AFRICAN 
STANDARD  DARS  
1072  
First Edition 2023 
 
 Reference No. CD-ARS 1072 :2023(E) 
 
ICS 67.100.10  
 
 
© ARSO 20 23 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Blend of Skimmed Milk and Vegetable Fat in Powdered form  — 
Specification  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 DARS  1072 :2023 
ii © ARSO 20 23 — All rights reserved   
Table of contents  
 
1 Scope  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .............  1 
2 Normative references  ................................ ................................ ................................ .....................  1 
3 Terms and definitions  ................................ ................................ ................................ .....................  1 
4 Requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ . 2 
4.1 Raw materials  ................................ ................................ ................................ ........................  2 
4.2 Permitted nutrients  ................................ ................................ ................................ .................  2 
4.3 General requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ ............  2 
4.4 Compositional requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ .. 3 
5 Food Additives  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................  3 
6 Contaminants  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ . 4 
6.1 Heavy metals  ................................ ................................ ................................ .........................  4 
6.2 Mycotoxins  ................................ ................................ ................................ .............................  4 
6.3 Pesticides residues  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................  4 
6.4 Veterinary drug residues  ................................ ................................ ................................ ........  4 
7 Hygiene  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ..........  4 
8 Packaging  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ....... 4 
9 Labelling  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .........  4 
9.1 Labelling of retail containers  ................................ ................................ ................................ .. 5 
9.2 Labelling of non -retail containers  ................................ ................................ ...........................  5 
10     Methods of Sampling and Analysis…………………………………………………... ........................ 5 
Bibliography  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ............  7 
 
  DARS 1072:2023  
© ARSO 20 23 — All rights reserved  iii Foreword  
 
The African Organization for Standardization (ARS O) is an African intergovernmental organization 
established by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and the Organization of 
African Unity (AU)  in 1977 . One of the fundamental mandates of ARSO is to develop and harmoniz e 
African Standards (ARS) for the purpose of enhancing Africa’s internal trading capacity, increase 
Africa’s product and service competitiveness globally and uplift the welfare of African communities. The 
work of preparing African  Standards is normally carried out through ARSO  technical committees. Each 
Member State  interested in a subject for which a technical committee has been established has the 
right to be represented on that committee. International organizations, Regional Economic Communities 
(RECs), governmental and non -governmental  organizations , in liaison with ARSO , also take part in the 
work.  
 
ARSO  Standards are drafted in accordance with the rules given in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2.  
 
The main task of technical committees is to prepare ARSO  Standards. Draft ARSO  Standards adopted 
by the technical committees are circulated to the member bodies for voting. Publication as an ARSO  
Standard requires approval by at least 75 % of the member bodies casting a vote.  
 
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of 
patent rights. ARSO  shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.  
 
This African Standard was prepared by ARSO  Technical Harmonization Committee on Milk and Milk 
Products  (ARSO/T C 04).  
 
 
 
© African Organisation for Standardisation  2023 — All rights reserved* 
 
ARSO Central Secretariat  
International House 3rd Floor  
P. O. Box 57363 — 00200 City Square  
NAIROBI, KENYA  
 
Tel. +254 -20-2224561, +254 -20-3311641, +254 -20-3311608  
 
E-mail: arso@arso -oran.org  
Web: www.arso -oran.org  
  
 
* © 2023 ARSO — All rights of exploitation reserved worldwide for African Member States’ NSBs.  DARS  1072 :2023 
iv © ARSO 20 23 — All rights reserved   
Copyright notice  
 
This ARSO document is copyright -protected by ARSO. While the reproduction of this document 
by participants in the ARSO standards development process is permitted without prior permission 
from ARSO, neither this document nor any extract from it may be reproduced, stored or 
transmitted in any form for any other purpose without prior writt en permission from ARSO.  
 
