AFRICAN 
STANDARD  DARS  
1096  
First Edition 2023 
 
 Reference No. DARS 1096 :2023(E) 
ICS 67.100.10  
 
 
© ARSO 20 23 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Milk Powder s and Cream Powder — Specification  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 DARS  1096 :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  General requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ ............  2 
4.3  Compositional requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ .. 2 
5 Food Additives  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................  3 
6 Contaminants  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ . 3 
6.1 Heavy metals  ................................ ................................ ................................ .........................  3 
6.2 Mycotoxins  ................................ ................................ ................................ .............................  3 
6.3 Pesticides residues  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................  3 
6.4 Veterinary drug residues  ................................ ................................ ................................ ........  3 
7 Hygiene  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ..........  3 
8 Labelling  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .........  4 
8.1 Labelling of retail containers  ................................ ................................ ................................ .. 4 
8.2 Labelling of non -retail containers  ................................ ................................ ...........................  5 
9       Packaging…………………………………………………………………… ………………… ………     .5   
10     Methods of Sampling and Analysis  …………………………………………………………………….. 5 
Annex A (informative)  Additional quality  ................................ ................................ ................................  6 
Bibliography  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ............  7 
 
  DARS 1096 :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  1096 :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 1096 :2023 
© ARSO 20 23 — All rights reserved  v Introduction  
 
Milk is an important dairy  product which forms part of the daily meal s of majority of pe ople in the world . 
Powdered milk s and cream powder  products  are widely traded  and consumed  across the world and in 
Africa.  
 
This African Standard seeks to lay down requirements for the acceptable production of milk powders 
and cream powder in order to ensure quality and to safeguard the African consumer . The document  
also seeks to facilitate  harmonization of standards and promote fair trade ac ross the African continent . 
 
 
 
 
 
 DARS 1096 :2023 
© ARSO 2023 — All rights reserved  1  
Milk Powder s and Cream Powder  - Specification  
 
1 Scope  
 
This African Standard specifies requirements, sampling and test methods for milk powders and cream 
powder, intended for direct consumption or further processing.  
 
2 Normative references   
 
The following referenced documents are indispensable for the application of this document . 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 hygiene — Code of practice  
 
ARS 56  - Pre-packaged foods — Labelling  
 
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  - 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  
milk  
the normal mammary secretion of milking animals obtained from one or more milkings without either 
addition to it or extraction from it, intended for consumption as liquid milk or for further processing . 
 
3.2  
milk powder or cream powder   
milk products which can be obtained by the partial removal of water from milk or cream  
 
 
3.3  
milk retentate   
AFRICAN STANDARD  DARS 1096 :2023 
2 © ARSO 20 23 — All rights reserved  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  
 
Milk and cream  
 
NOTE: The fat and/or protein content of the milk or cream may have been adjusted, only to comply with the compositional requirements 
in Clause 4 of this Standard, by the addition and/or withdrawal of milk constituents in such a way as not to alter the whey p rotein to 
casein ratio of the milk being adjusted.  
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  General requirements  
 
The milk powders and cream powder shall be:  
a) uniform in composition;  
b) free from lumps;  
c) white to creamy in colour;  
d) of pleasant taste and flavour  
e) free flowing ; and  
f) free from dirt and foreign matter.  
 
4.3  Composition al requirements  
 
4.3.1  Milk and cream  powders shall be categorized as follows , in accordance with the requirements given 
in Table 1:  
 
a) cream powder ;   
b) whole milk powder;  
c) partly skimmed milk powder; and  
d) skimmed milk powder   
Table 1: Compositional requirements for milk and cream powders  
 DARS 1096 :2023 
© ARSO 2023 — All rights reserved  3  
Cream 
powder , 
m/m Whole milk 
powder , 
m/m Partly 
skimmed milk 
powder , 
m/m Skimmed 
milk powder , 
m/m Methods for 
testing  
Milk fat  
Min 42%  Min 26% and 
less than 42%  More than 
1.5% and less 
than 26%  Max 1.5%  
Refer to CXS 
243 Moisture(a), 
maximum  5% 5%  5%  5%  
Milk protein in 
milk solids -not-
fat(a), minimum  34%  34%  34%  34%  
(a) The moisture content does not include water of crystallization of the lactose; the milk solids -not-fat content includes water of 
crystallization of the lactose.  
 
