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Terms of Service
Please read the following Terms of Service for the F&CC web site, and then
select I Agree (located at the bottom of the page).
Vendors, manufacturers, processor, brokers, and distributors that participate on
this web site do so voluntarily. These companies and not USDA are responsible
for the accuracy of the information that they provide and for meeting all
applicable local, state, or federal requirements for the production and sale of
the food item. This web site contains information regarding food products
including ingredient, nutritional, and packaging data. The vendors who are
offering these products for sale provide the products and nutritional
information found on this site do so voluntarily. The United States Department
of Agriculture (USDA), Agriculture Marketing Service (AMS), Farm Services
Agency (FSA), National Marine Fisheries Service, Grain Inspection, Packers and
Stockyards Administration (GIPSA), and Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), do not
endorse or recommend any product grown, manufactured, processed, brokered, or
distributed by the companies found on this site.
This site further contains email addresses and web links, or Uniform Resource
Locator (URL), and Fact Sheet connections to those vendors or to the vendors
designated contact or agent. The vendor offering the product information
provided these links, or URL addresses.
While USDA will exclude any vendor that has been found to have provided
materially incorrect information, or fails to satisfy the plant sanitation
inspection requirements, the inclusion of any vendor, or vendor's product on
this web site does not constitute an endorsement by USDA of the firms or
product compliance. Most information presented on the USDA Commodity web site
is considered public domain information. Public domain information may be
freely distributed or copied, but use of appropriate byline/photo/image credits
is requested.
Additionally, this disclaimer applies to the recipe exchange of the site. The
recipe exchange is an open forum for foodservice professionals, vendors,
manufacturers, processor, brokers, agricultural commodity associations, and
distributors to provide recipes with ingredient, nutritional, and preparation
instructions. While USDA provides this forum, USDA does not constitute an
endorsement of any recipe or its contents.
The use of trade, firm, or corporation names in this publication (or page) is
for the information and convenience of the reader. Such use does not constitute
an official endorsement or approval by the United States Department of
Agriculture of any product or service to the exclusion of others.
This is a public web site. Any information you provide should be considered as
public information. The information you provide when registering is available
as statistical information in the database and can be accessed by other
registered users. Personal information is not statistical information. We will
not actively disseminate the information you provided to any entity. Unless
subject to the exclusions specified in the Freedom of Information Act or
otherwise prohibited by law, however, all information collected and maintained
by USDA related to this web site may be subject to release.
Once registered, we will collect no other personal information about you when
you visit our web site unless you choose to provide that information to us. We
will however, collect certain general information to note the number of visits,
along with other information as noted below to help us make our site more
useful to visitors. This information collected is for statistical use.
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The Internet domain or the IP address from which you access our web site. Your
Internet domain is your Internet Service Provider (ISP), such as "xcompany.com"
if you use a private Internet access account, or "yourschool.edu" if you
connect from a university's domain. The IP address is a number assigned
(usually at random) to your computer by your ISP whenever you access the
Internet.
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The type of browser and operating system used to access our site.
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The date and time you access our site.
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The pages you visit.
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If you linked to the USDA Commodity Web site from another Web site, the address
of that Web site.
We do not track or record any other information about your searches during your
individual visits.
Our web site has links to many other web sites. Once you access another site
through a link that we provide, you are subject to the privacy policy of the
new site. USDA makes no guarantees of any kind regarding the content of
non-USDA web sites.
For site security purposes and to ensure that this service remains available to
all users, this government computer system employs software programs to monitor
network traffic to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change
information, or otherwise cause damage. Except for authorized law enforcement
investigations, no other attempts are made to identify individual users or
their usage habits. Raw data logs are used for no other purposes. Unauthorized
attempts to upload information or change information on this service are
strictly prohibited and may be punishable under the
Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986 , the
National Information Infrastructure Protection Act and other applicable
laws.
To provide a communication and information source for schools, other procurement
groups, and the companies that supply them. To maximize the exposure of
services provided by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to its
customers, and to maximize USDA's customer participation.
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This is a public web site. There are no restrictions on viewing any information
placed on the site by registered users.
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Vendors, manufacturers, processors, brokers, or distributors who place their
products or information on this site do so voluntarily.
