DEAS 888: 2022  
ICS 67.200.20  
 
© EA C 2022                                                                                                                         Second  Edition 202 2  
 DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  
Raw, roasted and fried groundnuts kernels — Specification  
EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY  DEAS 888: 2022   
ii © EAC 20 22– All rights reserved  
   
 Copyright notice  
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Reproduction for sales purposes may be subject to royalty payments or a licensing agreement. 
Violators may be pr osecuted . DEAS 888 : 2022  
© EAC 20 22– All rights reserved  iii 
 Contents  Page 
1 Scope  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ......................  1 
2 Normative references  ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................  1 
3 Terms and definitions  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........................  2 
4 Requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .........  3 
5 Contaminants  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .........  3 
6 Hygiene  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...................  4 
7 Packaging  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...............  4 
8 Labelling  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .................  4 
9 Sampling  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ................  5 
 DEAS 888: 2022   
iv © EAC 20 22– All rights reserved  
   
 Foreword  
Development of the East African S tandards 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 se rvices 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 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 g overnment, 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 development of East African Standards.  
East African Standards are subject to review, to keep pace with technological advances. Users of the East 
African Standards are t herefore expected to ensure that they always have the latest versions of the standards 
they are implementing.  
EAS 888 was prepared by Technical Committee EASC/ TC/015, Edible Oil Seeds, Fats and Oils.  
This Second  edition cancels and replaces the First edition, which has been technically revised . 
 
 DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  DEAS 888 : 2022  
 
© EAC 2022  – All rights reserved  1 
 Raw, roasted and fried groundnuts — Specification  
1 Scope  
This East Africa Standard specifies the requirements, sa mpling and test methods for raw, roasted  and fried  
groundnuts of the plant Arachis hypogea  intende d for direct human consumption.  
The standard does not apply groundnuts 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 docum ent. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references, 
the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.  
ISO 542, Oilseeds — Sampling  
ISO 605, Pulses — Determination of impurities, size, foreign o dours, insects, and species and variety —
Test methods  
ISO 665, Oilseeds — Determination of moisture and volatile matter content  
ISO 729, Oilseeds — Determination of acidity of oils  
ISO 749, Oilseed residues — Determination of total ash  
ISO 16050, Foodstuff s — 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  
CXS 192, Codex General Standard for Food Additives  
CXS  193, Codex general standa rd for contaminants and toxins in foods  
EAS 35, Edible salt — Specification  
EAS 803, Nutrition labelling - requirements  
EAS 804, Claims – General Requirements  
EAS 805,  Use of nutrition and health claims - Requirements  
ISO 6579 -1, Microbiology of the food c hain — 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 (Staphylococc us aureus and other 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 chroma tographic method  DEAS 888:2022  
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 
groundnut/p eanut  
either in the pod or in the form of kernels which are obtained from varieties of the species Arachis hypogaea L.  
3.2 
shelled groundnut kernels  
raw groundnuts with their shells removed and which have not been subjected to roasting and/or any form  of 
treatment  
3.3 
roasted groundnuts  
groundnuts with or without seed coats which have been subjected to dry heat  
3.4 
fried groundnuts  
groundnuts with or without seed coats which have processed  in edible fats or oil and to which salt (in form of 
powder or brine)  and/or spices may have been added  
3.5 
damaged/ defective  
kernel which is damaged mechanically, or by mould or weevils, or those showing internal discoloration of 
kernels materially affecting the quality’  
3.6 
other defects  
groundnut kernel that have skin d iscolouration, flesh discolouration and/or sprouted kernels  
3.7 
Whole  
groundnut kernel which is not split or broken  
3.8 
split 
separated 'half' of a groundnut kernel  
3.9 
Broken kernel  
more than one fourth of the groundnut kernel is broken off  
3.10 
foreign m atter  
organic and inorganic materials other than shelled groundnut kernels  
Notes:  
1. Inorganic includes stones, glass, pieces of soil and other mineral matter  
2. organic matter is any animal or plant matter (seed coats, straws, weeds) other than shelled gr oundnut kernel, 
damaged shelled groundnut kernel, other kernels, inorganic extraneous matter and harmful/toxic matter  DEAS 888:2022  
© EAC 20 22– All rights reserved  3 
 4 Requirements  
4.1 General  
a) Raw groundnuts be shall be whole, mature and uniform in shape, size and colour according to variety and 
grade ; 
b) Roasted/fried groundnuts shall be whole or split ; 
c) Roasted/fried whole groundnuts shall not be mixed with splits ; 
d) Roasted/fried groundnuts shall peel easily ; and  
e) Raw, roasted and fried groundnuts shall free from dead or living insects, insect fragments and mites . 
4.2 Specific quality requirements  
Raw roasted  and fried  groundnuts shall comply with requirements given in Table 1 . 
Table 1 — Specific quality requirements for raw, roasted and fried groundnuts  
S/N Characteristic  Requirement  Test method  
i) Moisture  
content,  %, m/m,  
max.  Raw 8.0  
 
