DEAS 8 :2019 
ICS 67.180.10   
 
 
 
© EAC 20 19                                                                                                                            Third  Edition 20 19 
 
DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  
Raw cane sugar  — Specification  
 
 
 
EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY  DEAS 8 :2019 
ii © EAC 20 19 — All rights reserved  
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 DEAS 8 :2019 
© EAC 20 19 — 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 East Africa. It is envisaged that through harmonized 
standardization, trade barriers which are encountered when goods and services are exchanged within the  
Community will be removed.  
 
In order to meet the above objectives, the EAC Partner States have enacted a n East African Standardization, 
Quality Assurance, Metrology and Test Act, 2006 (EAC SQMT Act, 2006) to make provisions for ensuring 
standardization, quality assurance, metrology and testing of products produced or originating in a third country 
and traded in the Community in order to facilitate industrial d evelopment and trade as well as helping to 
protect the health and safety of society and the envir onment in the Co mmunity.  
 
East African Standards are formulated in accordance with the procedures established by the East African 
Standards Committee.  The East African Standards Committee is established under the provisions of Article 4 
of the EAC SQMT Act , 2006. The Committee is composed of representatives of the National Standards 
Bodies in Partner States, together with the representatives from the private sectors and consumer 
organizations. Draft East African Standards are circulated to stakeholders thro ugh the National Standards 
Bodies in the Partner States. The comments received are discussed and incorporated before finalization of 
standards, in accordance with the procedures of the Community.  
 
Article 15 (1) of the EAC SQMT Act, 2006 provides that “ Within six months of the declaration of an East African 
Standard, the Partner States shall adopt, without deviation from the approved text of the standard, the East 
African Standard as a national standard and withdraw any existing national standard with simil ar scope and 
purpose ”. 
 
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 impleme nting.  
 
© East African Community 201 9 — All rights reserved* 
East African Community  
P O Box 1096  
Arusha  
Tanzania  
Tel: 255 27 2504253/8  
Fax: 255 -27-2504481/2504255  
E-Mail: eac@eachq.org  
Web: www.each.int  
 
 
                                                      
* 2019 EAC — All rights of exploitation in any form and by any means reserved worldwide for EAC Partner States’ NSBs. 
 DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  DEAS 8 :2019 
 
© EAC 2019 — All rights reserved  1 
 Raw cane sugar  — Specification  
1 Scope  
This Draft East African Standard specifies requirements, sampling and methods of test for raw sugar 
produced from sugarcane ( Saccharum officinarum ), and intended for further processing to make it fit for 
human consumption”  
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 amendm ents) applies.  
EAS 38 , Labelling of pre -packaged foods  — Specification  
EAS 39, Hygiene in the food and drink manufacturi ng industry — Code of practice  
ISO 6579 -1:2017  
Microbiology of the food chain — Horizontal method for the detection, enumeration and ser otyping of Salmonella — Part 1: 
Detection of Salmonella spp.  
, 
ICUMSA Method GS 1/2/3/9 -1, The Determination of Polarisation of Raw Sugar by Polarimetry  
ICUMSA Method GS 1/3/4/7/8 -13, The Determination of Conductivity Ash in Raw Sugar  
ICUMSA Method GS 1/3 -7, The Determination of Raw Sugar Solution Colour at pH 7.0  
ICUMSA Method GS 1/3/7 -3, The Determination of Reducing Sugars in Cane Raw Sugar, Lane+Eynon 
Procedure  
ICUMSA Method GS 1 -5, The Determination of Reducing Sugars in Cane Raw Sugar, Luff -Schoorl Pr ocedure  
ICUMSA Method GS 1 -10, The Determination of Ash in Raw Sugar by Single Sulphation  
ICUMSA Method GS 1 -16, The Determination of Starch in Raw Sugar by the BSES method  
ICUMSA method GS  1-17, The Determination of Starch in Raw Sugar by the SPRI Rapid S tarch Test  
ICUMSA Method GS 2/1/3/9 -15, The Determination of Sugar Moisture by Loss on Drying  
ICUMSA Method GS 2/1/3 -27, The Determination of Lead in Sugar Products by a Colorimetric Method  
ICUMSA Method GS 2/3 -23, The Determination of Arsenic and Lead in White Sugar, Atom ic Adsorp tion 
Spectroscopy  
ICUMSA Method GS  9/1/2/3 -8, The Determination of Raw Sugar Solution Colour at pH 7.0, MOPS Method   
2 © EAC 20 19 — All rights reserved  
 ISO 7251,  Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal method for the detection and 
enumeration of presumptive Escherichia coli — Most probable number technique  
 
