DEAS 1013 : 2019  
ICS 67.100.20  
 
© EAC 2019                                                                                                                               First Edition 2019   
 DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  
Cheese  — Specification  — Cream cheese  
EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY  DEAS 1013 : 2019  
ii © EAC  2019  – All rights reserved  
 Copyright notice  
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© East African Community  2019  — All rights reserved  
East African Community   
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Violators may be prosecuted . DEAS 1013 : 2019  
© EAC 2019  – All rights reserved  iii 
 Contents  Page 
Foreword  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................  iv 
1 Scope  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ......................  1 
2 Normative references  ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................  1 
3 Terms and definitions  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........................  2 
4 Product description  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...............................  2 
5  Requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ........  2 
5.1 Raw materials  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ........  2 
5.2 Essential ingredients  ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................  2 
5.3 Optional ingredients  ................................ ................................ ................................ ..............................  2 
5.4 Characteristics of cream cheese  ................................ ................................ ................................ .........  2 
5.4.1  Body  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ........................  2 
5.2 Specific requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........................  2 
6 Food additives  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ....... 3 
6 Contaminants  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .........  3 
6.3 Aflatoxins  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...............  3 
7 Hygiene  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...................  3 
8 Packaging  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...............  4 
9 Labelling  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .................  4 
10 Sampling  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ................  4 
 DEAS 1013 : 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 tha t 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 Ea st African Standards  (EAS) . The Committee 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 de veloped 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 standards, 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 that they always have the latest versions of the standards 
they are implementing .  
The committee responsible  for this do cument is Techni cal 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 1013 : 2019  
 
© EAC 2019  – All rights reserved  1 
 Cheese  — Specification  — Cream cheese  
1 Scope   
This Draft East African Standard specifies the requirements , sampling  and test methods  for cream cheese 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 dated references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references, 
the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) a pplies.  
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 275, Standard  for cream cheese  
CODEX STAN 283, Genera l standard for cheese  
EAS 38, Labelling of pre -packaged foods — General requirements  
ISO 14501, Milk and milk powder — Determination of aflatoxin M1 content — Clean -up by immunoaffinity 
chromatography and determination by high -performance liquid chromatogr aphy  
ISO 4832, Micro biology of food and animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal method for the enumeration of 
coliforms — Colony -count technique  
ISO 1735, Cheese and processed cheese products — Determination of fat content — Gravimetric method 
(Reference method ) 
ISO 5534, Cheese and processed cheese — Determination of the total solids content (Reference)  
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 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 — Guidance on sampling  
ISO 8197, Milk and milk products — Sampling inspection by variab les 
ISO 5538, Milk and milk products — Sampling — Inspection by attributes  DEAS 1013 : 2019  
2 © EAC  2019  – All rights reserved  
 3 Terms and definitions  
No terms and definitions are listed in this document . 
4 Product description  
Cream Cheese is a soft, spr eadable, unripened and rindless  cheese in conformity w ith the Standard for 
Unripened Cheeses Including Fresh Cheeses (CODEX STAN 221)  and the General Standard for Cheese 
(CODEX STAN 283 -1978). The cheese has a near  white through to light yellow colour. The texture is 
spreadable and smooth to slightly  flaky an d without holes, and the cheese spreads and mixes readily with 
other foods.  
5  Requirements  
5.1 Raw materials  
Milk and/or products obtained from milk.  
5.2 Essential  ingredients  
Essential ingredients to be used in cream cheese shall be as follows:  
a) starter c ultures of harmless lactic acid and/ or flavour producing bacteria and cultures of other 
harmless micro -organisms; and  
b) Rennet or other safe and suitable coagulating enzymes.  
5.3 Optional ingredients  
Optional ingredients which may be used in cream cheese sh all be as folls:  
a) sodium chloride and potassium chloride as a salt substitute  
b) safe and suitable processing aids  
c) Gelatine and starches complying Codex Stan 275; and  
d) vinegar.  
5.4 Characteristics of cream cheese  
5.4.1 Body  
The body of cream cheese shall:  
a) have a soft smooth to slightly flaky texture ; and 
b) have no holes.  
5.2 Specific  requirements  
Cream cheese shall comply with the specific requirements given in Table 1 , when tested in accordance with 
test methods specified therein.  DEAS 1013 : 2019  
© EAC 2019  – All rights reserved  3 
 Table 1 ▬ Specific requirements for cream cheese  
S/N  Milk constituent  Minimum 
content  Maximum 
content  Test methods  
i.  Milk f at in dry matter, % , 
m/m  25 Not restricted  ISO 1735  
ii.  Moisture on fat free basis 
(MFFB), %, m/m  67 Not restricted  ISO 3727-1 
iii.  Dry matter, %, m/m    22 Restricted by 
MFFB   ISO 5534  
6 Food additives  
Food additives may be used in cream cheese in accordance with CODEX STAN  192. 
6 Contaminants  
6.1 Pesticide and veterinary drug residues  
The milk used in the manufacture of the products c overed by this Standard shall comply with the maximum 
levels for 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.  
6.2 Heavy m etals  
The heavy metal requirements in the product shall comply with the limits in the Table 1.  
Table 2 — Maximum limits of heavy metals  
S/N  Heavy metal  Maximum limits mg/kg  Test method  
i.  Lead  0.02 AOAC 999.10  
6.3 Aflatoxin s 
Aflatoxin M1 shall not exceed  0.5 μg/kg maximum to comply with the levels of contaminants in foods as 
stipulated in ISO 14501.  
7 Hygien e 
7.1 The cream cheese shall be processed, packaged, stored and distributed under hygienic conditions 
complying with CAC/RCP 1 and CAC/RCP 57.  
7.2 The cre am cheese shall have the microbiological limits when tested in accordance with test methods 
specified in Table 3.  
Table 3 ▬ Microbi ologic al limits for cream cheese  
S/N Microorganism   Maximum limits  Test method  
i.  Salmonella spp  /25g absent  ISO 6 579-1 
ii.  Staphylococcus aureus , cfu/g  102 ISO 6888 -1 
iii.  E. coli , cfu/g  absent  ISO 16649 -2 
iv.  Listeria monocytogenes , /25g absent  ISO 11290 -2 DEAS 1013 : 2019  
4 © EAC  2019  – All rights reserved  
 v.  Coliforms, cfu/g  10 ISO 4832  
vi.  Yeast s and moulds cfu/g  102 ISO 6611  
8 Packaging  
The products shall be packaged  food grade co ntainers made of suitable material and shall be well sealed in 
order to prevent contamination of the contents during storage and transportation.  
9 Labelling  
Labelling of  cream cheese shall be done in accordance with the requirements stipulated in EAS 38 and s hall 
also include the following : 
a) name of product “C ream cheese ”; 
b) name and physical address of manufacturer;  
c) list of ingredients ; 
d) net content;  
e) date of manufacture;  
f) expiry date;  
g) storage conditions;  
h) country of origin;  
i) Source of milk; and  
j) Milk fat content . 
10 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 1013 : 2019    
 
© EAC 2019  – All rig hts reserved