PUBLIC REVIEW DRAFT DRAFT UGANDA 
STANDAR D 
  DUS DARS  1250 
First  Edition  
2022 -mm-dd 
 
 Reference number  
DUS DARS 1250 : 2022  
 
© UNBS 2022  
   
Rabbit meat — Carcasses and cuts  
 
 PUBLIC REVIEW DRAFTDUS DARS  1250 : 2022  
ii                © UNBS  2022  - All rights reserved  
 Compliance with this standard does not, of itself confer immunity from legal obligations  
A Uganda Standard does not purport to include all necessary provisions of a contract. Users are 
responsib le for its correct application  
© UNBS 2022  
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, no part of this publication may be reproduced or utilised in any 
form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and microfilm, without prior  written 
permission from UNBS.  
Requests for permission to reproduce this document should be addressed to  
The Executive Director  
Uganda National Bureau of Standards  
P.O. Box 6329  
Kampala  
Uganda  
Tel: +256 41 7 333 2 50/1/2 
Fax: +256 41 286 123  
E-mail: info@unbs.go.ug  
Web: www.unbs.go.ug  
 
 
  PUBLIC REVIEW DRAFTDUS DARS  1250 : 2022  
© UNBS  2022  - All rights reserved                 iii National foreword  
Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) is a parastatal under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and 
Cooperatives established under Cap 327, of t he Laws of Uganda, as amended. UNBS is mandated to co -
ordinate the elaboration of standards and is  
(a) a member of International Organisati on for Standardisation (ISO);   
(b) a contact point for the WHO/FAO Codex Alimentarius Commission on Food Standard s; and  
(c) the National Enquiry Poin t on TBT Agreement of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).  
The work of preparing Uganda Standards is carried out through Technical Committees. A Technical 
Committee is established to deliberate on standards in a given field or area and consists of represent atives of 
consumers, traders, academicians, manufacturers, government and other stakeholders.  
Draft Uganda Standards adopted by the Technical Committee are widely circulated to stakeholders and the 
general public for comments. The committee reviews the com ments before recommending the draft standards 
for approval and declaration as Uganda Standards by the National Standards Council.  
This Draft Uganda Standard , DUS DARS 1250:2022 , Rabbit meat — Carcasses and cuts , is identical with and 
is being reproduced from an African  Standard , DARS 1250:2022 , Rabbit meat — Carcasses and cuts , and is 
proposed for adoption as a Uganda Standard.  
The committee responsible for this document is Technical Committee UNBS/ TC 213, Live animals, meat and 
meat products . 
Wherever the words, “African  Standard " appear, they shou ld be replaced by "Uganda Standard ". 
  
 
   AFRICAN 
STANDARD  DARS  
1250  
First Edition 2022  
 
 Reference No. DARS 12 50:2022  
ICS 67.120.30  
 
 
© ARSO 2022  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Rabbit meat  (carcass and cuts)  — Specification  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 DARS 1250: 2022 
© ARSO 2022 — All rights reserved  ii  
Table of contents  
 
 
1 Scope  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ..............  1 
2 Normative references  ................................ ................................ ................................ ......................  1 
3 Terms and definitions  ................................ ................................ ................................ ......................  2 
4 Categories of rabbit carcass  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........  2 
5 Requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .. 2 
5.1 General requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ .............  2 
5.2 Carcass and cuts shall be:  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...... 2 
6 Contaminants  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .. 3 
6.1 Heavy metals ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........................  3 
6.2 Veterinary drug residues  ................................ ................................ ................................ .........  3 
6.3 Pesticide residues  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...................  3 
7 Hygiene requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ .....................  3 
8 Packaging  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ........  4 
8.2 Vacuum -packed cuts  shall be delivered intact.  ................................ ................................ ....... 4 
9 Transportation  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ . 4 
10 Labelling  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...... 4 
11 Sampling  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ..... 4 
Annex A  ................................ ................................ ................................ ... Error! Bookmark not defined.  
(Informative Appendix)  ................................ ................................ ............  Error! Bookmark not defined.  
Rabbit meat — Carcases and cuts  ................................ .........................  Error! Bookmark not defined.  
Bibliography  ................................ ................................ ............................  Error! Bookmark not defined.  
 
