DEAS 1003 : 2019  
ICS 67.200.10  
 
© EAC 2019                                                                                                                            First Edition 2019 
 FINAL DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  
Cashew butter — Specification  
EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY  DEAS 1003: 2019  
ii © EAC 2019  – All rights reserved  
 Copyright notice  
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 DEAS 1003: 2019  
© EAC 2019  – All rights reserved  iii 
 Foreword  
Development of the East African Standards has been n ecessitated 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 exchange d 
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 P artner 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, academi a, 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 finalizati on 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 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.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 FINAL DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  DEAS 1003: 2019  
 
© EAC 2019 – All rights reserved  1 
 Cashew butter — Specification  
1 Scope   
This Draft East African Standard specifies requirements and methods of sampling and test for cashew butter 
derived from kernels of cashew tree ( Anacardium occidentale, L) intended  for human consumption’  
2 Normative references  check  
The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all o f 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 . 
ISO 1738, Butter  ― Determination of s alt content  
DEAS 1001: 2019,  Cashew kernels — Specification  
DEAS 100 2: 2019 , Roasted 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 dr ink manufacturing industry — Code of practice  
ISO 660,  Animal and vegetable fats and oils — Determination of acid value and acidity  
ISO 662 , Animal and vegetable fats and oils — Determination of moisture and volatile matter content  
ISO 6884,  Animal and veg etable fats and oils — Determination of ash  
ISO 5555, Animal and vegetable fats and oils — Sampling  
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   
ISO 16654,  Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal method for the detection of 
Escherichia coli O157  
3 Terms and definitions   
For the purposes of this document, the following  terms and definition s apply . 
ISO and IEC maintain terminological databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:  
— ISO Online browsing platform: available at http://www.iso.org/obp  DEAS 1003: 2019  
2 © EAC 2019  – All rights reserved  
 3.1  
cashew butter  
Cohesive, comminuted  spread product prepared by grinding sound roasted/unroasted mature cashew kernels  
3.2 
stabilized cashew butter  
cashew butter to which any suitable food ingredient(s) has been added to reduce oil -meal separation  
4 Requirements  
4.1 Ingredients  
4.1.1 Essen tial ingredients  
The cashew butter shall comprise at least 90 % of cashew kernels complying with DEAS 1002: 2019  
4.1.2 Optional ingredients  
In addition to the essential ingredients, the following optional ingredients may be added at levels of good 
manufac turing practice unless otherwise specified : 
a) edible salt ( sodium chloride) complying with EAS 35;  
b) sugars complying with relevant EAC standards ; 
c) honey  complying with EAS  
d) Edible oils  and fats  complying with relevant EAC standards  
4.2 General requirements  
Cashew butter shall:  
a) be free from testa  and shells;  
b) be free from any foreign matter;  
c) have colour characteristic of the type of cashew kernels used;  
d)  have an aroma and flavour typical of the type of cashew kernels used;  
e) spread easily;  
f) have no noticeable oil separation in the stabili zed type. 
4.3 Specific requirements  
Cashew butter shall comply with th e requirements given in Table 1 when tested in accordance with the 
methods specified therein.  
Table 1  ― Specific r equirements for cashew butter  
S/N Characteristic  Requirements  Test method  
1  Salta as NaC l, %, (m/m), max.  2 ISO 1738  DEAS 1003: 2019  
© EAC 2019  – All rights reserved  3 
 2 Moisture and volatile matter, % , m/m, max  3 ISO 662  
4  free fatty acids  as oleic acid % m/m , max  2 ISO 729  
5 Acid ins oluble  ash %, (m/m), max.  1  
a only applies to salted cashew butter  
5 Hygiene  
5.1 Cashew butter shall be produced, processed, handled and stored in accordance with EAS 39.  
5.2 Cashew butter  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 cashew butter  
S/N Microorganism  Maximum limit  Methods of test  
i.  E. coli MPN/g  Shall be absent  ISO  16654  
ii.  Salmonella , 25g  absent  ISO 6579 -1 
iii.  Staphylococcus Aureus  absent  ISO 6888  
6 Contaminants  
6.1 Pesticide residu es 
Cashew butter 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 not exceed 5 μg/kg when tested in 
accord ance with ISO 16050 . 
7 Food additives  
Food additives used in cashew butter shall comply with CODEX STAN 192.  
8 Weights and measures  
Cashew butter shall be packaged in accordance with the weights 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  
Cashew butter shall be packaged in containers made from food grade packaging mater ial and sealed in a 
manner that will safeguard the hygienic, nutritional and organoleptic properties of the product .  DEAS 1003: 2019  
4 © EAC 2019  – All rights reserved  
 10 Labelling  
In addition to the requirements of EAS 38 , the following information shall be legibly and indelibly labelled : 
a) Roasted cas hew kernel butter' (if no stabilizer has been added) ; 
b) Roasted cashew  kernel  butter stabilized' (if stabilizer/emulsifier has been added) ; 
c) Unroasted cashew kernel butter' (if no stabilizer has been added) ; and  
d) Unroasted cashew  kernel  butter stabilized' (if stabilizer/emulsifier has been added).  
11 Nutrition and health claims  
Cashew butter 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 don e in accordance with ISO 5555.  
 
 DEAS 1003: 2019    
 
© EAC 2019  – All rights reserved  
  
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