DEAS 66-1: 2023 
ICS 67.080.20 
 
© EAC 2023                                                                                                                              Third  Edition 2023 
 DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  
Tomato products — Specification — Part 1: Canned tomato  
EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY  DEAS 66 -1: 2023  
ii © EAC  2023 – All rights reserved  
 Copyright notice  
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© EAC 2023 – All rights reserved  iii 
 Contents  Page 
Foreword  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................  iv 
1 Scope  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ......................  1 
2 Normative references  ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................  1 
3 Terms and definitions  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........................  1 
4 Styles  and types of pack  ................................ ................................ ................................ ......................  2 
5 Requirem ents ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .........  3 
5.1 General requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........................  3 
5.1.1  Colour  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .....................  3 
5.1.2  Flavour  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ....................  3 
5.1.3  Wholeness  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ..............  3 
5.1.4  Defects  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ....................  3 
5.2 Requirements of the packa ging media  ................................ ................................ ...............................  3 
5.3 Food additives  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ....... 3 
6 Contaminants  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .........  3 
6.1 Pesticide  residues  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ . 3 
6.2 Heavy metal contaminants  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...................  3 
7 Hygiene  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...................  4 
8 Drained  weight  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ....... 4 
9 Packaging  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...............  4 
10 Labelling  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .................  4 
Bibliography  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ........................  6 
 
. DEAS 66 -1: 2023  
iv © EAC  2023 – All rights reserved  
 Foreword  
Development of the East African Standards has been necessitated by the need for harmonizing requirements 
governing quality of products and services in the E ast African Community. It is envisaged that through 
harmonized sta ndardization, 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 Committ ee (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  Technica l Committees that are representative of key 
stakeholders including government, academia, consumer groups, private sector and other interested parties. 
Draft East African Standards are circul ated to stakeholders through the National Standards Bodies in the 
Partner States. The comments received are discussed and incorporated before finalization of standards, in 
accordance with the Principles and procedures for development of East African Standa rds.  
East African Standards are subject to review, to keep  pace w ith 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 025, Processed fruits, 
vegetables and tubers . 
This third edition cancels and replaces the second  edition (US 66-1:2017 ), which has been techni cally revised.  
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this doc ument m ay be subject of patent 
rights. EAC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.  
 
 DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  DEAS 66-1: 2023 
 
© EAC 2023 – All rights reserved  1 
 Tomato products — Specification — Part 1: Canned tomato  
1 Scope   
This Draft East Africa Standard specifies the requirements, sampling  and te st methods for canned tomatoe s 
Solanum lycopersicum L. for human consumption.  
2 Normative references   
The f ollowing documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their content constitutes 
requirements of this document.  For dated r eferences, only the edition cited applies. For undated references, 
the latest edition of the referenced doc ument (including any amendments) applies.  
AOAC 968.30, Canned vegetables — Drained weight procedure  
CODEX STAN 192, General standard for food additiv es 
EAS 38, Labelling of pre -packaged foods — Specification  
EAS 39, Hygiene in the food and drink manufacturing industry — Code of practice  
ISO 4833 ( All parts), Microbiology of the food chain — Horizontal methods for the enumeration of 
microorganism s 
6579 -1, Microbiology of the food chain — Horizontal method for the detection, enumeration and serotyping of 
Salmonella — Part 1: Detection of Salmonella spp  
ISO 6633, Fruits, vegetables and derived products — Determination of lead content — Flameless ato mic 
absorption spectrometric method  
ISO 16649 -2, Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal method for the enumeration of 
beta-glucuronidase -positive Escherichia coli — Part 2: Colony -count technique at 44 degrees C using 5 -
bromo -4-chloro -3-indol yl beta -D-glucuronide  
ISO 17240:2004 , Fruit and vegetable products — Determination of tin content — Method using flame atomic 
absorption spectrometry  
ISO 21527 -1, Microbiology of food and animal feedingstuffs — Horizontal methods for the enumeration  of 
yeasts and moulds  
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:  
— ISO Online browsing platform : avail able at http://www.iso.org/obp  DEAS 66 -1: 2023  
2 © EAC  2023 – All rights reserved  
 3.1 
canned  tomato  
product prepared from clean, ripe and sound tomato conforming to the characteristics of the tomato variety  
used and  which  are physically p reserved  by heat. 
3.2 
whole tomato  
tomato  of any size in which  the contour  is not materially  altered  by coring  and trimming  and shall not 
be cracked or  split to the  extent  of having  material  loss of placenta  
3.3 
objectionable  core  material  
internal  core material of  tough  and fibrous te xture  
3.4 
extraneous  plant  materials  
tomato  leaves,  stems, calyx bracts and  similar plant  material  
3.5 
peeled  tomato  
tomato  in which the  skin has been  removed   
3.6 
unpeeled  tomato  
tomato in which the skin is intact  
3.7 
drained weight   
weight of the solid p ortion of the product with the liquid drained after thermal processing.  
4 Styles and types of pack  
4.1 Canned tomato shall be in any of the following forms, with or without skin:  
a) whole;  
b) whole and pieces; and  
c) pieces:  
i) diced, tomato cut into cubes;  
ii) sliced, to mato cut perpendicularly to the longitudinal axi s in rounds with regular thickness;  
iii) wedges, tomato cut into roughly four equal parts; and  
iv) pulped, crushed or chopped, tomato crushed, ground or pulped when appropriate.  
4.2 Canned tomato shall be packe d in an y of the following forms:  
a) regular pack with a liquid medium added; and  
b) solid pack without any added liquid medium.  
 