Requests for permission to reproduce this document for the purpose of selling it should be 
addressed as shown below or to ARSO’s member body in the country of the requester:  
 
 
© African Organisation for Standardisation 20 23 — All rights reserved  
 
ARSO Central Secretariat  
International House 3rd Floor  
P.O. Box 57363 — 00200 City Square  
NAIROBI, KENYA  
 
Tel: +254 -20-2224561, +254 -20-3311641, +254 -20-3311608  
 
E-mail: arso@arso -oran.org  
Web: www.arso -oran.org  
 
Reproduction for sales purposes may be subject to royalty payments or a licensing agreement. 
Violators may be p rosecuted.  
 
 
 
  DARS 1072:2023  
© ARSO 20 23 — All rights reserved  v Introduction  
 
Skimmed m ilk is an important dairy  product that  forms part of the daily meal s of majority of pe ople in 
the world . Blend of s kimmed milk and vegetable fat in powdered form  is a product  widely traded  and 
consumed  across the world and in Africa.  
 
This African Standard seeks to lay down requirements for the acceptable production of a blend of 
skimmed milk and vegetable fat in powder ed form  in order to ensure quality and to safeguard the health 
of the  consumer . The document  also seeks to facilitate  harmonization of standards and promote fair 
trade  for the product consumed  across the African continent  and the world at large . 
 
 
 
 
 
 DARS 1072 :2023  
1 © ARSO 202 3 — All rights reserved   
Blend of Skimmed Milk and Vegetable Fat in Powdered form - 
Specification  
 
1 Scope  
 
This African Standard specifies requirements, sampling and test methods for a blend of skimmed milk 
and vegetable fat in powder form or reduced / medium fat blend variety, intended for direct 
consumption or for further processing.  
 
2 Normative references   
 
The following referenced documents are indispensable for the application of this Standard . For dated 
references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references, the latest edition of the referenced 
document (including any amendments) applies.  
 
AOAC 999.10 - Lead, Cadmium, Zinc, Copper and iron in foods. Atomic absorption 
spectrophotometry after microwave digestion  
 
ARS 53 – General Principles of Food Hyg iene – Code of practice  
 
ARS 56 Pre-packaged Foods – Labelling  
 
WD-ARS XXX - Glossary  of Dairy Terms  
 
CXG 9 – General Principles for the Addition of Essential Nutrients for Food  
 
CXS 192 - General Standard for Food Additives  
 
CXS 193 - General Standard for Contaminants and Toxins in Food and Feed  
 
CXS 234 - Recommended methods of analysis and sampling  
 
ISO 4832 - Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal method for the enumeration 
of coliforms — Colony -count technique  
 
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 7251 - Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal method for the detection and 
enumeration of presumptive Escherichia coli — Most probable number technique  
 
ISO 14501:2021 | IDF 171:2021 -Milk and milk powder -Determination of aflatoxin M1 content  
Clean -up by immunoaffinity chromatography and determination by high -performance liquid 
chromatography  
 
ISO 19020 - Microbiology of the food chain — Horizontal method for the immunoenzymatic detection 
of staphylococcal enterotoxins in foodstuffs  
 
 
3 Terms and definitions  
 
For the purpose of this standard the following definitions apply:  
 
3.1  
blend of skimmed milk and vegetable fat in powdered form   
AFRICAN STANDARD  DARS 1072 :2023  
2 © ARSO 20 23 — All rights reserved  a product prepared by the partial removal of water from milk constituents with the addition of edible 
vegetable oil, edible vegetable fat or a mixture thereof, to meet the compositional requirements in 
Clause 4  of this Standard  
 
3.2 
vegetable fat  
fat of vegetable origin that is obtained naturally from plants or hydrogenation of a vegetable oil  
 
3.3  
milk retentate   
the product obtained by concentrating milk protein by ultrafiltration of milk, partly skimmed milk, or 
skimmed milk  
 
3.4 
milk permeate  
the product obtained by removing milk proteins and milkfat from milk, partly skimmed milk, or skimmed 
milk by ultrafiltration  
 
3.5  
lactose   
a natural constituent of milk normally obtained from whey with an anhydrous lactose content of not less 
than 99.0% m/m on a dry basis.  It may be anhydrous or contain one molecule of water of crystallisation 
or be a mixture of both forms  
 
 
4 Requirements  
 
4.1 Raw materials  
 
4.1.1  Essential  raw materials  
 
a) Skimmed milk and Skimmed milk powders  
b) Other non -fat milk solids  
c) Edible vegetable oils/fats  
d) Potable water  
 
4.1.2  Optional  raw materials  
 
a) Milk retentate  
b) Milk permeate  
c) Lactose  
NOTE: These milk products are allowed for protein adjustment purposes  only. 
4.2 Permitted nutrients  
 
Where allowed in accordance with CXG 9, maximum and minimum levels for Vitamins A, D and other 
nutrients, where appropriate, should be laid down by national legislation in accordance with the needs 
of individual country including, where appropriate, the prohibition of the use of particular nutrients . 
 