 
  DARS 1250: 2022 
© ARSO 2022 — All rights reserved  iii  
Foreword  
 
The African Organization for Standardization (ARSO) is an African intergovernmental organization 
established by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and the Organization of 
African Unity (AU) in 1977. One of the fundamental mandates of  ARSO is to develop and harmonize 
African Standards (ARS) for the purpose of enhancing Africa’s internal trading capacity, increase 
Africa’s product and service competitiveness globally and uplift the welfare of African communities. The 
work of preparing A frican Standards is normally carried out through ARSO technical committees. Each 
Member State interested in a subject for which a technical committee has been established has the 
right to be represented on that committee. International organizations, Regio nal Economic Communities 
(RECs), governmental and non -governmental organizations, in liaison with ARSO, also take part in the 
work.  
 
ARSO Standards are drafted in accordance with the rules given in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2.  
 
The main task of technical committees is to prepare ARSO Standards. Draft ARSO Standards adopted 
by the technical committees are circulated to the member bodies for voting. Publication as an ARSO 
Standard requires approval by at least 75 % of the member bodies casting a vo te. 
 
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of 
patent rights. ARSO shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.  
 
This African Standard was prepared by ARSO/TC 07, Meat, poultry, eggs and related products . 
 
 
© African Organisation for Standardisation 202 2 — All rights reserved* 
 
ARSO Central Secretariat  
International House 3rd Floor  
P. O. Box 57363 — 00200 City Square  
NAIROBI, KENYA  
 
Tel. +254 -20-2224561, +254 -20-3311641, +254 -20-3311608  
 
E-mail: arso@arso -oran.org  
Web: www.arso -oran.org  
  
                                                 
* © 2022 ARSO — All rights of exploitation reserved worldwide for African Member States’ NSBs.  DARS 1250: 2022 
© ARSO 2022 — All rights reserved  iv  
Copyright notice  
 
This ARSO document is copyright -protected by ARSO. While the reproduction of this document 
by participants in the ARSO standards development process is permitted without prior permission 
from ARSO, neither this document nor any extract from it may be reproduced, stored or 
trans mitted in any form for any other purpose without prior written permission from ARSO.  
 
Requests for permission to reproduce this document for the purpose of selling it should be 
addressed as shown below or to ARSO’s member body in the country of the request er: 
 
 
© African Organisation for Standardisation 202 2 — All rights reserved  
 
ARSO Central Secretariat  
International House 3rd Floor  
P.O. Box 57363 — 00200 City Square  
NAIROBI, KENYA  
 
Tel: +254 -20-2224561, +254 -20-3311641, +254 -20-3311608  
 
E-mail: arso@arso -oran.org  
Web: www.arso -oran.org  
 
Reproduction for sales purposes may be subject to royalty payments or a licensing agreement. 
Violators  may be prosecuted.  
 
 
 
  DARS 1250: 2022 
© ARSO 2022 — All rights reserved  v  DARS 1250: 2022 
© ARSO 2022 — All rights reserved  1  
Rabbit meat (carcass and cuts) — Specification  
 
1 Scope  
 
This African  Draft Standard specifies the quality and safety requirements, sampling and referenced test 
methods for rabbit meat (carcass and cuts) intended for human consumption.  
 
2 Normative references  
 
The following 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 references, only the edition cited applies. For 
undated references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.  
 
AOAC 97 1.21, Mercury in food. Flameless atomic absorption Spectrophotometry method  
 
AOAC 999.10, Lead, Cadmium, Zinc, Copper, and Iron in Foods. Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry 
after Microwave Digestion  
 
CAC/GL 50, General guidelines on sampling  
 
CAC/RCP 58, Code of hygienic practice for meat  
 
CODEX STAN 192, General standard for food additives  
 
CX/MRL 2, Maximum residue limits for veterinary drugs in food ARS 56 ; Labelling of pre -packaged 
foods — Specification  
 
ARS 53 , Hygiene in the food and drink manufactur ing industry — Code of practice  
 
ISO 4833 -1, Microbiology of the food chain — Horizontal method for the enumeration of microorganisms 
— Part 1: Colony count at 30 degrees C by the pour plate technique  
 
ISO 5961, Water quality — Determination of cadmium by atomic absorption spectrometry  
 
ISO 6579, Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal method for the detection of 
Salmonella spp.  
 
