ICS 67.220.20 
 
Reference number  
DRS 571: 2023  
© RSB 2023  
  
 RWANDA 
STANDARD  DRS 
571  
 
First edition  
2023 -mm-dd 
 
Bread improver  — Specification  
 
   
DRS 571: 2023  
©RSB 2023  - All rights reserved                  ii 
 In order to match with technological development and to keep continuous progress in industries, 
standards are subject to periodic review. Users shall ascertain that they are in possession of the latest 
edition  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
© RSB 2023  
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, no part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized 
in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and microfilm, without 
prior written permission from R SB. 
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E-mail: info@rsb.gov.rw  
Website: www.rsb.gov.rw  
ePortal: www.portal.rsb.gov.rw   DRS 571: 2023  
iii                ©RSB 2023  - All rights reserved  
 Contents  Page 
Foreword  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................  iv 
1 Scope  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ......................  1 
2 Normative references  ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................  1 
3 Terms and definitions  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........................  2 
4 Ingredients  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .............  3 
4.1 Essential ingredients  ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................  3 
4.2 Optional ingredients  ................................ ................................ ................................ ..............................  3 
4.3 General requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........................  4 
4.4 Specific requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........................  4 
5 Contaminants  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .........  4 
5.1 Heavy metals  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ..........  4 
5.2 Mycotoxins  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .............  5 
5.3 Pesticide residues  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ . 5 
6 Hygiene  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...................  5 
7 Packaging  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...............  5 
8 Labelling  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .................  5 
9 Sampling  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ................  6 
Annex  A (normative)  Determination of pH of aqueous extract  ................................ ................................ .... 7 
A.1 Apparatus  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...............  7 
A.2 Procedure  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...............  7 
 DRS 571: 2023  
©RSB 2023  - All rights reserved                  iv 
 Foreword   
Rwanda Standard s are prepared  by Technical Committees and approved by Rwanda Standards Board (RSB) 
Board  of Directors in  accordance with the procedures of RSB, in compliance with Annex 3 of the WTO/TBT 
agreement on the preparation, adoption and application of standards.  
The main task of technical committees is to prepare national standards.  Final Draft Rwanda S tandards 
adopted by Technical committ ees are ratified  by me mbers of RSB Board of Director s for publication and 
gazettment as Rwanda Standards.  
DRS 571 was prepared by Technical Committee RSB/TC 019, Spices, culinary herbs, condiments and food 
additives . 
Committee membership  
The following organizations were represented on the Technical Committee on Spices, culinary herbs, 
condiments and food additives  (RSB/TC 19)  in the preparation of this standard.  
E& Foods Direct Ltd  
Innopro Ltd  
Inyange Industries Ltd  
Ishyo foods ltd  
Nyarutarama Business Incubation Center  
Rwanda Consumer’s Rights Protection Organization (ADECOR)  
Rwanda Food and Drugs Authority (Rwanda FDA)  
Rwanda Inspectorate, Competition and Consumer Protection Authority (RICA)  
Skai Ltd  
Umurage Enterprise  
Zamura Feeds Ltd  
Rwanda  Standards Board  (RSB) – Secretariat  DRS 571: 2023  
v                ©RSB 2023  - All rights reserved  
 Introduction   
In the last decade a number of additives and technological aids have been developed for improving the 
breadmaking process and the quality of the fresh bread.  
Bread improvers have a range of functional benefits; they improve the flour quality by strengthening the gluten 
structure during fermentation or proofing. Also, they increase dough resilience during dough development . 
They improve the overall quality of the yeast raised products by producing good crumb structure, overall 
volume, and crust color.  
Bread improvers may also carry within them a blend of enzymes that assist in the gluten matrix modification 
as well as yeast foods or sources of sugars  for the yeast to use.  Therefore, this standard is developed to keep 
up with advancements of the food industry and to ensure the safety and quality of the products tra ded in the 
markets in order to safeguard the health of the consumers.  
 