4.3 General requirements  
 
Blend of skimmed milk and vegetable fat in powdered form  shall be:   
 
a) uniform in appearance ; 
b) free from lumps;   
c) free flowing;  
d) white to creamy in colour;   DARS 1072 :2023  
3 © ARSO 202 3 — All rights reserved  e) characteristic and free from free from off flavour;  
f) of a pleasant taste ; and   
g) free from dirt and foreign matter.  
 
4.4 Composition al requirements  
 
4.3.1  Blend of skimmed milk and vegetable fat in powdered form  shall be categorized as follows , in 
accordance with the requirements given in Table 1:  
 
a) Blend of skimmed milk and vegetable fat in powdered form; and    
b) Reduced /medi um fat blend of skimmed milk and vegetable fat in powdered form  
 
Table 1  - Compositional requirements for blend s of skimmed milk and vegetable fat in 
powdered form  
 
 Blend of skimmed milk and 
vegetable fat in powdered 
form , 
m/m Reduced /medium  fat blend 
of skimmed milk and 
vegetable fat in powdered 
form , 
m/m Methods for 
testing  
Total Fat 26% min More than 1.5% and less than 
26% 
Refer to CXS 
234 Moisture(a) 5% max 5% max 
Milk protein in 
milk solids -not-
fat(a), minimum  34%  34% 
(a) The milk solids -not-fat content includes water of crystallization of the lactose.  
 
 
5 Food Additives  
 
Only those additive classes indicated as justified in the table below may be used for the product s 
cover ed by this Standard . Acidity regulators, anticaking agents and antioxidants used in accordance 
with Tables 1 and 2 of CXS 192 in food category 01.5.2 (Milk and cream powder analogues), and only 
certain acidity regulators, anticaking agents, emulsifiers and stabilizers in Tab le 3 are acceptable for 
use in products conforming to this Standard.  
 
Table 2 – List of additive functional class justified for use in blend of skimmed milk and 
vegetable fat in powdered form  
 
Additive functional class  Justified use  
Colours  - 
Bleaching agents  - 
Acidity regulators  x 
Stabilizers  x 
Thickeners  - 
Emulsifiers  x 
Antioxidants  x 
Preservatives  - 
Foaming agents  - 
Anticaking agents  x 
Packaging gas  - DARS 1072 :2023  
4 © ARSO 20 23 — All rights reserved   
X The use of additives belonging to the class is technologically justified.  
 
 – The use of additives belonging to the class is not technologically justified.  
 
6 Contaminants  
 
6.1 Heavy metals  
 
The products covered by this Standard shall comply with those maximum limits for metal 
contaminants specified in CXS 193 and in particular those listed in Table 2.  
 
Table 3 — Metal contaminants  
 
Parameter  Maximum Limit  
(mg/kg)  Test method  
Lead (Pb)  0.02 AOAC 999.11 or AOAC 999.10  
 
6.2 Mycotoxins  
 
When tested in accordance with ISO 14501, the level of aflatoxin M1 shall not exceed 0.50 μg/kg.  
 
6.3 Pesticides residues  
 
Pesticide residue limits shall be in accordance with limits set by the Codex Alimentarius Commission 
for the product  covered by this Standard . 
 
6.4 Veterinary drug residues  
 
Veterinary drug residue limits shall be in accordance with limits set by the Codex Alimentarius 
Commission for the product  covered by this Standard . 
 
 
7 Hygiene  
 
The products covered by this African Standard shall be produced, prepared and handled in accordance 
with the provisions of the appropriate sections of ARS 53.  
 