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This site is limited to those food products that vendors, manufacturers,
processors, brokers, or distributors wish to be made available to the
foodservice community. Vendors, manufacturers, processors, brokers, or
distributors agree to uphold this policy. The Department will remove all
non-food items from the site.
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It is the responsibility of the vendors, manufacturers, processors, brokers, or
distributors, and not the Department, to enter, maintain and ensure the
accuracy of the data and information they provide for each product listed by
that entity. The vendors, manufacturers, processors, brokers, or distributors
participating on this site agree to promptly address and correct any
information found to be inaccurate; failure to do so may result in that party
being removed from the web site.
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All food products listed on this site must be, or must have been manufactured
or processed at facilities that are under the mandatory review of the Food
Safety Inspection Service (FSIS)(9 CFR Part 381), or under mandatory Food and
Drug Administration (FDA)/State inspection (fluid milk plants only),
or from a facility that has passed an USDA plant sanitation audit in accordance
with the minimum review period for the appropriate commodity group. Before a
vendor's product becomes visible on this site the vendor is required to
demonstrate that the facility that produced the listed product has met these
requirements.
| Commodity Area |
Minimum Survey Cycle |
| Dairy Products |
Biannual |
| Shell Egg |
Quarterly |
| Processed Fruits, Vegetables and Nuts |
Annual |
| Fresh Fruits and Vegetables |
Annual |
| Water Foods |
Quarterly |
| Processed Grain |
Biannual |
| Distributors warehouse |
Annual |
|
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Vendors must maintain their eligibility to participate in U.S. Government
procurement.
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It is the responsibility of the vendor, manufacturer, processor, or distributor
to be current on its USDA plant audit.
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If FSIS suspends service to a vendor's, manufacturer's, processor's, or
distributor's facility, or if such facilities fail to pass the applicable USDA
sanitation audit, that company and their product information will remain in the
database but will no longer appear on the site. When FSIS restores its service,
or the facility passes the applicable USDA plant survey, the company and its
products will reappear on the site.
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No vendor, manufacturer, processor, or distributor may use the site to Spam
mail. Spamming may cause the offending vendor to be suspended from the USDA
site.
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USDA reserves the right to remove any party from this web site for failure to
adhere to the terms and conditions of this web site, or for such other reason
as USDA deems appropriate.
USDA feels very strongly about not allowing spamming in our community. As such,
we have developed our own anti-spamming policy to protect our customers and
future customers from such tactics.
Spam is ...
Spamming is defined as, "...flooding the Internet with copies of the same
message, in an attempt to force the message on people who would not otherwise
choose to receive it. Most 'Spamming' is commercial advertising, often for
dubious products, get-rich-quick schemes, or quasi-legal services. 'Spamming'
costs the sender very little to send - most of the costs are paid for by the
recipient or the carriers rather than the sender."
"There are two principal types of 'Spamming', and they have different effects on
Internet users. Usenet 'Spamming' is a single message sent to 20 or more Usenet
newsgroups. Usenet 'Spamming' is aimed at 'lurkers'; people who read newsgroups
but rarely or never post and give their address away. Usenet 'Spamming' robs
users of the utility of the newsgroups by overwhelming them with a barrage of
advertising or other irrelevant posts. Furthermore, Usenet 'Spamming' subverts
the ability of system administrators and owners to manage the topics they
accept on their systems."
"E-mail 'Spamming' targets individual users with direct mail messages. Scanning
Usenet postings, stealing Internet mailing lists, or searching the Web for
addresses often creates E-mail 'Spamming' lists. E-mail 'Spamming' typically
cost users money out-of-pocket to receive. Many people - anyone with measured
phone service - read or receive their mail while the meter is running creating
additional costs. Also, it costs ISP's and online services to transmit
"Spammed" information, and these costs are transmitted directly to
subscribers."
Our spam policy encompasses not simply E-mail, but also Usenet newsgroups,
message boards, chat rooms and instant messaging systems. Some of these media
are not considered spamming in the traditional Internet sense, however we feel
they are methods of abusing the Internet to deliver to unknown users
unsolicited information. Additionally, we do not want our message to be
distributed by the handing out of pamphlets, leaflets and flyers or by any
other means that infringes upon the private property, rules, regulations or
laws of any third party.
