USDA Foods meet high standards for quality and wholesomeness and must be produced and processed according to detailed USDA specifications.
Specifications by Product:
- Fruits
- Vegetables
- Juice
- Nuts, Beans, Peas & Lentils
- Beef
- Pork
- Fish
- Other Red Meat Products
- Chicken
- Turkey
- Eggs
- Other Domestic Purchase Specs (Grains, Bakery, Oilseed Products)
- Dairy Products
Fruits
Canned Fruit
- Commodity Specification for Canned Fruit, September 2014 (pdf); Amendment 1, March 2015 (pdf)
- Commodity Specifications for Canned Fruit, February 2012 (pdf); Amendment 1, October 2012 (pdf); Amendment 2, June 2016 (pdf)
Frozen Fruit
- Commodity Specifications for Frozen Fruit, October 2014 (pdf); Amendment 1, June 2015 (pdf); Amendment 2, May 2016 (pdf)
- Commodity Specifications for Frozen Fruit, March 2012 (pdf)
Fresh Citrus Fruit
- Commodity Specifications for Fresh Citrus, August 2014 (pdf)
- Commodity Specifications for Fresh Citrus, June 2012 (pdf); Amendment 1, May 2013 (pdf)
Fresh Fruit
- Commodity Specifications for Fresh Fruit, August 2014 (pdf); Amendment 1, March 2015 (pdf)
- Commodity Specifications for Fresh Fruit, August 2012 (pdf); Amendment 1, February 2013 (pdf) ; Amendment 2, May 2013 (pdf)
Dried Fruit
- Commodity Specifications for Dried Fruit, August 2014 (pdf); Amendment 1, March 2015 (pdf); Amendment 2, April 2016 (pdf)
- Commodity Specifications for Dried Fruit, April 2012 (pdf); Amendment 1, January 2013 (pdf)
Vegetables
- Commodity Specifications for Canned Vegetables, September 2014 (pdf); Amendment 1, March 2015 (pdf); Amendment 2, June 2015 (pdf); Amendment 3, August 2015 (pdf); Amendment 4, April 2016 (pdf)
- Commodity Specifications for Canned Vegetables, February 2012 (pdf); Amendment 1, April 2012 (pdf); Amendment 2, October 2012 (pdf); Amendment 3, December 2012 (pdf); Amendment 4, March 2013 (pdf); Amendment 5, May 2013 (pdf)
Frozen Vegetables
- Commodity Specification for Frozen Vegetables, June 2014 (pdf); Amendment 1, March 2015 (pdf); Amendment 2, March 2015 (pdf); Amendment 3, January 2016 (pdf); Amendment 4, Janaury 2016 (pdf); Amendment 5, May 2016 (pdf)
- Commodity Specifications for Frozen Vegetables, February 2012 (pdf); Amendment 1, May 2012 (pdf); Amendment 2, May 2013 (pdf); Amendment 3, July 2013 (pdf); Amendment 4, September 2013 (pdf); Amendment 5, October 2013 (pdf)
- Commodity Specification for Fresh Vegetables, October 2014 (pdf)
- Commodity Specification for Fresh Vegetables, August 2012 (pdf); Amendment 1, August 2012 (pdf); Amendment 2, May 2013 (pdf)
Dehydrated Potato Products
- Commodity Specification for Dehydrated Potato Products, June 2014 (pdf), Amendment 1, Sept 2015 (pdf)
Frozen Potato Products
- Commodity Specifications for Frozen Potato Products, April 2015 (pdf); Amendment 1, March 2016 (pdf)
Miscellaneous Fruit and Vegetables Products
Bulk Products for Further Processing (Miscellaneous Products)
- Commodity Specification for Bulk Products for Further Processing, August 2012 (pdf); Amendment 1 (pdf); Amendment 2 (pdf);
Juices
- Commodity Specification for Frozen Fruit Juices, June 2014 (pdf), Amendment 1 September 2015 (pdf), Amendment 2, April 2016 (pdf)
- Commodity Specification for Frozen Fruit Juices, April 2012 (pdf)
Bottled Fruit Juices
- Commodity Specification for Bottled Juices, June 2014 (pdf)
- Commodity Specification for Bottled Fruit Juices, April 2012 (pdf); Amendment 1, October 2012 (pdf); Amendment 2, May 2013 (pdf)
Concentrated Fruit Juice for Manufacturing
- Commodity Specification for Concentrated Fruit Juices for Manufacturing, June 2014 (pdf)
- Commodity Specification for Concentrated Fruit Juices for Manufacturing, April 2012 (pdf)
