DEAS 60: 2022  
ICS 67.200.2 0 
 
© EA C 2022                                                                                                                         Third  Edition 202 2  
 DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  
Peanut butter — Specification  
EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY  DEAS 60: 2022   
ii © EAC 20 22– All rights reserved  
  
 Copyright notice  
This EAC document is copyright -protected by EAC. While the reproduction of this document by 
participants in the EAC standards development process is permitte d without prior permission from EAC, 
neither this document nor any extract from it may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form for 
any other purpose without prior written permission from EAC.  
Requests for permission to reproduce this document for the purpose of selling it should be addressed 
as shown below or to EAC’s member body in the country of the requester:  
© East African Community 2022  — All rights reserved  
East African Community   
P.O. Box 1096 , 
Arusha  
Tanzania  
Tel: + 255 27 2 162100  
Fax: + 255 27 2162190  
E-mail: eac@eachq.org  
       Web: www.eac -quality.net  
Reproduction for sales purposes may be subject to royalty payments or a licensing agreement. 
Violators may be pr osecuted . DEAS 60: 2022  
© EAC 20 22– All rights reserved  iii 
 Contents  Page 
1 Scope  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ......................  1 
2 Normative references  ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................  1 
3 Terms and definitions  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........................  2 
4 Requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .........  2 
5 Food additives  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ....... 3 
6 Contaminants  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .........  3 
7 Hygiene  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...................  3 
8 Packaging  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...............  4 
9 Labelling  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .................  4 
10 Sampling  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ................  4 
 DEAS 60: 2022   
iv © EAC 20 22– All rights reserved  
  
 Foreword  
Development of the East African Standards has been necessitated by the need for harmonizing requirements 
governing quality of products and services in the East African Community. It is envisaged that through 
harmonized standardizatio n, trade barriers that are encountered when goods and services are exchanged 
within the Community will be removed.  
The Community has established an East African Standards Committee (EASC) mandated to develop and 
issue East African Standards (EAS). The Comm ittee is composed of representatives of the National 
Standards Bodies in Partner States, together with the representatives from the public and private sector 
organizations in the community.  
East African Standards are developed through Technical Committees  that are representative of key 
stakeholders including government, academia, consumer groups, private sector and other interested parties. 
Draft East African Standards are circulated to stakeholders through the National Standards Bodies in the 
Partner Stat es. The comments received are discussed and incorporated before finalization of standards, in 
accordance with the Principles and procedures for development of East African Standards.  
East African Standards are subject to review, to keep pace with technolog ical advances. Users of the East 
African Standards are therefore expected to ensure that they always have the latest versions of the standards 
they are implementing.  
EAS 60 was prepared by Technical Committee EASC/ TC/015, Edible Oil Seeds, Fats and Oils.  
This third edition cancels and replaces the second edition, which has been technically revised . 
 
 DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  DEAS 60: 2022  
 
© EAC 2022  – All rights reserved  1 
 Peanut butter — Specification  
1 Scope  
This East African Standard specifies the requirements and methods of sampling and test for peanut butter 
derived from s eeds of peanuts (groundnuts) of the species Arachis hypogaea L. for human consumption . 
2 Normative references  
The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their content constitutes 
requirements of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references, 
the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.  
CXS 192, Codex General Standard for Food Additives  
CXS  193, Codex general standard for contaminants  and toxins in foods  
EAS 35, Edible salt — Specification  
EAS 38, Labelling of pre -packaged foods — Specification  
EAS 39, Code of practice for hygiene for food and drink manufacturing industries  
EAS 36, Honey - Specification  
EAS 803, Nutrition labelling - requirements  
EAS 804, Claims – General Requirements  
EAS 805,  Use of nutrition and health claims - Requirements  
EAS 888, Raw, roasted and fried Groundnuts -Specification  
ISO 5555, Animal and vegetable fats and oils — Sampling  
ISO 662, Animal and vegetable fa ts and oils — Determination of moisture and volatile matter content  
ISO 729, Oilseeds — Determination of acidity of oils  
ISO 735,  Oilseed residues ― Determination of ash insoluble in hydrochloric acid  
ISO 6579 -1, Microbiology of the food chain — Horizontal  method for the detection, enumeration and 
serotyping of Salmonella — Part 1: Detection of Salmonella spp.  
ISO 6888 -1, Microbiology of the food chain — Horizontal method for the enumeration of coagulase -positive 
Staphylococci (Staphylococcus aureus and oth er species) — Part 1: Method using Baird -Parker agar medium  
ISO 16050, Foodstuffs — Determination of aflatoxin B1, and the total content of aflatoxins B1, B2, G1 
and G2 in cereals, nuts and derived products — High -performance liquid chromatographic method   
2 © EAC 20 22– All rights reserved  
  
