DEAS 1010 : 2019  
ICS 67.100.20  
 
© EAC 2019                                                                                                                               First Edition  2019   
 DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  
Cheese  — Specification  — Cottage cheese  
EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY  DEAS 1010 : 2019  
ii © EAC  2019  – All rights reserved  
 Copyright notice  
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participants in the EAC standards development process i s permitted without prior permission from EAC, 
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© East African Community  2019  — All rights reserved  
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Reproduction for sales purposes may be subject to royalty payments or a licensing agreement.  
Violators may be prosecuted . DEAS 1010 : 2019  
© EAC 2019  – All rights reser ved iii 
 Contents  Page 
Foreword  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................  iv 
1 Scope  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ......................  1 
2 Normative references  ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................  1 
3 Terms and definitions  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........................  2 
4 Product description  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...............................  2 
5 Essential composition and quality factor s ................................ ................................ .........................  2 
5.1 Raw materials  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ........  2 
5.2 Essential ingredients  ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................  2 
5.3 Optional ingre dients  ................................ ................................ ................................ ..............................  2 
6.1 General requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........................  3 
6.2 Specific requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........................  3 
7 Food  additives  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ....... 3 
8 Contaminants  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .........  3 
8.1 Veterinary drug and pesticide residues  ................................ ................................ ..............................  3 
8.2 Heavy metals  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ..........  3 
8.3 Aflatoxins  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...............  3 
9 Hygiene  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...................  3 
10 Packaging  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...............  4 
11 Labelling  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .................  4 
12 Sampling  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ................  4 
 DEAS 1010 : 2019  
iv © EAC  2019  – 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 standardization, 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 Committee is composed of representatives of the National 
Standards Bodies in Partner State s, 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 States. The comments received are discussed and incorporated before finalization of standa rds, in 
accordance with the Principles and procedures for develop ment of East African Standards . 
East African Standards are subject to review, to keep pace with technological advances. Users of the East 
African Standards are therefore expected to ensure th at they always have the latest versions of the standards 
they are implementing .  
The committee responsible  for this document is Technical Committee EASC /TC 017, Milk and milk products.  
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this  document may be subject of patent 
rights. EAC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.  DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  DEAS 1010 : 2019  
 
