PRODUCT AND VENDOR INFORMATION
Ordering Soy Protein Ingredients
How to Order Finished Meat Products with Soy Protein
Soy-Enhanced Meat Product Manufacturers
How to Order Soy-enhanced Commodity Meat
Many school districts have access to USDA-donated commodity meats. With some upfront planning, you can convert these commodities into forms that will meet the new fat-reduction requirements, and the demands of your students.
What are the issues?
- Lack of storage, processing and preparation equipment within many districts.
- High labor costs combined with portion control issues.
- Concerns with student acceptability.
What is the solution?
Many of you already work with processors either directly or through brokers and distributors. Many of these same processors will process your commodity meats into forms that are much more familiar to both your students and your staff. The opportunity exists not only for large districts, but for small districts that choose to act as a cooperative with the state commodity department.
How does the commodity processing work?
- You submit bid specifications very similar to the ones you use now for finished products. The primary difference is in the first line of the item description, which generally reads "process frozen raw commodity into the following finished products." Most commodity bids mirror the specifications of commercially available products. (See sample.)
- Processors will submit their competitive bids, including their "fee for processing," and you award the bid.
- Processors can receive your meats either directly from the state, through a relatively simple process known as direct diversion, or most processors will pick up commodities you already have received into cold storage.
- The meats are processed into the finished products you have specified and returned to your designated warehouse location.
What should you expect from a commodity processor?
- Consistent quality.
- A performance bond that includes inventory protection - this ensures the meat you send is the meat you get back.
- Formulations and nutritional analysis verification that prove your product specifications are met.
- A guarantee that the value of the commodities is credited to your school foodservice program, including yield sheets and price data to be filed with the state office.
- A "Donated Food Processing Agreement" on file at the State's Distributing Agent's Office.
- Product labels submitted to Washington.
- USDA inspected plant.
Why should you include soy protein in you commodity meats?
Soy protein reduces fat and offers a whole lot more:
- High levels of taste acceptability with both students and adults.
- Improved eating qualities such as enhanced juiciness.
- Improved freeze/thaw/microwave/holding stability.
With commodity meats, you get additional values. You can:
- Optimize your commodity by increasing the finished product yield.
- Ensure that the fat content of the finished meat products falls within your requirements.
- Achieve more than a 100 percent return of product, controlling fat and lowering your portion costs while controlling serving sizes.
How do you include soy protein in your commodity processing bids?
Once you have decided to include soy protein in your meat entrees, you then have the flexibility to specify which type(s) by including specific names in your bid specifications. If you do not specify the type, brand name or the soy protein, your entree will likely contain soy flour, which was among the first soy ingredients to be introduced.
Following is an example of a bid request form to process commodity chicken. The specific phrase which includes soy protein in this product is highlighted in teletype.
Commodity Specification to Include Soy Protein,
Which Meets Food and Consumer Service Regulations
PROCESS FROZEN RAW COMMODITY CHICKEN INTO THE FOLLOWING FINISHED PRODUCTS
Chicken Nugget, Natural Proportion:
Fully cooked, breaded, chopped and formed chicken nugget produced from USDA- inspected chicken. Finished product to contain the natural proportion of white and dark meat and skin. No previously cooked or mechanically deboned meat shall be used. Chicken nuggets shall contain (soy protein type), which meets Food and Consumer Service* regulations (brand name).Finished product fat not to exceed 20 percent. Breading not to exceed 25 percent of total finished product weight. Serving must meet 2 oz. meat/meat alternate equivalent for USDA CN program. Product must be accompanied by CN label and verifiable USDA-approved laboratory nutritional analysis.
Three Approved Brands: Name/#, Name/#, Name/#
*Nutrition and Technical Services Division of USDA Food and Consumer Service.