3 Terms and definitions  
For the purposes of this standard, EAS 348 shall apply in addition to the following terms and definitions   
 
3.1 
raw cane sugar  
Unwashed centrifugal sugar whose crystals  are surrounded by the original film of the molasses from sugar 
cane . 
 3.2 
ICUMSA unit  
An international unit developed by International Commission for Universal Methods of Sugar Analysis 
(ICUMSA) for expressing the purity of sugar and is directly related t o the colour of sugar  
3.3 
polarisation  
estimate of the sucrose content of sugar  expressed as degrees of polarization  
3.4 
lot 
collection of packages of the same size, type and style which have been manufactured and packaged under 
essentially the same condit ions 
 
4 Requirements  
4.1 General requirement s 
Raw cane sugar shall be;  
a) in the coarsely crystalline  form  
b) tacky and moist  
c) free from extraneous matter.  
d) Free from fermented and undesirable odour  
 
 
4.2 Specific requirements  
Raw cane sugar shall conform to the specific requirements specified in Table 1  
when tested in accordance with the methods specified therein.  
Table 1  — Specific requirements  for raw cane sugar  
S No  Characteristic  Requirement/limits  Method  of test  
i. Polarisation , oZ  94 - 99.0 ICUMSA Me thod GS 1/2/3/9 -1   
© EAC 20 19 — All rights reserved  3 
 ii. Invert sugar content  % m/m 
(max)   1.2 ICUMSA Method GS 1 -5  
ICUMSA Method GS 1/3/7 -3  
iii. Conductivity  ash, % m/m 
(max)    1.0 ICUMSA Method GS 1 -10  
ICUMSA Method GS 1/3/4/7/8 -13  
iv. Moisture content , % (max) (3 h 
at 105  oC ± 2  oC)       1.0 ICUMSA Method GS 2/1/3/9 -15  
v. Colour, in ICUMSA units  at 
420 nm   >1 300 - 6 000  ICUMSA Method GS 1/3 -7  
ICUMSA Method GS  9/1/2/3 -8  
vi Starch , mg/kg m/m (max)  450 ICUMSA Method GS 1 -16  
ICUMSA method GS  1-17  
5 Contaminants  
5.1 Heavy metals  
Raw cane  sugar shall be free from heavy metals in amounts which may represent a hazard to human health  
and shall conform the  limits indicated  in Table 2 : 
Table 2  — Maximum permissible levels of heavy metal contaminants  
S No  Heavy metal,  Maximum l imit, 
mg/kg  Method of test  
 
i. Arsenic (As)  1 ICUMSA Method GS 2/3 -23 
ii. Lead (Pb)  2 ICUMSA Method GS 2/1/3 -27  
 
5.2 Pesticide residues  
Raw cane sugar  shall conform to  those maximum residue limits established by the Codex Alimentarius 
Commission.  
6 Hygiene 
Raw cane sugar  shall be prepared and handled in a hygienic manner in accordance with 
EAS 39 and shall comply with the microbiological limits stipulated in Table 3 when tested in 
accordance with the methods specified therein”.  
Table  3 — Microbiological  limits for raw cane sugar  
Microbiological parameter  Limit  Method of test  
   
   
Escherichia coli, MPN /g  Absent  ISO 7251  
Salmonella, per 25 g  Absent  ISO 6579  
  