© EAC 2019  – All rights reserved  1 
 Cheese  — Specification — Cottage cheese  
1 Scope   
This Draft East African Standard specifies the requirements, sampling and test met hods for cottage cheese 
intended for direct consumption and for further processing.  
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 da ted references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references, 
the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.  
AOAC 999.10, Determination of Lead, Cadmium, Zinc, Copper, and Iron in foods, Atomic Absorption 
Spectr ophotometry after Microwave Digestion  
CAC/RCP 1,  General principles of food hygiene — Code of practice  
CODEX STAN 192,  General standard for food additives  
CODEX STAN 193, General standard for contaminants in food and feed  
CODEX STAN 283, General standard f or cheese  
EAS 38, Labelling of pre -packaged foods — General requirements  
ISO 11290 -1, Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal method for the detection and 
enumeration of Listeria monocytogenes  and Listeria SPP  — Part 1: Detection method  
ISO 14501, Milk and milk powder — Determination of aflatoxin M1 content — Clean -up by immunoaffinity 
chromatography and determination by high -performance liquid chromatography  
ISO 1735, Cheese and processed cheese products — Determination of fat content — Gravimetric method 
(Reference method)  
ISO 3433, Cheese — Determination of fat content — Van Gulik method  
ISO 3727 -1, Butter — Determination of moisture, non -fat solids and fat contents — Part 1: Determination of 
moisture content  (Reference method)  
ISO 372 7-2, Butte r — Determination of moisture, non -fat solids and fat contents — Part 2: Determination of 
non-fat solids content (Reference method)  
ISO 4832, Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal method for the enumeration of 
coliforms — Colony-count technique  
ISO 5534, Cheese and processed cheese — Determination of the total solids content (Reference)  
ISO 5538, Milk and milk products — Sampling — Inspection by attributes  DEAS 1010 : 2019  
2 © EAC  2019  – All rights reserved  
 ISO 5738, Milk and milk products — Determination of copper content — Photometric method (reference 
method)  
ISO 6611, Milk and milk products — Enumeration of colony -forming units of yeasts and/or moulds —Colony -
count technique at 25 degrees C  
ISO 707, Milk and milk products — Methods of sampling  
ISO 8197, Milk and m ilk produc ts — Sampling — Inspection by variables  
ISO 1664 -9, Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal method for the enumeration of Beta-
Glucuronidase -Positive Escherichia Coli — Part 2: Colony -count technique  at 44 degrees C using 5 -bromo -4-
chloro-3-indolyl beta -d-glucuronid e 
3 Terms and definitions  
No terms and definitions are  listed in this document.  
4 Product description  
4.1 Cottage cheese  
Soft, rindless unripened  cheese  in conformity with the general standard for cheese (CODEX STAN 283) and 
the standard for unripened cheese including fresh cheese (CODEX STAN 221). The body has a near white 
colour and a granular texture consisting of discrete individual soft curd granules of relatively uniform size,  from 
approximately 3 mm to 12 mm depending on  whether small or large type of curd is desired, and possibly 
covered with a creamy mixture.  
5 Essential composition and quality factors  
5.1 Raw materials  
Cows’ milk or buffaloes’ milk, or their mixtures, and products obtained from these milks.  
5.2 Essenti al ingredients  
The essential ingredients to be used in cottage cheese shall be as follows:  
a) starter cultures of harmless lactic acid and/ or flavour producing bacteria and cultures of other 
harmless micro -organisms;  
b) Rennet or other safe and suitable coagula ting enzymes;  
c) sodium chloride and potassium chloride as a salt substitute;  
5.3 Optional ingredients  
a) Gelatin and starches complying with CODEX STAN 273;  and  
b) safe and suitable processing aids.  
6 Requirements  DEAS 1010 : 2019  
© EAC 2019  – All rights reser ved 3 
 6.1 General requirements  
Cottage cheese shall be in conformity with the CODEX STAN 283 and CODEX STAN 221.  
6.2 Specific requirements  
The compositional requirements and their parameters used in cottage cheese shall be as detailed in Table 1.  
Table 1 — Specific  requirements  for cottage cheese  
Milk constitu ent Minimum content  Maximum content  Test method  
Moisture content, %, m/m  Not restricted  80  ISO 3727 -1 
Fat free d ry matter, %, m/m  18 Restricted by the MFFB 
(Moisture on fat free basis)  ISO 3727 -2 
Milk fat , %, m/m  o Not restricted  ISO 1735  
7 Food addi tives  
Food additives may be used in cottage cheese in accordance with CODEX STAN 192.  
8 Contaminants  
8.1 Veterinary drug and pesticide residues  
The milk used in the manufacture of the products covered by this Standard shall comply with the  Maximum 
Levels f or contaminants and toxins specified for milk by CODEX STAN 193 and with the maximum  residue 
limits for veterinary drug residues and pesticides established for milk by the CAC/MRL 2.  
8.2 Heavy metals  
The heavy metal requirements in the product shall compl y with the limits in the Table 2.  
Table 2 — Maximum limits of heavy metals  
S/N  Heavy metal  Limits mg/kg Test method  
i.  Lead  0.02 AOAC 999.10  
 
8.3 Aflatoxins  
Aflatoxin M1 shall not exceed 0.5 μg/kg maximum to comply with the levels of contaminants in foods as 
stipulated in ISO 14501.  
9 Hygiene  
9.1 It is recommended that the product covered by the provisions of this standard be prepared and handled 
in accordance  with CAC/RCP 1, CAC/RCP 57.  
9.2 The products shall comply with microbiological limits established in accordance with Table 3.  DEAS 1010 : 2019  
4 © EAC  2019  – All rights reserved  
 Table 3 ▬ Microbiological limits  
S/N Microorganism   maximum limit  Test method  
i.  Salmonella spp /25g  absent  ISO 6 579-1 
ii.  Staphylo coccus aureus, cfu/g  102 ISO 6888 -1 
iii.  E. coli, cfu/g  absent  ISO 16649 -2 
iv.  Listeria monocytogenes, /25g absent  ISO 11290 -1 
v.  coliforms, cfu/g,  10 ISO 4832  
vi.  Yeast s and moulds cfu/g  10 ISO 6611  
10 Packaging  
The products shall  be packaged in food grade con tainers made of suitable material and shall be well sealed in 
order to prevent contamination of the contents during storage and transportation.  
11 Labelling  
In addition to the requirements of EAS 38 the labelling  of cottage cheese should include the follow ing: 
a) name of product  as “Cottage cheese ”; 
b) name and address of manufacturer;  
c) date of manufacture;  
d) date of expiry;  
e) storage conditions;  
f) country of origin ; 
g) source of milk (cow /buffalo ); 
h) declaration of Milk fat ; and  
i) batch number . 
12 Sampling  
In addition to the provision in ISO 707, sampling shall comply with ISO 8197 or ISO 5538 when the sampling 
is purposely for inspection.  
 DEAS 1010 : 2019    
 
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