Nuts, Beans, Peas & Lentils
- Commodity Specifications for Canned Dried Beans, September 2014 (pdf); Amendment 1, April 2016 (pdf)
- Commodity Specifications for Canned Dried Beans, April 2012 (pdf); Amendment 1, October 2012 (pdf)
Dry Edible Beans, Peas, and Lentils
- Commodity Specification for Dry Edible Beans, Peas and Lentils, June 2014 (pdf), Amendment 1, October 2015 (pdf)
- Commodity Specifications for Dry Edible Beans, Peas, and Lentils, May 2012 (pdf); Amendment 1, April 2013 (pdf); Amendment 2, June 2013 (pdf)
Shelled Nuts
- Commodity Specifications for Shelled Nuts, August 2014 (pdf)
- Commodity Specifications for Shelled Nuts, June 2012 (pdf)
Beef
- Supplement 210 – Beef, Roast (Frozen), April 2016 (pdf)
- Supplement 210- Miscellaneous Beef Items (Roasts, Diced Beef), February 2015 (pdf)
- Supplement 210 – Beef, Roast (Frozen), June 2011 (pdf); Amendment 1, September 2011 (pdf); Amendment 2, February 2013 (pdf); Amendment 3, May 2013 (pdf); Amendment 4, June 2014 (pdf)
Frozen Ground Beef Products
- Supplement 211 – Frozen Beef Products, March 2015 (pdf)
- Supplement 211 - Frozen Beef Products, June 2012 (pdf); Amendment 1, May 2013 (pdf); Amendment 2, April 2014 (pdf); Amendment 3, June 2014 (pdf)
- Supplement 211 - Frozen Beef Products, April, 2016 (pdf)
Fresh Boneless Beef Products
- Supplement 212 – Fresh Boneless Beef Products, April 2016 (pdf)
- Supplement 212 – Fresh Boneless Beef Products, March 2015 (pdf);
- Supplement 212- Fresh Boneless Beef Products, May 2012 (pdf); Amendment 1, May 2013 (pdf); Amendment 2, April 2014 (pdf); Amendment 3, June 2014 (pdf)
Beef Special Trim
- Supplement 213 – Beef Special Trim, April 2016 (pdf)
- Supplement 213 – Beef, Special Trim, June 2012 (pdf); Amendment 1, May 2013 (pdf); Amendment 2, June 2014 (pdf); Amendment 3, March 2015 (pdf)
Frozen Cooked Beef and Pork Products
- Supplement 404 – Frozen, Cooked Beef and Pork Products, March 2016 (pdf)
- Supplement 404 – Frozen, Cooked Beef and Pork Products, March 2015 (pdf);
- Supplement 404 – Frozen, Cooked Beef and Pork Products, June 2012 (pdf); Amendment 1, August 2012 (pdf); Amendment 2, April 2013 (pdf); Amendment 3, May 2013 (pdf); Amendment 4, June 2014 (pdf)
Pork
- Supplement 304 - Frozen Pork Chop, May 2013 (pdf); Amendment 1, June 2014 (pdf); Amendment 2, February 2015 (pdf)
- Supplement 304 - Frozen Pork Chops, April 2016 (pdf)
Ham, Boneless, Fully-Cooked, Water-Added
- Supplement 404 – Frozen, Cooked Beef and Pork Products, March 2016 (pdf)
- Supplement 404 – Frozen, Cooked Beef and Pork Products, March 2015 (pdf);
- Supplement 404 – Frozen, Cooked Beef and Pork Products, June 2012 (pdf); Amendment 1, August 2012 (pdf); Amendment 2, April 2013 (pdf); Amendment 3, May 2013 (pdf); Amendment 4, June 2014 (pdf)
Fish
- Supplement 507-Salmon Products, June 2016 (pdf)
- Supplement 507 - Purchase of Canned Pink Salmon, July 2011 (pdf); Canned Salmon Errata Page, September 2011 (pdf); Amendment No. 1, March 2012 (pdf); Amendment No. 2, April 2014 (pdf); Amendment No. 3, April 2015 (pdf); Amendment 4, August 2015 (pdf)
- Supplement 500 - Tuna Products, September 2016 (pdf)
- Supplement 500 - Tuna Products, October 2015 (pdf)
- Supplement 511 Frozen Catfish Products, April 2016 (pdf)
- Supplement 511- Frozen Catfish Products, April 2014 (pdf); Amendment 1, April 2015 (pdf); Amendment 2, February 2016 (pdf)
Other Red Meat Products
Other Red Meat Products
Technical Requirements (Specifications) for these commodity products are incorporated into the following Supplements to the AMS Master Solicitation. More information about technical requirements can be found here.
