DEAS  915: 2022 
ICS 67.100.10  
 
© EAC 2022                                                                                                                          Second Edition 2022 
 DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  
Ghee — Specification  
EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY  DEAS  915: 2022 
ii © EAC  2022 – All rights reserved  
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 DEAS 915: 2022 
© EAC 2022 – All rights reser ved 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 barrie rs 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  compo sed 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 ar e repr esentative 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 commen ts received are discussed and incorporated before finalization of standards, in 
accordance with the Principles and procedures for develop ment of East African Standards.  
East African Standards are subject to review, to keep pace with technological adv ances.  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 017, Milk and milk pro ducts . 
Attention is drawn to the possibility that 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.  
This second  edition (DEAS 915: 2022) cancels and repl aces th e first edition (EAS 915:2019), which has been 
technically revised .DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  DEAS  915: 2022 
 
© EAC 2022 – All rights reserved  1 
 Ghee — Specification  
1 Scope  
This Draft East Afr ican Standard specifies the requirements, sampling and test methods for ghee intended for 
human consumption  
2 Normative references  
The follo wing documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their content constitutes 
require ments of this document.  For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references, 
the latest edition of the referenced documen t (including any amendments) applies.  
AOAC 999.10, Official met hod for Lead, Cadmium, Zinc, Copper, and Iron i n food s Atomic absorption 
Spectrophotometry after microwave Digestion  
CAC/RCP 57, Code of hygienic practice for milk and milk products  
EAS 22, Butter — Specification  
EAS 38, Labelling of pre - packaged foods  — General requirements  
EAS 39, Hygiene in the  food and drink manufacturing industry — Code of practice  
EAS 67, Raw cow milk — Specification  
EAS 803, Nutrition labelling — Requirements  
ISO 14501 , Milk and milk powder — Determination of aflatoxin M1 content — Clean -up by immunoaffinity 
chromatography and deter mination by high -performance liquid chromatography  
ISO 1740, Milkfat products and butter — Determination of fat acidity (reference meth od)  
ISO 3727 -1, Butter — Determination of moisture, non -fat solids and fat contents — Part 1: Determination of 
moisture content (Referen ce met hod)  
ISO 3727 -3, Butter — Determination of moisture, non -fat solids and fat contents — Part 2: Determination of 
non-fat solids content (Reference method)  
ISO 3960 , Animal and vegetable fats and oils — Determination of peroxide value — Iodometric (v isual)  
endpoint determination  
ISO 4833 -1, Microbiology of the food chain — Horizontal method f or the enumeration of mic roorganisms — 
Part 1: Colony count at 30 degrees C by the pour plate technique  
ISO 6320 , Animal and vegetable fats and oils — Determinati on of refractive index  
ISO 6321, Animal and vegetable fats and oils — Determination of melting point in open capillary tubes (slip 
point)  DEAS  915: 20 22 
2 © EAC  2022 – All rights reserved  
 ISO 6579 -1, Microbiology of the food chain — Horizontal metho d for the detection, enumeration and 
serotyping of Salmon ella — Part 1: Detection of Salmonella spp  
ISO 6611,  Milk and milk products — Enumeration of colony -forming units of ye asts and/or moulds — Colony -
count technique at 25 degrees C  
ISO 663, Animal and vegetable fats and oils — Determination of inso luble impurities content  
ISO 6888 -3, Microbio logy of food and animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal metho d for the enumeration of 
coagulase -positive staphylococci (Staphylococcus aureus and other species) — Part 3: Detection and MPN 
technique for low numbers  
ISO 707, Milk and mil k prod ucts — Guidance on sampling  
ISO 7251 , Microbiology of food and animal fee ding stuffs — Horizontal me thod for the detection and 
enumerati on of presumptive Escherichia coli — Most probable number technique  
3 Term s and definiti ons 
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.  
3.1 
ghee  
product exclusively obtained from cow mil k, cream or butter, by means of heat processes which result in 
almost total removal of water and non fat solid s, wit h a charac teristic flavour  and ph ysical structure  
3.2 
milk 
normal, clean and fresh secretion extracted from the udder of a healthy milking c ow, excluding that obtai ned 
during the first seven days after calving  
3.3 
Dairy cream  
fluid milk product comp aratively rich in fat, in the form of an emulsi on of fat -in skimmed milk, obtained by 
physical separation from milk  
3.4 
butter  
fatty product derive d exclusively from milk and/or products obtained from milk, principally in the form of an 
emulsion of the typ e water -in-oil 
3.5 
food grade packaging materia l 
packaging material made of substances which are safe and suita ble for their int ended use and which  will not 
alter the quality, safety or organoleptic properties of the product  
4 Requirements  
4.1 Raw material s 
The following raw materials may be used:  
a) raw milk complying with EAS 67;  
b) butter complying with EAS 22; or DEAS  915: 20 22 
© EAC 2022 – All rights reser ved 3 
 c) dairy cream.  
4.2 General requi rements  
Ghee shall have transparent amber colour (golden yellow) in liquid form or cream yellow in semi -solid form . 
4.3 Specific requirements  
Ghee shall comply with the specific requirements stipulated in Table 1 when tested in accordance with the test 
methods specified therein:  
Table 1 — Specific requ irements f or ghee  
S/N Characteristi c Requirement  Test m ethod  
1.  Melting poi nt range, °C 28 - 44 ISO 6321  
2.  Free fatty acid, as oleic acid, (%), m/m, max.  0.4  
[1] ISO 1740  
3.  Milk fat content, % , (m/m), min.  99.6 ISO 3727 -3 
4.  Moisture content, %, (m/m), max . 0.4 ISO 3727 -1 
5.  Peroxide value (mEq O2 /kg fat), max.  0.6  
[1.5] ISO 3960  
6.  Refractiv e index, at 40 °C  1.4530 - 1.4590  ISO 6320  
7.  Insoluble impurities, %, max.  0.05 ISO 663  
5 Hygiene  
5.1 Ghee shall be proces sed in accordance with t he hygienic requirements stipulated in EAS 39 and 
CAC/RCP 57.  
5.2 Ghee shall comply with microbiological limi ts in Table 2 when  tested in accordance with the test 
methods specified therein.  
Table 2 — Microbiological lim its for ghee  
S/N Microorganism  Maximu m limit  Test method  
1.  Total plate count, CFU/g  103 ISO 4833 -1 
2.  Escherichia coli, MPN/ g Absent  ISO 7251  
3.  Salmonella spp, 25 g  Absent  ISO 6579 -1 
4.  Yeasts and moulds, CFU/g  10 ISO 6611  
5.  Staphylococcus aureus, per g  Abse nt ISO 6888 -3 
6 Contaminants  
6.1 Heavy metals  
Ghee shall comply with the maximum limits for heavy metals given in Table 3 when tested in accordan ce with 
the test methods specified th erein.  DEAS  915: 20 22 
4 © EAC  2022 – All rights reserved  
 Table 3 — Maximum limits for heavy metals in ghee  
S/N Heavy meta l Maximum limit  mg/kg  Test method  
1.  Lead, Pb  0.02 AOAC 999.10  
2.  Copper, Cu  0.05 
3.  Iron, Fe  0.2 
 