ISO 665 Roasted  
and fried  
2.0 
ii) Free fatty acids,  %, m/m,  
max.  2 ISO 729 
4.3 Grading  requirements  
Raw groundnuts may be classified as Grade 1, Grade 2 or Grade 3 according to Table 2 . 
Table  2 — Grading  requirements  for raw  groundnuts  
 
S/N  
Characteristic  Requirement   
Test 
method  Grade  1 Grade  2 Grade  3 
i) Damaged  kernels,  % by mass,  max.  0.5 1.5 < 3  
 
 
ISO 
605 ii) Other  defects,  % by mass,  max.  0.5 1.5 < 3 
iii) Split and broken  kernels,  % by mass,  
max.  1.0 2.0 3.0 
iv) Foreign  matter,  % by mass,  max.  0.1 0.2 0.3 
NOTE The maximum total tolerance limits for Grade 1 is 2.0 %, 3.0 % for Grade 2 and 4.0 % for Grade 3 by  
number or weight for groundnuts corresponding to the size immediately above and/or below tha t indicated on the  
package.  
5 Contaminants  
5.1 Aflatoxin  
Aflatoxin limits for raw roasted and fried groundnuts  shall comply with  the limits specified in Table 2 . 
 
 DEAS 888:2022  
4 © EAC 20 22– All rights reserved  
   
 Table  2 — Aflatoxin  limits  for raw roasted and fried groundnuts  
S. no Characteristic  Limit  Method of 
test 
i) Total  aflatoxin  content,  ppb, max.  
 15 
  
ISO 16050  
ii) Aflatoxin  B1, ppb 5 
5.2 Pesticide residues  
Raw roasted and fried groundnuts  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.  
5.3 Other contaminants  
Raw roasted and fried groundnuts shall comply with those maximum limits for other contaminants established 
in CXS 193. 
6 Hygiene  
6.1 Raw roasted and fried groundnuts  shall be produced, prepared and handled in accordance with EAS 39.  
6.2 Raw roasted and fried groundnuts  shall be free of pathogenic organisms and shall comply with the 
microbiological requirements specified in Table 3 . 
Table 3 — Microbiological limits for raw, roasted and fried groundnuts  
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 Staphylo coccus aureus, 
cfu/g  absent  ISO 6888 -1 
7 Packaging  
Raw roasted and fried groundnuts  shall be packaged in food grade containers and sealed in manner to ensure 
the safety and quality requirements specified in this standard are maintained throughout the shel f life of the 
product  
8 Labelling  
8.1 In addition to the requirements of EAS 38  and EAS 803, the following shall apply:  
a) Name of the product shall be ‘raw groundnuts’ or ‘roasted groundnuts’ or ‘fried groundnuts’;  and  
Note: the term groundnut may be rep laced with peanut.  
b) where grading is applied, it shall be in accordance to cla use 4.3  of this standard . DEAS 888:2022  
© EAC 20 22– All rights reserved  5 
 8.2 Nutrition and health claims  
Nutrition and health claims may be used in compliance with EAS 804 and EAS 805  
9 Sampling  
Sampling shall be done in ac cordance with ISO 542 . 
 DEAS 888:2022    
 
© EAC 20 22– All rights reserved