 
 DRS 571: 2023  
1                ©RSB 2023  - All rights reserved  
 Bread improver  — Specification  
1 Scope   
This Draft  Rwanda  Standard specifies the requirements , sampling and test methods for bread improver used 
in bread  making . 
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) applies.  
AOAC 942.17, Arsenic in foods Molybdenum blue method  
AOAC 999.11, Lead, Cadmium, Copper, Iron and zinc in foods. Atomic absorption spectrophotometry after dry 
ashing  
RS ISO 16050 , Food stuffs — Determination of aflatoxin B1, B2, G1 and G2 in cereals, nuts and derived 
products — High-performance liquid chromatographic method  
RS ISO 712, Cereals and cereal products — Determination of moisture content — Routine reference method  
RS ISO 2171, Cereals, pulses and by -products — Determination of ash yield by incineration  
RS ISO 15141 , Cereals and cereal products — Determination of ochratoxin A — High performance liquid 
chromatographic method with immunoaffinity column cleanup and fluorescence detection  
RS CAC/RCP 1, Code of practice — General Principles of Food Hygiene  
RS CODEX STAN 192, General Standard for Food Additives  
RS ISO 4833 -1, Microbiology of the food chain — Horizontal method for the enumeration of microorganisms 
— Part 1: Colony count at 30 degrees C by the pour plate technique  
RS ISO 16649 -2, Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal method for the  enumeration of 
ß-glucuronidase -positive Escherichia coli — Part 2: Colony -count technique at 44 °C using 5 -bromo -4-chloro -
3-indolyl ß -D-glucuronide  
 
RS ISO 6888 -1, Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal method for the enumeration of 
coagulase -positive staphylococci (Staphylococcus aureus and other species) — Part 1: Technique using 
Baird -Parker agar medium  
RS ISO 21527 -2, Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal method for the enumeration of 
yeasts and moulds — Part 2: Colony count technique in products with water activity less than or equal to 0,95   
©RSB 2023  - All rights reserved                  2 
 RS ISO 6579 -1, Microbiology of the food chain — Horizontal method for the detection, enumeration and 
serotyping of Salmonella — Part 1: Detection of Salmonella spp.  
RS ISO 24333, Cereals and cereal products — Sampling  
3 Terms and definitions   
For the purposes of this standard, the follow ing terms and definitions apply . 
3.1 
bread improver  
flour-based blend of several components with specific functional properties designed to modify dough 
characteristics and give quality attributes to bread. Bread improvers are mostly made from a combination of 
enzymes in addition to various emulsifiers, wheat flour, soy flour and calcium carbonate as carriers for the 
micro -ingredients.  
3.2 
gluten  
component of wheat protein which provides elasticity of the dough. Gluten can also be found in some cereals 
in small amounts .  
3.3 
oxidizing agent  
substance  that oxidize s other substances in the reaction by gaining or accepting electrons from them. They 
act on the gluten in flour to increase its strength and produce larger, more -uniform finished products . 
3.4 
reducing agent  
substance that reduces a chemical compound usually by donating electrons.  They act on the gluten in flour to 
increase extensibility , and shorten dough development  time.  
3.5 
enzyme  
natural catalysts that break down heavy compounds such as starches and proteins to improve dough 
rheology.   DRS 571: 2023  
3                ©RSB 2023  - All rights reserved  
 3.6 
wheat  flour  
product prepared from common wheat grain ( Triticum aestivum L.) or club wheat ( Triticum compactum Host) 
or their mixtures by grinding or milling process.   
3.7 
emulsifier  
food additives used to help mix two substances that typically separate when they are combined (water and 
oil). 
4 Ingredients  
4.1 Essential ingredients  
The following ingredients are suitable  in the preparation of bread improver.  
a) wheat flour conforming to relevant standards ; 
b) enzymes : 
i) amylase;  
ii) lipase;  
iii) xylanase;  and 
iv) glucose oxidase conforming to RS CODEX STAN 192  
c) pH regulators:  
i) calcium carbonate ; and  
ii) calcium sulphate conforming to RS CODEX STAN 192  
d) oxidizing agent:  
ascorbic acid ; or any  other conforming to RS CODEX STAN 192 . 
4.2 Optional ingredients  
The following optional ingredients complying with RS CODEX STAN 192  may be used:   
©RSB 2023  - All rights reserved                  4 
 a) emulsifiers; and  
b) stabilizers  
4.3 General requirements  
Bread improver shall  be: 
a) free from extraneous matter ; 
b) in powder  form; 
c) free from any objectionable flavour and odour ; and  
d) free from adulterants.  
4.4 Specific  requirements  
Bread improver shall comply with the requirements given in Table 1 when tested in accordance with the test 
methods specified therein.  
Table 1 — Specific requirements for bread improver  
S/N Characteristic  Requirement  Test method  
i. Moisture content, % m/m, max.  12.0 RS ISO 712  
ii. Insoluble ash, % m/m,  1.5 – 2.0 RS ISO 2171  
iii. pH of aqueous extract  3.0 – 7.0 Annex A  
5 Contaminants  
5.1 Heavy metals  
Bread improver shall comply with the maximum levels for heavy metal  contaminants given in Table 2 when 
tested in accordance with the test methods specified therein . 
 