6.2 Mycotoxins  
When tested in accordance with ISO  14501, the level of aflatoxin M1 shall not exceed 0.5  μg/kg.  
6.3 Pesticide and veterinary drug residues  
Ghee shall comply with the maximum residu e limits for veterinar y drug and pesticide residues established in 
Codex St andard Guide for Maximum Pesticide  Limits in Foods  (CX/MRL 2 ). 
7 Food additives  
Food addi tives listed in Tables 1 and 2 of the General Standard for Food Additives (C ODEX STAN 192) in 
Food  Category 02.1.1 (Butter oil, anhydrous milkfat, ghee) may be used in foo ds subject to this Standard.  
7 Packaging  
Ghee shall be packed in food grade pac kaging  material that safeguards the integrity and safety of the product.  
8 Labelling 
The containers shall be labelled in compliance with the requirements of EAS 38 and EAS 803. In addition , the 
following particulars sha ll be legibly and indelibly labelled on the  container:  
a) name of the product as “Ghee”;  
b) net content in SI units;  
c) name and physical address of manufacturer , packer, distributor, importer, exporter or vendor  
d) batch or code number;  
e) nutritional information;  
f) date of manufacture and expiry date;  
g) instruction  for storage; and  
h) country of origin.  
i) Food additives if used shall be declared  DEAS  915: 20 22 
© EAC 2022 – All rights reser ved 5 
 9 Sampling  
Sampling for ghee shall be done in accordance with ISO 707.  
 DEAS  915: 2022   
 
© EAC 2022 – All rights reserved