspx or 

from the Standardization Document Order Desk, 700 Robbins Ave, Building 4D, 

Philadelphia, PA 19111-5094.)

NON-GOVERNMENTAL STANDARDS

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

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

Attributes

AOAC INTERNATIONAL www.aoac.org

Official Methods of Analysis (OMA) of the AOAC International

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