ISO 6888 -1, Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal method for the enumeration 
of coagula se-positive staphylococci (Staphylococcus aureus and other species) — Part 1: Technique 
using Baird -Parker agar medium  
 
ISO 7937, Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal method for the enumeration of 
Clostridium perfringens — Colony cou nt technique  
 
ISO 10272 -1, Microbiology of the food chain — Horizontal method for detection and enumeration of 
Campylobacter spp. — Part 1: Detection method  
 
ISO 11290 -1, Microbiology of the food chain — Horizontal method for the detection and enumeration 
of Listeria monocytogenes and of Listeria spp. — Part 1: Detection method  
 
ISO 13720, Meat and meat products — Enumeration of presumptive Pseudomonas spp.  
 
ISO 16654, Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal method for the detection of 
Escherichia coli O157  
 
ISO 16649 -1, Microbiology of the food chain — Horizontal method for the enumeration of beta -
glucuronidase -positive Escherichia coli — Part 1: Colony -count technique at 44 degrees C using 
membranes and 5 -bromo -4-chloro -3-indolyl beta -D-glucuronide  
AFRICAN STANDARD  DARS 1250: 2022 
© ARSO 2022 — All rights reserved  2  
ISO 17294 -2, Water quality — Application of inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP -MS) 
— Part 2: Determination of 62 elements  
 
ISO 17604, Microbiology of the food chain — Carcass sampling for microbiological analysis  
 
3 Terms and d efinitions  
 
For the purposes of this standard , the following terms and definitions shall apply.  
 
3.1  
meat  
all parts of an animal that are intended for, and have been judged as safe and fit for human consumption  
 
3.2 
rabbit meat  
all parts of a rabbit that are intended for, or have been judged as safe and fit for human consumption  
 
3.3 
boning  
removal of meat from bones of a carcass or a portion of carcass  
 
4 Categories of rabbit carcass  
 
Rabbit carcass shall be categorized according to rabbit ages as given in Table 1.  
 
Table 1 — Categories of rabbit carcass  
 
S/No.  Category  Description  
 Very young rabbit  Weaned rabbits four to five weeks  
 Young rabbit  Less than 12 weeks of age  
 Young mature rabbit  12 weeks to 6 months of age  
 Mature rabbit  More than 6 months of age  
 Open doe  More than 6 months of age, unfertilized mature 
rabbit  
 Others  Can be used to describe any other category of rabbit  
 
5 Requirements  
 
5.1 General requirements  
 
Rabbits shall be slaughtered in a hygienically managed slaughterhouse in accordance with CAC/RCP 
58. The slaughtering process shall be supervised by a competent authority and shall be prepared in 
licensed premises.  
 
5.2 Carcass and cuts shall be:  
 
a) intact, taking i nto account the presentation;  
b) free from visible blood clots or bone dust;  
c) free from any visible foreign matter (e.g. dirt, wood, plastic, metal particles);  
d) free of offensive odours;  
e) free of visible bloodstains;  
f) free of unspecified protruding or broken bone s; 
g) free of bruises;  
h) free of freezer -burn;  
i) free of spinal cord (except for whole unsplit carcasses); and  
j) free from fur.  
 DARS 1250: 2022 
© ARSO 2022 — All rights reserved  3 5.3 Rabbit carcass shall be properly dressed, washed, butchered, trimmed, weighed, marked and 
may be presented in accordance with  CAC/RC P 58 
 
5.4 Cutting, trimming and boning of cuts shall be accomplished with sufficient care to maintain cut 
integrity and identity and to avoid scores in the lean. Ragged edges shall be removed close to the lean 
surfaces. Except for cuts that are separated t hrough natural seams, all cross -sectional surfaces shall 
form approximate right angles with the skin surface. Minimal amounts of lean, fat, or bone may be 
included on a cut from an adjacent cut. For boneless cuts, all bones, cartilage, and visible surface lymph 
glands shall be removed.  
 