- Supplement 704 - Canned Meat, March 2016 (pdf)
- Supplement 704 – Canned Meat Products (includes all Canned Meats, Chili, and Stew), July 2012 (pdf); Amendment 1, May 2013 (pdf); Amendment 2, October 2013 (pdf); Amendment 3, June 2014 (pdf); Amendment 4, April 2015 (pdf)
Frozen Bison and Buffalo Products
- Supplement 603 – Frozen Bison and Buffalo Products, June 2012 (pdf); Amendment 1, February 2015 (pdf)
Frozen Lamb Products
- Supplement 602 – Frozen Lamb Products, June 2012 (pdf); Amendment 1, August 2012 (pdf); Amendment 2, May 2013 (pdf); Amendment 3, June 2014 (pdf)
Chicken
- Federal Purchase Program Specification for Consumer Pack Chickens, August 2016 (pdf)
- Commodity Specification for Consumer-Pack Chicken, April 2013 (pdf)
- Federal Purchase Program Specification for Cooked Chicken Fajita Strips, April, 2016 (pdf)
- Federal Purchase Program Specification for Cooked Chicken Fajita Strips, March 2015 (pdf)
- Supplement 801 to the AMS Master Solicitation for the Purchase of Frozen Cooked Chicken Strips, dated May 2014 (includes the Federal Purchase Program Specification) (pdf); Amendment 1, June 2014 (pdf); Amendment 2, December 2014 (pdf); Amendment 3, March 2015 (pdf); Amendment 4, July 2015 (pdf)
- Commodity Specification for Canned Boned Poultry, June 2016 (pdf)
- Commodity Specification for Canned Boned Poultry, April 2013 (pdf)
Turkey
- Commodity Specification for Turkey and Turkey Products, April 2013 (pdf); Supplement for Long-Term Turkey and Turkey Products, April 2013 (pdf)
Eggs
Fresh Shell Eggs
Egg Products
Grain and Oilseed Products
- Bakery Flour Products (BF13) (pdf) effective January 20, 2016
- Bakery Flour Mix (BFM4) (pdf) effective April 1, 2016
- Corn Products (CP12) (pdf) effective January 20, 2016
- Cracker Products (CR6) (pdf) effective January 22, 2016
- Fortified R-T-E Cereal Products (FC10) (pdf) effective January 19, 2016
- Frozen Pancakes (PAN2) (pdf) effective April 15, 2016
- Frozen Tortillas (TOR2) (pdf) effective April 15, 2016
- Macaroni and Cheese (MC10) (pdf) effective January 13, 2016
- Pasta Products and Egg Noodles (PA13) (pdf) effective January 13, 2016
- Processed Cereals (PC12) (pdf) effective January 22, 2016
- Peanut Products (PP14) (pdf) effective April 25, 2016
- Instant Rice Cereal Products (RC10) (pdf) effective January 20, 2016
- Rice Products (RP5) (pdf) effective February 4, 2016
- Sunflower Seed Butter (CRD) (SSB6) (pdf) effective October 3, 2016
- Traditionally-Harvested Wild Rice (WR1) (pdf) effective June 3, 2016
- Vegetable Oil Products (VP10) (pdf) effective January 22, 2016
- Wheat Flour Products (WF15) (pdf) effective March 1, 2016
- Wild Rice (WR2) (pdf) effective July 28, 2016
Dairy
Dairy Products Purchase Specs:
- Evaporated Milk (EVD4) (pdf) effective Jul 29, 2013
- Infant Formula (IFD4) (pdf) effective Aug 16, 2013
- Instant Nonfat Dry Milk (IMD4) (pdf) effective Aug 8, 2013
- Mozzarella Cheese (DMOZ5) (pdf) effective Sep 9, 2016
- Natural American Cheese (DNAC4) (pdf) effective Sep 10, 2014
- Packaged Butter (PBD5) (pdf) effective Dec 10, 2014
- Pasteurized Process American Cheese (DPPC3) (pdf) effective Sep 25, 2013
- Ultra-High Temperature Milk (UHD5) (pdf) effective May 07, 2014
- Yogurt Products (DYO2) (pdf) effective January 1, 2017
Additional Resources
- Commercial Item Descriptions (CIDs) - a set of industry standards for fruits, vegetables and specialty crops.
- Institutional Meat Specifications (IMPS) - a series of meat product specifications used by Federal, State, and Local Government agencies, schools, restaurants, hotels, and other food service entities to procure products.