# Product Spec Sheet

This is the one-page fact sheet for a single finished product — everything a co-packer, an
auditor, or a retail buyer needs to know about it without picking up the jar. Fill one out
per product and per size, keep it under version control, and hand the current revision to
anyone who asks what is in the box.

A spec sheet is the definitive description of one finished product: what it is supposed to
be, every time you make it. That is the difference between this and a batch record — the
batch record says what one run actually did, while the spec sheet says what every run has
to match. It is where your ingredient statement, allergen call, target specs, shelf life,
pack-out, and barcode live as facts rather than as memory.

Fill each field with the real value for your product, drawn from the source that owns it —
your formulation for the ingredient statement, your hazard analysis and stability study for
the specs and shelf life, your production line for the pack-out, and GS1 for your barcode
numbers. Number and date every revision so everyone works from the same version, and
re-issue the sheet whenever a fact on it changes. Handed to a retail buyer or distributor,
this same sheet is the product half of the supplier packet a buyer asks for.

The example specs here are not yours. Every pH, water activity, micro limit, shelf life,
dimension, and barcode number shown below is an illustration to make the fields legible.
Your values come from your own formulation, your hazard analysis, your validated stability
study, and your GS1-assigned numbers — never from the sample entries here. Replace every
one before this sheet leaves your building.

---

## Product identity

The top block names the product unambiguously. The statement of identity — the legal or
common name of the food, what the product actually is in the words the regulation and a
buyer recognize, as distinct from your brand name for it — is the regulated name, not your
marketing name; the two can differ, and the sheet carries both.

| Field | Example | Your entry |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Product name (brand) | Casa Verde Roasted Tomato Salsa, Medium | |
| Statement of identity | Roasted tomato salsa | |
| Internal SKU / item code | SAL-16M | |
| Manufacturer (legal entity, FDA facility #) | Casa Verde Foods LLC · FFR on file | |
| Net contents (as declared on label) | Net wt 16 oz (454 g) | |
| Retail package | 16 oz glass jar, tamper-evident lug cap | |
| Selling-unit GTIN-12 (UPC-A) | 0 12345 67890 5 | |
| Country of origin | USA | |
| Spec revision | Rev. 3 | |
| Effective date | 07/15/2026 | |
| Prepared / approved by | Sam Ortiz, QA Lead | |

## Ingredient statement

The ingredient statement — every ingredient in the product, in descending order of
predominance by weight, under each ingredient's common or usual name, with the
sub-ingredients of a compound ingredient shown in parentheses — must read letter-for-letter
the same as the one on the label. It is derived from your recipe by weight, so it changes
whenever the formula does.

| Field | Example | Your entry |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Ingredient statement (descending by weight) | Tomatoes, onions, jalapeño peppers, tomato paste, distilled vinegar, salt, garlic, cilantro, citric acid, spices | |
| Compound-ingredient sub-lists shown? | Yes — spices broken out where required | |

## Allergen declaration

Two questions, answered per allergen: is it in the product, and does it share equipment or a
line with the product even when it is not an ingredient. Both belong on the sheet, because a
buyer and an auditor read the second column as carefully as the first. There are nine major
food allergens — the Big 9: milk, egg, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts,
wheat, soybeans, and sesame, with sesame added as the ninth effective January 1, 2023. Keep
this column in step with your allergen matrix.

| Major allergen | In this product? (Y / N) | On shared equipment or line? (Y / N) | Notes |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Milk | N | N | |
| Egg | N | N | |
| Fish | N | N | |
| Crustacean shellfish | N | N | |
| Tree nuts | N | N | |
| Peanuts | N | N | |
| Wheat | N | Y | (example) shares line with a wheat-containing product |
| Soybeans | N | N | |
| Sesame | N | N | |

| Field | Example | Your entry |
| --- | --- | --- |
| "Contains" statement (as on label) | (example) none — no major allergen is an ingredient | |
| Advisory statement (shared line / "may contain") | (example) "Made on shared equipment with wheat," if your cleaning validation does not support its absence | |

## Product specifications

The measurable targets a batch has to hit to be released as this product. Set each one from
your own formulation, hazard analysis, and validation, and give each the test method that
decides pass or fail.

### Physical and organoleptic

| Parameter | Specification (example) | Method |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Appearance | Uniform chunky red salsa, visible pepper and onion pieces | Visual vs. standard |
| Color | Deep red-orange | Visual vs. retained standard |
| Aroma and flavor | Roasted, medium heat, no off-notes | Sensory panel |
| Consistency | Holds on a chip; 6–9 cm flow / 30 s | Bostwick consistometer |
| Net weight | 16 oz (454 g), within your fill tolerance | Check-weigh |
| Foreign material | None | Visual, sieve, metal detection |

### Chemical

| Parameter | Specification (example) | Method |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Equilibrium pH | ≤ 3.8 | Calibrated pH meter |
| Water activity (aw) | ≤ 0.92 | Water-activity meter |
| Titratable acidity | ≥ 0.6% as citric acid | Titration |
| Salt | 1.8–2.2% | Titration / calculation |
| Soluble solids | 9–11 °Brix | Refractometer |

For a shelf-stable acidified product like this example, the pH target is not a quality
preference — it is a safety control tied to your scheduled process. FDA's acidified-foods
rule (21 CFR 114) governs it, and a process authority sets and validates the number. Use the
pH your process authority established, never the figure shown here.