4.3.2  Additional requirements for the quality of milk powders are given in Annex A of this African Standard.  
5 Food Additives  
 
Food additives conforming  to Category 01.5.1 and its parent catego ries and Table 3 of CODEX STAN 192 
may be used and only within the limits specified therein.  
 
6 Contaminants  
 
6.1 Heavy metals  
 
The products covered by this African Standard shall comply with those maximum limits for metal 
contaminants specified in CODEX STAN 193 and in particular those listed in Table 2.  
 
Table 2 — Metal contaminants  
 
S/N Parameter  Limit (m g/kg max)  Test method  
(1) 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 M 1 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.  
 
6.4 Veterinary drug residues  
 
Veterinary drug residue limits shall be in accordance with limits set by the Codex Alimentarius Commission 
for the product.  
 
 
 
7 Hygiene  
 DARS 1096 :2023 
4 © ARSO 20 23 — All rights reserved  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.  
 
Milk and cream powders 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, milk and cream powders shall conform to the limits specified in Table 
3. 
 
Table 3  – Microbiological limits  
 
Microorganism  Permissible limit  Test method  
Salmonella  Absent in 25 g   ISO 6579 -1 
E. coli, per g  Absent  ISO 7251  
Coliforms, cfu/g  <10 ISO 4832  
Staphylococcal 
enterotoxins   Not detected  in 25 g   ISO 19020  
 
 
 
8 Labelling  
 
8.1 Labelling of retail containers  
 
In addition to the provisions of the ARSO Standard  ARS 56, the following specific provisions apply:  
 
a) Name of product  
 
• The name of the product shall be in accordance with the composition specified in Table 1 as 
follows:  
 
- Cream powder ; 
- Whole milk powder ; 
- Partly skimmed milk powder ; or 
- Skimmed milk powder . 
 
Partly skimmed milk powder may be designated “semi -skimmed milk powder” provided that the content of 
milkfat does not exceed 16 % m/m and is not less than 14 % m/m.  
 
“Whole milk powder” may be designated “full cream milk powder” and “skimmed milk powder” may be 
designated “low fat milk powder”.  
 
b) List of ingredients : 
 
i)   The milkfat  content  shall be declar ed as a percentage  by mass; 
ii)  The milk protein  content  shall be declared  as a percentage  by mass;  
iii) Milk products used only for protein adjustment need not be declared.  
 
c) Net content in S.I. units  
 
d) Name and address of manufacturer/ distributor/ packer  
 
e) Country of origin  
 
f) ‘Best before date’ (dd/mm/yy) and storage instructions  
 
g) Batch number or lot identification   
 DARS 1096 :2023 
© ARSO 2023 — All rights reserved  5 h) Instructions for use  
 
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.  
 
9  Packaging  
 
A container or outer container in which the  Milk powder or Cream powder 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 sterili zed before the Milk powder or 
Cream powder 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 specified  in CXS 234 
relevant to the provisions in this standard, shall be used.  
 
  DARS 1096 :2023 
6 © ARSO 20 23 — All rights reserved  Annex A  
(informative)  
 
Additional quality  
 
 
The additional information below does not affect the provisions in the preceding sections which are those 
that are essential to the product identity, the use of the name of the food and the safety of the food.  
Additional quality factors  
 
 Whole milk  
powder  Partially  
skimmed milk  
powder  Skimmed milk  
powder  Method  
Titratable acidity  
(ml-0.1 N NaOH/  
10 g-solids -not-fat) max 18.0  max 18.0  max 18.0  CODEX STAN  
234-1999  
Scorched particles  max Disc B  max Disc B  max Disc B  CODEX STAN   
234-1999  
Solubility index (ml)  max 1.0  max 1.0  max 1.0  CODEX STAN   
234-1999  
 
   DARS 1096 :2023 
© ARSO 2023 — All rights reserved  7 Bibliography  
 
 
CXS 207-1999 Standard for Milk Powders and Cream Powder  
 
 
 CD-ARS 1096 :2023 
© ARSO 2023 — All rights reserved