 DEAS 66 -1: 2023  
© EAC 2023 – All rights reserved  3 
 5 Requirements  
5.1 General requirements  
5.1.1  Colour  
Canned tomato shall have a characte ristic colour of the tomato variety that hav e been properly prepared and 
processed. No artificial colouring matter shall be added to the product.  
5.1.2  Flavour  
Canned tomato shall have a normal flavour and shall be free from flavour foreign to the pro duct. Canned 
tomato with special added ingredient s shall  have a flavour characteristic of that imparted by the tomatoes and 
the other substances used.  
5.1.3  Wholeness  
Canned tomato of 'whole' style shall consist of not less than 65 % m/m of drained tomat o in whole units.  
5.1.4  Defects  
Canned tomato shall  be fre e from extraneous matter, objectionable core material, peels, dark specks or any 
other inedible plant material.  
5.2 Requirements of the packaging media  
5.2.1  Canned tomato may be packed in the following packing media : 
a) juice — unconcentrated, undilut ed liqu id from ripe sound tomato;  
b) residual material — liquid strained form the residue from preparing tomato for canning;  
c) puree or pulp — unconcentrated tomato juice; and  
d) paste — highly concentrated tomato juice.  
5.2.2 The packing media shall have a pH of  4.5 or  lower.  
5.3 Food additives  
Food additives when used shall comply with CODEX STAN 192.  
6 Contaminants  
6.1 Pesticide residues  
The products shall conform to those maximum residue limits established by the Co dex Committee on 
Pesticide Residues for this commodi ty. 
6.2 Heavy metal contaminants  
The product shall not exceed the limits for heavy metals indicated in Table 1 when tested in accordance with 
the test methods prescribed therein.  DEAS 66 -1: 2023  
4 © EAC  2023 – All rights reserved  
 Table  1 — Limits  for heavy metal contaminants  in canned  tomato  
S/N Heavy  metal Maximum  limits  
mg/kg  Test method  
i)  Tin (Sn) 250 ISO 17240  
ii)  Lead  (Pb) 0.05 ISO 6633  
7 Hygiene  
7.1 Canned tomato shall be prepared under hygienic conditions in accordance with EAS 39.  
7.2 Canned tomato shall be free form pathogenic organisms an d shall comply with the microbiological limits 
indicated in Table 2.  
Table 2 — Microbiological limits fo r canned tomato  
S/N Type  of micro -organism  Maximum  limit Test method  
i)  Total  viable  counts,  cfu/g  10 ISO 4833  (all parts)  
ii)  Yeast  and moulds  cfu/g  Shall be abse nt ISO 21527 -1 
iii)  Escherichia  coli cfu/g Shall be  absent  ISO 16649 -2 
iv)  Salmonella  sp. per 25  g Shall be  absent  6579 -1 
 
8 Drained weight  
Drained weight of the contents shall be not less than 50 % of the net weight of the container and shall be 
deter mined in  accordance with AOAC 968.30.  
9 Packaging  
9.1 Canned tomato shall be packed in a food grade acid resistant lacquering material that  shall not affect 
the quality of the product.  
9.2 The interior of the can shall not show any black discolouration, r usting o r pitting.  
10 Labelling  
In addition to the requirements of EAS 38, the following specific labelling requirements shall be legibly  and 
indelibly labelled  on each container:  
a) name of product including the type shall be ―  Canned tomato ; and if the pee l has no t been removed, 
the word "Unpeeled" or if the peel has been removed, the word "Peeled", shall precede the name of 
the product ; 
b) style according to Clause 4;  
c) name, and physical address of manufacturer/importer/distributor;  DEAS 66 -1: 2023  
© EAC 2023 – All rights reserved  5 
 d) country of origin;  
e) date of  manufact ure and expiry date;  
f) list of ingredients;  
g) net content in grams;  
h) drain weight in grams ; 
i) storage instructions ; 
j) batch number in code or in clear; and  
k) instructions on use.  
 
 DEAS 66 -1: 2023  
6 © EAC  2023 – All rights reserved  
 Bibliography  
CODEX STAN 13 -1981, Codex standard for preserved tomatoes  
 
. DEAS nnnn-n: 2023   
 
© EAC 2023 – All rights reserved