### Microbiological

| Parameter | Specification (example) | Method |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Aerobic plate count | ≤ 10,000 CFU/g | Recognized reference method |
| Yeast and mold | ≤ 100 CFU/g | Recognized reference method |
| Coliforms | < 10 CFU/g | Recognized reference method |
| E. coli | Not detected | Recognized reference method |
| Salmonella | Not detected / 25 g | Recognized reference method |
| Listeria monocytogenes | Not detected / 25 g | Recognized reference method |

Micro limits and the methods behind them come from your hazard analysis, your customer's
specification, and the lab you use — the sample limits above are only illustrations. State
the specific method and the lab on the sheet so a result can be repeated.

## Shelf life and storage

Shelf life is a claim you have to be able to support, not a guess. The basis is a real
stability study; the storage conditions are the ones under which that claim holds.

| Field | Example | Your entry |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Shelf life (unopened) | 18 months | |
| Basis for shelf life | Real-time + accelerated stability study on file (ref. SS-2026-04) | |
| Date-code format on package | "BEST BY MM/YYYY" plus lot code | |
| Storage before opening | Ambient, 50–75°F (10–24°C), dry, out of direct sun | |
| Storage after opening | Refrigerate at or below 40°F (4°C), use within 30 days | |
| Distribution / handling | Ships ambient; protect from freezing | |

## Case and pallet configuration

A buyer's warehouse plans truck and rack space around the physical facts of your pack-out,
so the numbers have to be exact and internally consistent. The two derived rows below are
simple arithmetic — get them wrong and the mismatch comes back later as a deduction.

| Field | Example | Your entry |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Selling units per case (case pack) | 12 | |
| Case dimensions (L × W × H) | 12.5 × 9.5 × 5.5 in | |
| Case net weight (case pack × unit net) | 12 × 16 oz = 192 oz = 12 lb | |
| Case gross weight | 15.8 lb | |
| Case GTIN-14 | (from GS1) | |
| Pallet type | 48 × 40 in GMA, 4-way | |
| Cases per layer (Ti) | 10 | |
| Layers per pallet (Hi) | 5 | |
| Cases per pallet (Ti × Hi) | 10 × 5 = 50 | |
| Selling units per pallet (case pack × cases/pallet) | 12 × 50 = 600 | |
| Pallet gross weight (approx.) | (50 × 15.8 lb) + ~40 lb pallet ≈ 830 lb | |

Ti-Hi is the pallet pattern: Ti is how many cases sit in one layer, Hi is how many layers
are stacked, and their product is the cases per pallet. Cases per pallet is Ti times Hi (10
× 5 = 50), and selling units per pallet is the case pack times that (12 × 50 = 600).
Whatever pattern you actually palletize to is the one that goes on the sheet.

## GTIN and barcode

The product carries a number at two levels, and a buyer scans both. The number in the
identity block is the selling unit's barcode; the shipping case gets its own.

| Level | GTIN | Where it appears |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Selling unit (the jar) | GTIN-12 in a UPC-A barcode | Retail shelf, checkout scanner |
| Shipping case | GTIN-14 with an indicator digit | Case label, distributor scanner |

A GTIN (Global Trade Item Number) is twelve digits: eleven that identify the product — your
GS1 Company Prefix plus your item reference — and a twelfth check digit that a scanner uses
to catch a misread. The check digit is a mod-10 calculation from the first eleven, so you do
not choose it. In the example 0 12345 67890 5, the trailing 5 is that calculated digit. Get
the first eleven from GS1 directly and let your barcode software compute the last; a resold
third-party "barcode" can trace to another company's prefix and a verifying buyer will
reject it.

## Revision history and approval

A spec sheet is version-controlled: every change gets a new revision, dated and approved, so
no one ships against a stale copy. Keep the history on the sheet.

| Revision | Date | Change summary | Approved by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| (example) Rev. 1 | 01/10/2026 | Initial release | Sam Ortiz, QA Lead |
| (example) Rev. 2 | 04/22/2026 | Shelf life set to 18 months after stability study SS-2026-04 | Sam Ortiz, QA Lead |
| (example) Rev. 3 | 07/15/2026 | Added shared-line note to the allergen table | Sam Ortiz, QA Lead |
| | | | |
| | | | |

| Current revision | Effective date | Approved by (name, role) | Signature |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| (example) Rev. 3 | 07/15/2026 | Sam Ortiz, QA Lead | ____ |
| | | | |