DEAS 1000 : 2019  
ICS 67.200.10  
 
© EAC 2019                                                                                                                            First Edition 2019 
 FINAL DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  
Raw cashew nut  — Specification . 
EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY  DEAS 1000: 2019  
ii © EAC 2019  – All rights reserved  
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 DEAS 1000: 2019  
© EAC 2019  – All rights  reserved  iii 
 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 exchan ged 
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 government, acade mia, 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 finaliza tion 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 therefore expect ed to ensure that they always have the latest versions of the standards 
they are implementing .  
The committee responsible for this document is Technical Committee EASC/TC 015, Oil seeds, edible fats 
and oils .  
Attention is drawn to the possibility that som e 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.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 FINAL DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  DEAS 1000: 2019  
 
© EAC 2019 – All rights reserved  1 
 Raw cashew nut  — Specification   
1 Scope   
This Draft East African  Standard specifies requirements , methods of sampling and test for in-shell raw cashew 
nut obtained from the cashew  tree (Anacardium occidentale, Linnaeus ) for further processing . 
This standard does not  apply to raw cashew  kernels.  
2 Normative references   
The following documents are refer red 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 (in cluding any amendme nts) applies . 
Codex Stan 193 , General standard for contaminants and toxins in food and feed  
EAS 38, Labelling of pre -packaged foods — Specification  
EAS 39, Hygiene in the food and drink manufacturing industry — Code of practice  
ISO 542, Oilseeds — Sampling  
ISO 658 , Oilseeds — Determination of content of impurities  
ISO 665, Oilseeds — Determination of moisture and volatile matter content  
3 Terms and definitions   
For the purposes of this document, the following  terms and definitions apply . 
ISO and IEC maintai n terminological databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:  
— ISO Online browsing platform: available at http://www.iso.org/obp  
3.1  
raw cashew nut  
a full matured cashew nut separated from cas hew apple after free fall  from the cashew nut tree ( Anacardium 
occidentale,  Linnaeus)  
3.2 
foreign matter  
organic and inorganic materials other than raw cashew nut  
3.3 
moisture and volatile matter  
the loss of weight of a test portion when dried under specified  conditions  DEAS 1000: 2019  
2 © EAC 2019  – All rights reserved  
 3.4  
total defective  
the percentage of all damaged nuts in the raw nuts supplied such as  void nuts, rotten nuts by weight present 
in the sample drawn  
3.5 
kernel output ratio (shell out -turn)   
minimum quantity of good cashew kernels that can be obtained after decorticating (remove the shell of a 
cashew nut) per 80 kg of raw cashew nuts. It is expressed as either LBS per 80 Kg (Bag) or Kgs per 80 Kg 
(Bag)  
3.6  
nut count  
maximum number of raw cashew nuts in shell of the desired moisture level per kilogram . 
3.7  
rotten nut  
cashew nut whose kernel has been  found to be mould y and/or brown.  
3.8  
wholesome nut  
 cashew nut whose  kernel has been  found to be well developed and comple tely fills the cashew nut shell  
3.9  
spotted nut  
cashew nut whose kernel has been  found to have dark and/or brown stains  
 
3.10  
immature  nut 
cashew nut whose kernel has been  found to be partially developed and/o r has not completely fill ed the shell  
3.11  
partial damaged nut  
 cashew nut whose kernel  has been  found to be partiall y destroyed  
3.12  
void nut  
the cashew nut shell that been  found to be empty  
4 Requirements  
4.1 General requirements  
Raw cashew nut  shall be:  
a) kidney shaped . 
b) grey, dark grey or  brownish in colour . 
c) practically free from living insects, moulds, dead insect, mites, insect fragments, excrement and 
rodent contamination or any other substance which are injurious to health . DEAS 1000: 2019  
© EAC 2019  – All rights  reserved  3 
 4.2 Specific requirements  
Raw cashew nut  shall comply with th e requirements given in Table 1 when tested in accordance with the 
methods speci fied therein.  
Table 1 ―Specific requirement for raw cashew nut  
S/NO.  Characteristic  Requirements  Methods of test  
i.  Moisture and volatile matter, % (m/m), max.  10.0 ISO 665  
ii.  Foreign matter, % (w/w) max. 0.5 ISO 658  
iii.  Total defective % (w/w) max.  10.0 Annex A  
 
4.3 Grading  
Raw cashew nut maya) be classified as Grade 1, Grade 2, or Grade 3 according to Table 2 when tested in 
accordance with the methods specified therein.  
a) Where there is a national legislation or regulation of grading of raw cashew nuts, the legislation or the 
regulation shall suffice.  
Table 2 ― Grading requirements for raw cashew nut  
s/
n
o Characteristic  Requirements  
 Methods of 
tests  Grade 
1 Grade 2  Grade 3  
i. Kernel Output Ratio(Shell 
Out-turn), Lbs./80 Kg) min.  48 44 36 Annex A  
ii. Number of nuts count per Kg, 
max. 200 220 240 
 
5 Hygiene  
Raw cashew nut s shall be produced, processed, handled and stored in accordance with EAS 39.  
6 Packaging  
Raw cashew nut shall be packaged in containers made from food grade packaging material and sealed in a 
manner that will safeguard the hygienic, n utritional and organoleptic properties of the product  
7 Labelling  
In addition to the labelling requirements specified in EAS 38 , the following information shall be legibly and 
indelibly labelled.  
a) name of the product  
b) grades.  DEAS 1000: 2019  
4 © EAC 2019  – All rights reserved  
 8 Sampling  
Sampling shall be done in accordance with ISO 542.  DEAS 1000: 2019  
© EAC 2019  – All rights  reserved  5 
 Annex A  
(normative)  
 
Determination of total defective, nut count and out turn (kernel out -put 
ratio)  
A.1 Apparatus  
A.1.1  Calibrated appropriate weigh ing balance  
A.1.2  Scissors  (Designed for cashew shelling)  
A.1.3  Scooper  
A.1.4 Gloves  
A.2 Procedures  
A.2.1  Determination of nut count  
A.2.1.1  Weigh 1kg of the sample  
A.2.1.2  Calculate/count the number of nuts within the sample  
A.2.2  Determination of total defective  and out turn (kernel out -put ratio)  
A.2.2.1  Weigh 1kg of the samp le 
A.2.2.2  Cut each nut (shell and kernel) with the scissor into two halves  
A.2.2.3  Clean the scissor after each cut  
A.2.2.4  Separate kernels from the shell but kernels like moldy, brown, moth -eaten, empty and  stunted  are 
weighed  with the shell  
A.2.2.5  Observe the splits and separate into 6, wholesome, spotted, immature , partial damaged, rotten 
and void.  
A.2.2.6  Weigh the above 6 grades  (wholesome, spotted,  immature , partial damaged, rotten and void).  
Total percentage defective = 
 100
weight samplevoid rotten  
Out turn (lbs/ 80 Kg) =  
   176.02g pd sp immwholesome  
where  
Imm   immature , DEAS 1000: 2019  
6 © EAC 2019  – All rights reserved  
 Pd partial damaged  
Sp spotted  
delete this since not used in the body  
 
 
 DEAS 1000: 2019    
 
© EAC 2019  – All rights reserved  
  
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