 ISO 16654, Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal method for the detection of 
Escherichia coli  
3 Terms and definitions  
For the purposes of this standard, the following terms and definitions shall apply : 
3.1 
Peanut butter  
cohesive, comm inuted food product prepared from clean, sound shelled peanuts (groundnuts) by grinding 
roasted mature kernels from which the seed coats have been removed  
3.2 
food grade packaging material  
packaging material, made of substances which are safe and suitable for the intended use and which will not 
impart any toxic substance or undesirable odour or flavour to the product  
4 Requirements  
4.1 Ingredients  
4.1.1  Essential ingredients  
The peanut butter shall comprise of at least 90 % of groundnuts complying with EAS 888 
4.1.2  Optional ingredients  
In addition to the essential ingredients, optional approved food grade ingredients may be used.  These may 
include but not limited to:  
a) edible salt (Sodium chloride) complying with EAS 35;  
b) Sugars complying to relevant Ea st African sugar standards  
c) Honey complying with EAS 36; and  
d) Edible oils or fats complying with relevant EAS standards . 
4.2 General  
Peanut butter shall  
a) be free from shells;  
b) be free from any foreign matter;  
c) have colour characteristic of the variety of peanut used; and  
d) have an aroma and flavour typical of roasted/fried peanut .  
© EAC 20 22– All rights reserved  3 
 4.3 Specific quality requirements  
Peanut butter shall comply with the compositional requirements specified in Table 1 . 
Table 1 — Specific quality requirements for peanut butter  
S. 
no Characteristic  Requirement  Method  of test 
 
i.  Moisture  and volatile  
matter  content,  %, max.  3.0  ISO 662  
ii.  Acid value,  mg KOH/g,  
max.  4.0  ISO 729  
iii.   Acid insoluble ash, %, 
m/m, max.  [1] ISO 735  
5 Food additives  
Food additives permitted in CXS 192 may be used in peanut butter within the amounts  specified by the Codex 
standard . 
6 Contaminants  
6.1 Aflatoxin  
Aflatoxin limits for peanut butter shall comply with  the limits specified in Table 2 . 
Table  2 — Aflatoxin  limits  for peanut  butter  
S. no Characteristi c Limi
t Method 
of test 
i) Total  aflatoxin  content,  mg/kg , max.  15  
ISO 16050  ii) Aflatoxin  B1, mg/kg  5 
6.2 Pesticide residues  
Peanut butter  shall conform to those maximum residue limits established by the Codex Alimentarius 
Commission for this product.  
NOTE Where the use of certain pesticides is prohibited by some Partner States, then it should be notified to all Partner 
States accordingly.  
6.3 Other contaminants  
Peanut butter shall comply with those maximum limits for other contaminants established in CXS 193. 
7 Hygiene  
7.1 Peanut butter shall be produced, prepared and handled in accordance with EAS 39.  
7.2 Peanut butter shall be free of pathogenic organisms and shall comply with the microbiological 
requirements specified in Table 3 .  
4 © EAC 20 22– All rights reserved  
  
 Table 3 — Microbio logical limits for peanut butter  
S. No. Characteristic  Limits  Method  of test 
i E.coli, MPN/g h absent  ISO 16654  
ii Salmonella spp per 25 g  absent  ISO 6579 -1 
iii Staphylococcus aureus, 
cfu/g  absent  ISO 6888 -1 
8 Packaging  
Peanut butter shall be packaged i n food grade containers and sealed in manner to ensure the safety and 
quality requirements specified in this standard are maintained throughout the shelf life of the product  
9 Labelling  
9.1 In addition to the requirements of EAS 38 and EAS 803, the name of  the product shall be ‘Peanut butter  
9.2 Nutrition and health claims  
Nutrition and health claims may be used in compliance with EAS 804 and EAS 805  
10 Sampling  
Sampling shall be done in accordance with ISO 5555.  
 
 DEAS 60:2022    
 
© EAC 20 22– All rights reserved