Table 2 — Permitted m aximum  levels  of heavy metal  contaminants in bread improver  
S/N Characteristic  Requirement  
mg/kg, max.  Test method  
i.  Arsenic  (As) 0.5 AOAC 9 42.17 
ii.  Lead  (Pb) 0.1 
AOAC 999.11  
iii.  Cadmium (Cd)  0.2 DRS 571: 2023  
5                ©RSB 2023  - All rights reserved  
 5.2 Mycotoxins  
Bread improver shall comply with mycotoxin limits given in Table 3 when tested in accordance with the test 
methods specified therein.  
Table 3 — Mycotoxins limits for bread improver  
S/N Mycotoxin  Maximum limit  
µg/kg  Test method  
i.  Total aflatoxins  10 
RS ISO 16050  ii.  Aflatoxin B1  5 
iii.  Fumonisins  2000  
iv.  Ochratoxins  A 5 RS ISO 15141  
5.3 Pesticide residues  
Pesticide residues shall not exceed maximum residue limits established by the Codex  Alimentarius 
Commission . 
6 Hygiene  
Bread improver shall be manufactured and handled in a hygienic manner in accordance with RS CAC/RCP 1  
and shall comply with the microbiological limits stipulated in Table 4 when tested in accordance with the test 
methods specified therein.  
Table 4 — Microbiological limits for bread improver  
S/N Microorganism  Maximum l imit Test method  
    i. Total viable count, CFU/g, max  4×103 RS ISO 4833 -1 
    ii. Escherichia Coli , CFU/g Absent  RS ISO 16649 -2 
   iii. Staphylococcus aureus , CFU/g Absent  RS ISO 6888 -1 
  iv. Yeasts and moulds, CFU/g, max  25 RS ISO 21527 -2 
   v. Salmonella spp in 25g Absent  RS ISO 6579 -1 
7 Packaging  
Bread improver shall be packaged in food grade packaging material that secures the integrity and the safety 
of the product.  
8 Labelling  
8.1     the following specific labelling requirements shall apply and shall be legibly and indelibly marked . 
a) the name of the product; "Bread improver" ;  
©RSB 2023  - All rights reserved                  6 
 b) list of ingredients;  
c) net contents by mass in the SI units;  
d) name, physical location and address of the manufacturer or, packer, distributer, importer, exporter, 
vendor;  
e) country of origin;  
f) manufactured date;  
g) instruction for use;  
h) storage instructions;  
i) expiry date.  
j) batch number  and lot identification ; and  
k) instructions on disposal of used package . 
8.2   When labelling non -retail packages, information for non -retail packages shall either be given on the 
packages or in accompanying documents, except that the name of the product, batch number and lot 
identification and the name and address of the manufacturer or packer shall appear on the packages.  
9 Sampling  
Sampling of bread improver shall be done in accordance with RS ISO 24333.  
 
 DRS 571: 2023  
7                ©RSB 2023  - All rights reserved  
 Annex  A 
(normative)  
 
Determination of pH of aqueous extract  
A.1 Apparatus  
          pH meter  
A.2 Procedure  
A.2.1  Preparation of aqueous extract of the material  
Grind to a fine paste about 10 g of the material in a glass pestle and mortar, add 100 mL of water and mix 
thoroughly. Allow the mixture to stand for about 15 min.  
A.2.2  Determination of pH of aqueous extract  
Determine the pH of the solution using the pH meter.    
©RSB 2023  - All rights reserved                  8 
 Bibliography  
[1] RS EAS 1, Wheat flour — Specification  
[2] RS EAS 995, Baker’s yeast — Specification  
[3] RS EAS 43, Bread — Specification  
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