What happens to spammers?
Individuals who are caught spamming will immediately be suspended from the web
site.
Reporting Spammers
Report spam by e-mail to our abuse monitoring team
USDA Food Quality Assurance . We promise to investigate claims as soon
as possible and to take appropriate action based on our findings.
Under United States law, it is unlawful "to use any telephone facsimile machine,
computer, or other device to send an unsolicited advertisement" to any
"equipment which has the capacity (A) to transcribe text or images (or both)
from an electronic signal received over a regular telephone line onto paper."
The law allows individuals to sue the sender of such illegal "junk mail" for
$500 per copy. Most states will permit such actions to be filed in Small Claims
Court. Here is the text of the federal law:
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [Laws in effect
as of January 24, 1994] [Document affected by Public Law 103-414 Section
303(a)(11)]
[CITE: 47USC227]
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(a) Definitions As used in this section-- * * *
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(2) The term "telephone facsimile machine'' means equipment which has the
capacity (A) to transcribe text or images, or both, from paper into an
electronic signal and to transmit that signal over a regular telephone line, or
(B) to transcribe text or images (or both) from an electronic signal received
over a regular telephone line onto paper. * * *
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(4) The term "unsolicited advertisement'' means any material advertising the
commercial availability or quality of any property, goods, or services which is
transmitted to any person without that person's prior express invitation or
permission.
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(b) Restrictions on use of automated telephone equipment
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(1) Prohibitions It shall be unlawful for any person within the United States
-- to use any telephone facsimile machine, computer, or other device to send an
unsolicited advertisement to a telephone facsimile machine; * * *
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(c) to use any telephone facsimile machine, computer, or other device to send
an unsolicited advertisement to a telephone facsimile machine; * * *
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(3) Private right of action A person or entity may, if otherwise permitted by
the laws or rules of court of a State, bring in an appropriate court of that
State--
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(A) an action based on a violation of this subsection or the regulations
prescribed under this subsection to enjoin such violation,
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(B) an action to recover for actual monetary loss from such a violation, or to
receive $500 in damages for each such violation, whichever is greater, or
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(C) both such actions.
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If the court finds that the defendant willfully or knowingly violated this
subsection or the regulations prescribed under this subsection, the court may,
in its discretion, increase the amount of the award to an amount equal to not
more than 3 times the amount available under subparagraph (B) of this
paragraph. * * *
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(e) Effect on State law
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(1) State law not preempted Except for the standards prescribed under
subsection (d) of this section and subject to paragraph (2) of this subsection,
nothing in this section or in the regulations prescribed under this section
shall preempt any State law that imposes more restrictive intrastate
requirements or regulations on, or which prohibits--
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(A) the use of telephone facsimile machines or other electronic devices to send
unsolicited advertisements; * * *
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[Amended 1992: Subsec. (b)(2)(C). Pub. L. 102-556 added subpar. (C). ]
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Anti-Spamming Policy
According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, an agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB control number. The valid OMB control number for this information collection is 0581-880. The time required to complete this information collection is estimated to average 90 Minutes per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its
programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, age,
disability, and where applicable, sex, marital status, familial status,
parental status, religion, sexual orientation, genetic information, political
beliefs, reprisal, or because all or part of an individual’s income is derived
from any public assistance program (Not all prohibited bases apply to all
programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for
communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.)
should contact USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD). To file
a complaint of discrimination, write to USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights,
1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20250-9410, or call (800)
795-3272 (voice) or (202) 720-6382 (TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider
and employer.
(Updated July 18, 2005)
This information service operates on a U.S. Government computer system. This
system is monitored to ensure proper operation, to verify the functioning of
applicable security features and for other like purposes. Anyone using this
system expressly consents to such monitoring and is advised that if such
monitoring reveals evidence of possible criminal activity, system personnel may
provide the evidence of such activity to law enforcement officials.
Unauthorized attempts to upload or change information; to defeat or circumvent
security features; or to utilize this system for other than its intended
purposes are prohibited.
Updated January 30, 1997
The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986
National Information Infrastructure Protection Act.
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