DEAS 1139 : 2023  
ICS 67.120  
 
© EAC 2023                                                                                                                        First Edition 2023  
 DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  
Edible chicken eggs in shell — Specification     
 
 
 
 
 
 
EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY  
 
  DEAS 1139 : 202 3 
© EAC 202 1 – All rights reserved   DEAS 1139 : 2023  
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 Copyright notice  
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 DEAS 1139 : 2023  
 Foreword  
Development of the East Africa n Standa rds 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 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 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 are representative of key 
stakeholders includi ng 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 incorpor ated before finalization 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  004, Meat , poultry, game, 
eggs and related products . 
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.DEAS 1139 : 2023  
© EAC 2023  – All rights reserved  
  
 
 Introductio n 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 DRAFT E AST AFRIC AN STANDARD  DEAS 1136 : 2023  
 
© EAC 2023  – All rights reserved  
  
 
 Edible chicken eggs in shell — Specification       
1 Scope   
This Draft East African Standard specifies requirements, sampling, and test methods for edible chicken eggs 
in shell intended for human consumption . 
2 Normative references   
The following  referenced  documents  are indispensable  for the applicatio n of this document.  For dated 
references, only the edition cited applies. For u ndated references, the latest edition of the referenced  
document  (including  any amendments) applies.  
ISO 6579 -1, Microbiology of the food chain — Horizontal method for the detec tion, enumeration and 
serotyping of Salmonella — Part 1: Detection of Salmonella spp  
EAS 38, Labelling of pre -packaged foo ds — General requirements  
CAC/RCP 15, Code of hygienic practice for eggs and egg products  
 CAC/GL 50, General Guidelines on Sampling   
 Codex Stan 193, Codex General Standard for contaminants and toxins in food and feed  
CX/MRL 2  maximum residue limits (MRLs) and risk management recommendations (RMRS) for residues of 
veterinary drugs in foods  
3 Terms and definitions  
For the purposes of this standard the following terms and definitions shall apply:  
3.1  
clean egg  
an egg that is free from foreign material and stains or discolourations that are readily visible with only very 
small specks, cage marks or stains may be cons idered clean if suc h specks, cage marks, or stains are not of 
sufficient number or intensity or cover less than 10 % of the shell surface  
3.2  
tray  
container that can carry up to 30 eggs  
3.3 
crates/case or box  
quantity of 12 trays  
 3.4  
egg  
oval or  spherical body made of thin but rigid calcareous shell laid by birds, which contains yellowish food 
material, the yolk and the white  
3.5  
© EAC 2023  – All rights reserved  
  
 
 edible egg   
egg destined to be sold to the end consumer in its shell and without having received any treatment 
significantly modifying it s properties  
3.6 
egg grading  
grouping of eggs into lots having similar characteristics as to colour, weight, size, shape and  quality  
3.7 
egg white or albumen  
jelly-like substance surrounding the yolk in the egg of a bird  
3.8 
fresh egg  
egg is con sidered fresh when the egg yolk is still intact and the white is still firm  
3.9 
egg yo lk   
Yellowish spheroidal mass of food material surrounded by the white in the egg of a bird  
3.10 
tolerances  
acceptable proportion of defective eggs in a particular  grade 
4 Requirements   
4.1 General requirements  
The edible chickens’  eggs  in shall be sound and fit for human consumption and shall not:  
a) Be damaged (cracked or broken);  
b) Have a soiled shell,  
c) Contain visible foreign matter at ca ndling  
d) Have an odour  
e) Have surface mo isture  
f) musty or mouldy  
g) have been in an incubator  
h) spoiled  
i) adulterated  
4.2 Quality requirements  
4.2.1 Internal quality of eggs  
The candling process can be used f or examining the internal quality of eggs when required.  
4.2.1.1 The eggs shall be free  from meat  spots, blood spots, diffused blood, foreign substances and 
abnormalities.   
 4.2.1.2 Each  egg shall have space translucent, or faintly visible, yolk in the cent er of the egg when viewed 
through candling apparatus.  
4.2.1.3 Each  egg shall have a tran slucent an d firm white, and an air space whose depth depends on the grade 
of the egg  
4.3 Storage of eggs  
4.3.1 The  eggs shall be freshly laid, unsoiled and stored und er recommended temperatures and humidity.  
4.3.2 Fresh  eggs sh all be eggs that are of rece nt product ion. They shall not have been held in excess of 30 
days if kept at a temperature of 15 °C and below and 14 days if kept at a temperature between 15 °C and 25  
°C and shall have been handled under temperature and humidit y conditions which will main tain their  quality  
4.4 Grading  
The eggs may be classified into categories based on the weight, internal quality and shell color  
4.4.1  Weight  
Where edible chicken eggs  in shell are classified based on weight, the requirements in  table 1 shall apply.  
Table  1 – Weigh t classes of edible chicken egg  in shell  
 
