DEAS 1002 : 2019  
ICS 67.200.10  
 
© EAC 2019                                                                                                                            First Edition 2019 
 FINAL DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  
Roasted cashew kernels  — Specification  
EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY  DEAS 1002: 2019  
ii © EAC 2019  – All rights reserved  
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 DEAS 1002: 2019  
© EAC 2019  – All rights reserved  iii 
 Foreword  
Development of the East African Standards h as 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  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 Bo dies 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 , 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 f inalization 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  expected 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 t hat 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.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 FINAL DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  DEAS 1002: 2019  
 
© EAC 2019 – All rights reserved  1 
 Roasted cashew kernels  — Specification  
1 Scope   
This Draft East African Standard specifies  requirements , methods of sampling and test for roasted cashew 
kernels obtained from nuts of cashew tree ( Anacardium occidentale, L) intended for human consumption  
2 Normative references   
The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way th at 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 amendments) applies . 
 
DEAS 1001:2019 , Raw Cashew kernels – Specification   
EAS 35, Fortified food grade salt —Specification  
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 665, Oilseeds — Determination of moisture and volatile matter content  
ISO 729, Oilseeds — Determination of acidity of oils  
ISO 4831 , Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs -- Horizontal method for the detection and 
enumeration of coliforms -- Most probab le number 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 meth od for the detection and 
enumeration of presumptive Escherichia coli — Most probable number technique  
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 chromatographic method   
 
3 Terms and definitions   
For the purposes of this document, the following  terms and definitions apply . 
ISO and IEC maintain terminological databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:  DEAS 1002: 2019  
2 © EAC 2019  – All rights reserved  
 — ISO O nline browsing platform: available at http://www.iso.org/obp  
3.1  
raw cashew kernels  
product obtained by  removing the shell and the testa of the cashew nut  
3.2 
roasted cashew kernels  
product obtained by dry heat trea tment or frying of raw cashew kernels in edible oil with or without seasoning  
3.3 
Seasoning   
any ingredient added to food to enhance its flavour and taste  
4 Requirements  
4.1 General requirements  
4.1.1  Roasted cashew kernels shall be dry product which has  been subjected to processing as provided in 
3.1. 
4.1.2  Roasted cashew kernels shall have a good characteristic flavour and odour of well roasted kernels 
with no evidence of musty, rancid or other undesirable tastes or odours.  
4.1.3  Roasted cashew kernels shall be practically free from living insects, moulds, dead insect, mites, 
insect fragments, excrement and rodent contamination or any other substance which are injurious to health  
4.2 Raw material requirements  
4.2.1  Raw c ashew kernels used shall comply w ith DEAS 1001:2019 . 
4.2.2  Where seasonings are used, they shall comply with the relevant EAS standards . 
4.3 Specific requirements  
Roasted cashew kernels shall comply with the requirements given in table 1 when tested in accordance with 
the methods specifi ed therein.  
Table 1  ― Specific requirements for roasted cashew kernels  
S/N Characteristic  Requirements  Methods of test  
1 Moisture and volatile matter % (m/m), max.  3.0 ISO 665  
2 Free fatty acid (as oleic acid), %, (m/m), max  2.0 ISO 729  
 
4.4 Grading  
Grading of roasted cash ew kernel maybe in accord ance with  Annex A  
5 Hygiene  
5.1 Roasted c ashew kernels shall be produced, processed, handled and stored in accordance with EAS 39.  DEAS 1002: 2019  
© EAC 2019  – All rights reserved  3 
 5.2 Roasted c ashew kernel shall comply with the microbiological limits given in T able 2  when tested in 
accordance with the methods specified therein.  
Table 2 ― Microbiological limits for roasted cashew kernels  
S/N Microorganism  Maximum limit  Test m ethod  
i Salmonella per 25 g  Shall be absent  ISO 6579 -1 
ii E. coli MPN/g  Shall be absent  ISO 7251  
iii Staphylococc us aureus Shall be absent  ISO 6888  
6 Cont aminants  
6.1 Pesticide residues  
Roasted cashew kernels shall comply with those maximum residue limits established by the Codex 
Alimentarius Commission for this commodity.  
6.2 Aflatoxins  
Total Aflatoxin shall not exceed 10 μg/kg while aflatoxin B1 shall no t exceed 5 μg/kg when tested in 
accordance with ISO 16050.  
7 Food additives  
Roasted cashew kernel may contain only the permitted food additives in the CODEX STAN 192 . 
8 Weights and measures  
Roasted c ashew kernels shall be packaged in accordance with the we ights and measures regulations of the 
destination country.  
NOTE  EAC Partner States are signatory to the International Labour Organizations (ILO) for maximum package 
weight of 50 kg where human loading and offloading is involved.  
9 Packaging  
Roasted cashew  kernels shall be packaged in containers made from food grade packaging material and 
sealed in a manner that will safeguard the hygienic, nutritional and organoleptic properties of the product.  
10 Labelling  
In addition to the labelling requirements specif ied in EAS 38, the following information shall be legibly and 
indelibly labelled;  
a) name of the product  as ‘roasted cashew kernels’  
b) grades  
c) declare whether whole or split  
d) dry roasted or fry roasted  DEAS 1002: 2019  
4 © EAC 2019  – All rights reserved  
 e) declare  that it might be  allergenic  
f) declare salted where ap plicable  
g) declare the type of oil used where applicable  
11 Nutrition and health claims  
Roasted cashew kernels  may have claims on nutrition and health. Such claims when declared shall comply 
with EAS 803, EAS 804 and EAS 805  
12 Sampling  
Sampling shall be d one in accordance with ISO 542.  DEAS 1002: 2019  
© EAC 2019  – All rights reserved  5 
 Annex A  
(normative)  
 
Cashew kernel grading   
Roasted Cashew kernels are graded base on shape and size ; 
Size code/count (RW)  Maximum number of kernels per 
pound/ 453.59 grams  Maximum number of kernels per 
kg 
150 150 325 
180 180 395 
210 210 465 
240 240 530 
320 320 706 
450 450 990 
500 500 1100  
Note 1   RW = Roasted whole kernel   
NOTE 2  Tolerance — Up to 2 % by mass of the next lower grade  
 
Whole kernels:  Kernel of the characteristic kidney shape with more than 7/8th of th e kernel intact. Kernels 
with no more than one eighth of the kernel broken off are considered as whole  
Brokens: Kernels where one eighth or more of the original kernel is broken off  
Butts:  Kernels of less not than 3/8th of a whole kernel, which have been b roken crosswise but the cotyledons 
are still naturally attached  
Splitts: Kernels splits lengthwise naturally, provided that no more than one eighth is broken off  
LWP (Large white pieces): Pieces of cashew kernels, not passing through a sieve aperture 4.75 mm  
SWP (Small white pieces): Pieces of cashew kernel, passing through a sieve aperture of 4.75 mm but not 
passing through a sieve of aperture 2.80 mm  
Very small pieces: Pieces of cashew ke rnels, not passing through a sieve of aperture 2.36 mm  
BB (baby bits or granules): Pieces of cashew kernels, not passing through a sieve of aperture 1.70 mm  
 
 
 DEAS 1002: 2019    
 
© EAC 2019  – All rights reserved  
  
 Bibliography