Blend of skimmed milk and vegetable fat in powdered form  shall be free from microorganisms and 
products originating from microorganisms in amounts which may represent a hazard to human health.  
When tested by appropriate methods, blend of skimmed milk and vegetable fat in powdered form shall 
conform to the limits specified in Table 3.  
 
Table 4 – Microbiological limits  
 
Microorganism  Permissible limit  Test method  
Salmonella  Absent in 25 g   ISO 6579 -1 
E. coli,  Absent per g  ISO 7251  
Coliforms,  <10 cfu/g  ISO 4832  
Staphylococcal  
enterotoxins   Not detected  in 25 g   ISO 19020  
 
 
 
8 Labelling  
 DARS 1072 :2023  
5 © ARSO 202 3 — All rights reserved  8.1 Labelling of retail containers  
 
In addition to the provisions of the ARS  56, the following specific provisions apply:  
 
8.1.1 Name of the food  
The name of the food shall be:  
• Blend of Skimmed Milk and Vegetable Fat in Powdered Form; or  
• Reduced /medium  Fat Blend of Skimmed Milk and Vegetable Fat in Powdered Form.  
Other names may be used if allowed by national legislation in the country of retail sale.  
 
8.1.2 Declaration of total fat content  
The total fat content shall be declared in a manner found acceptable in the country of sale to the final 
consumer, either  
(i) as a percentage by mass, or  
 
(ii) in grams per serving as quantified in the label provided that the number of servings is stated.  
 
A statement shall appear on the label as to the presence of edible vegetable fat and/or edible 
vegetable oil. When required by the country of retail sale, the common name of the vegetable from 
which the fat or oil is derived shall be included in the name o f the food or as a separate statement . 
 
8.1.3 Declaration of milk protein  
 
The milk protein content shall be declared in a manner acceptable in the country of sale to the final 
consumer, either  
i. as a percentage by mass, or  
ii. in grams per serving as quantified in the label provided that the number of servings is stated.  
 
8.1.4 List of ingredients  
 
Notwithstanding the provision of ARS 56,  milk constituents used only  for protein adjustment need to  
be declared.   
 
All ingredients shall be declared . 
 
8.1.5 Advisory statement  
 
A statement shall appear on the label to indicate that the product should not be used as a substitute 
for infant formula. For example, “NOT SUITABLE FOR INFANTS”  or a similar  statement that carries 
the same meaning . 
 
8.2 Labelling of non -retail containers  
 
Information required in sub -clause 9.1 of this African Standard and, if necessary, storage instructions, 
shall be given either on the container or in accompanying documents, except that the name of the 
product, lot identification, and the name and address of the manufacturer or packer shall appear on the 
container.  
 
However, lot identification, and the name and address of the manufacturer or packer may be replaced 
by an identification mark, provided that such a mark is clearly identifiable with the accompanying 
documents.  
 DARS 1072 :2023  
6 © ARSO 20 23 — All rights reserved      9  Packaging  
A container or outer co ntainer in which the Blend of skimmed milk and vegetable fat  in powdered form  
is packed shall:  
(a) be made from a material that :  
 (i) is suitable for this purpose;  
(ii) will protect the contents thereof from contamination; and  
(iii) will not impart any undesirable flavour or taste to the contents thereof;  
(b) be so strong that it will not be damaged or deformed during normal storage, handling and transport 
practices;  
(c) in the case of a container that is re -used, be thoroughly cleaned and sterilized before the Blend of 
skimmed milk and vegetable fat in powdered form  is packed therein;  
(d) be intact; and  
(e) be closed properly in a manner permitted by the nature thereof.  
 
10 Methods of Sampling and Analysis  
 
For checking the compliance with this Standard, the methods of analysis and sampling contained in 
CXS 234 relevant to the provisions in this Standard, shall be used.  
 
  DARS 1072 :2023  
7 © ARSO 202 3 — All rights reserved  Bibliography  
 
 
CXS 251-2006  Standard for  a blend of skimmed milk and vegetable fat in powdered form  
 
 
 
 DARS 1072 :2023  
© ARSO 202 3 — All rights reserved