 
 
 
 
4.4.2  Quality aspects of eggs in shell  
Where edible chicken eggs in shell are  classified based on quality , the requirements in table 2 shall apply   
Table 2― quality aspects of different classes of edible chicken eggs in shell:   
Quality  factor  Specification  for each quality factor  
A B C 
Shell  Clean,  
Unbroken  
Practically normal  Clean,  
Unbroken  
Practically normal  Clean to slightly  
Stained,  
Unbroken,  
May be slightly  abnormal  
Air cell  0.30 cm or less in  
depth, Practically  
regular  0.5 cm or less in  
depth,  
Practically regular  1 cm or less in  
depth  
May be free/loose  bubbly  
White  Clear,  
Clear  Clear,  
May be reasonably  
firm Clear,  
May be slightly  weak  
Yolk  Outline slightly  
defined practically  
free from defects  Outline may be  
fairly well defined,  
Practically free  
from defects  Outline may be well  defined,  
May be slightly  enlarged and  
flattened,  
May show definite  but not 
serious  S/No.  Category  Weight per egg (g)  
i)  Extra -large (I)  More than 61  
ii)  Large (II)  55 to 61  
iii)  Medium (III)  48 to 54  
iv)  Small (IV)  41 to 47  
v)  Very small (V)  Less than 41   
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 defects.  
 
4.4.3 Tolerances   
Tolerances for each package shall be as follows:  
a) Quality tolerances  
For grade A, the minimum number of grade A shall be 85 %. Grade B can be included but not more than 15 % 
of the total number of eggs.  
i For grade B, the minimu m number of grade B shall be  85 %. Grade C can be included but not more 
than 15 % of the total number of eggs.  
ii For grade B, only the eggs conforming to the requirement for eggs of grade B are allowed.  
 b) Size tolerances  
Eggs of all sizes may include the immedi ate smaller size not  more than 3.4 % of the total number of eggs.  
 c) Eggs of all grades and sizes shall be free from check except for the one caused by transportation but 
shall not be more than 5 % of the total number of eggs.  
5 Contaminants  
Edible  chicken ’s egg in shell s hall comply with the requirements on maximum limits  of contaminants  as 
prescribed in the contaminants and toxins in food and feed as established in Codex Stan 193  
6.0 Pesticides and veterinary drugs residues  
6.1 Veterinary drug re sidues  
Edible chicken eggs  in shell shall have maximum residue limits for veterinary drugs in accordance with 
CAC/MRL 2  
6.2 Pesticide residues  
Edible chicken eggs in shell shall have maxim um pesticide residues in accordance with the Codex 
Alimentarius pe sticide residues database  
7 Sampling  
Sampling of edible chicken egg in shell shall  be done according to CAC/GL 50  
8 Packaging, marking and labelling.  
8.1 Packaging  
Edible chicken eggs inshell shall be packaged in suitable food -grade containers that w ill avoid causing any 
external  or internal damage and contamination of the egg.  
8.1.2 Edible chicken egg shall be packed with their tapered ends facing down  
8.2 M arking and labelling  
8.2.1 The container shall be marked and labelled in accordance with EA S 38 In addition, each containe r of 
chicken eggs shall be legibly and indelibly marked with the following information:   
 a) Name and grade of the product;  
b) Date of production;   
c) Best before date  
d) Number  of eggs in a package or its net weight in g or kg;  
e) Name a nd ad dress of producer, importe r and distributor;  
f) Instruction for storage and transportation. The packages shall be labelled  as “fragile”; and  
g) production system  
h) Colour of the eggs  
i) country of origin  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
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 Bibliogra phy 
TZS 2183 T able eggs  – Specification