4 © EAC 20 19 — All rights reserved  
 7 Packaging  
Raw cane sugar shall be packaged in food grade materials that ensure product sa fety and integrity.  
8 Labelling  
 
Raw cane sugar shall be labelled in accordance with requirements of EAS 38.  
In case of raw cane sugar that is bulk packaged the following shall be declared:  
a) the name of the  product shall be declared as “Raw cane sugar”;.  
b) the net contents shall be declared by weight in the metric units ( 'Systeme International' ); 
c) the name , address  and physical location  of the manufacturer  and/or the  packer, distributor, importer, 
exporter or vendor of the product shall be declared ; 
d) the country of origin of the product shall be declared ; and  
e) the d eclaration , “Not for direct human consumption” . 
 
9. Weights and measures  
 
Shall be done in accordance with weights and measures regulation in each Partner state  
 
10 Method of sampling   
10.1 General requirements for sampling  
In drawing, preparing, storing and handling of samples, the following precautions a nd directions shall be 
observed.  
a) Samples shall be taken in a protected place not exposed to damp air, dust or soot.  
b) The sampling inst ruments shall be clean and dry when used.  
c) When sampling for microbiological purposes, the sampling instruments and containers for samples 
shall be sterilized preferably by dry heat at 170 oC for 1 h before use.  
d) Precautions shall be taken to protect the sam ples, the material being sampled, the sampling 
instruments and the containers for samples from adventitious contamination.  
e) The samples shall be placed in clean, dry, and moisture -proof containers.  
f) The sample containers shall be sealed air -tight after filli ng and marked with name of material, date of 
sampling, name of the manufacturer, name of the person sampling and such other particulars of the 
consignments.  
g) Samples shall be protected from light as far as practicable and shall be stored in a cool, dry plac e.  
© EAC 20 19 — All rights reserved  5 
 10.2 Scale of sampling  
10.2.1 All the packages of the same size, type and style which have been manufactured and packaged 
under essentially the same conditions  in a single consignment shall constitute a lot. . Samples shall be tested 
separately for each lot for ascertaining the conformity of the sugar.  
10.2.2 The number of bags to be selected (n) from the lot shall depend on the size ( N) of the lot and shall be 
in accordance with the formula:  
n = √N  
 
These bags shall be selected at random from the lot; to  ensure the randomness of selection a random number 
table, as agreed to between the purchaser and the supplier shall be used.  In case such a table is not 
available, the following procedure shall be used:  
Starting from any bag, count them as 1,2,3,…..  up to r and so on in one order, where r is equal to the integral 
part of N/n, N being the total number of bags in the lot and n the number of bags to be selected.  Every r th bag 
thus counted shall be separated until the requisite number of bags is obtained f rom the lot to give samples for 
test. 
In case of bags stacked in a pyramidal shape, approximately equal number of bags shall be selected from all 
exposed sides of the lot, so as to give the required number of sample bags.  
10.3 Preparation of sample  
10.3.1 Procedure  
From the top, middle and bottom portions of each of the selected bags (see 9.2), approximately equal quantity 
of sugar shall be taken with the help of a suitable sampling instrument.  The sample collected from each of the 
bags shall be thoroughly  mixed so as to give a composite sample of 600 g.  The composite sample thus 
prepared shall be divided approximately into three equal parts; one for the purchaser, one for the supplier, and 
the third for the referee and sealed air tight with particulars as  given in 9.1.(f). 
10.3.2 Number of tests  
The composite sample prepared as under 9.3.1 shall be tested for the characteristics as prescribed in Table 1.  
10.3.3 Criteria for conformity  
The lot shall be declared as conforming to this specification, when the test results on various characteristics 
obtained on the composite sample satisfy the corresponding requirements.  
11 Method  of analysis  — Determination of pesticides  
Pesticide residues shall be determined according to AOAC methods of analysis for pesticides . (970.52, 
985.22, and 970.53 of 1990).  
 EAS 8 :2010    
 
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