6 Contaminants  
 
6.1 Heavy metals  
 
Rabbit meat shall comply with maximum limits for heavy metals as given in Table 2, when tested in 
accordance with the test methods specified therein.  
 
Table 2 — Maximum limits for heavy metals in rabbit meat  
 
S/No.  Heavy metal  Maximum limit  
mg/kg  Test method  
 
Arsenic (As)  0.1 ISO 17294 -2  
Lead (Pb)  0.1 AOAC 999.10   
Cadmium (Cd)  0.05 ISO 5961   
Mercury (Hg)  0.03 AOAC 971.21  
 
6.2 Veterinary drug residues  
Rabbit meat shall comply with the maximum residue limits specified in CX/MRL 2.  
 
6.3 Pesticide residues  
Rabbit meat shall comply with the maximum residue limits for pesticides as established by the Codex 
Alimentarius online database.  
 
7 Hygiene requirements  
 
7.1 Rabbit carcass and cuts shall be produced and handled in accordance with CAC/RCP 58 and 
ARS 53 . 
 
7.2 Rabbit carcass and cuts shall comply with the microbiological limits given in Table 3, when 
tested in accordance with the test methods s pecified therein.  
 
Table 3 — Microbiological limits for rabbit carcass and cuts  
 
S/No.  Sampling 
plan 
C           N     Microorganism  Limit  
M                 m  Test method  
 2            5  Total plate count, cfu/g,  106           105 ISO 4833 -1  
 2            5 Staphylococcus aureas, cfu/g,  103         102 ISO 6888 -1  
 3            5  Escherichia Coli           cfu/g  102         10 ISO 16649 -2 
 3            5  Escherichia Coli, 0157:H7 per 25 g  Nil ISO 16654  
 0            5  Salmonella spp., per 25 g  Nil ISO 6579 -1  
     
 2            5  Campylobacter, per 25 g,  102         10 ISO 10272 -1 
 2            5  Pseudomonas aeruginosa, cfu/g,  102         10 ISO 13720  
 2            5  Enterobacteria  104          103 ISO 21528 -1  
ISO 21528 -2 
 
 DARS 1250: 2022 
© ARSO 2022 — All rights reserved  4 Where C = No. of  sample units give results between M & m.  
             N = No. of the whole sample units.  
            M = microbiological limit that it is not permitted to be in any of sample units.   
             m = acceptable microbiology limits to be fulfilled in samp les.  
 
8 Packaging  
 
8.1 Packaging of fresh, chilled and frozen rabbit meat shall be done in food grade packaging 
material that protects the meat product from any physical, microbiological, chemical or any other type 
of contamination during storage, distrib ution and handling.  
 
8.2 Vacuum -packed cuts shall be delivered intact.  
 
9 Transportation  
 
9.1 Transportation of rabbit carcass and cuts shall be in accordance with the relevant regulations 
of the Partner States.  
 
9.2 Chilled rabbit meat shall be handled and transported at temperature between 1 ˚C and 4 ˚C.  
 
9.3 Frozen rabbit meat shall be transported below -18˚C and the packages shall be handled with 
care to preserve quality and safety of the product.  
 
10 Labelling  
 
10.1 Each carcass inspected and passed as fit for human consumption shall bear an approval mark 
on a label attached to the package.  
 
10.2 In addition to the requirements given in  ARS 56 , the following labelling requirements shall apply 
and shall be legibly and indelibly labelled.  
 
a) name of the product as “Rabbit meat”;  
b) name of the cut as appropriate;  
c) rabbit carcass and cuts grades;  
d) manufacturer’s name and physical address  net weight in metric unit;  
e) declaration of preservatives used;  
f) date of packaging;  
g) expiry  date;  
h) batch number;  
i) storage conditions;  
j) country of origin;  
k) date of production; and  
l) inspection stamp.  
 
11 Sampling  
Sampling shall be done in accordance with CAC/GL 50 for general sampling  
 
  DARS 1250: 2022 
© ARSO 2022 — All rights reserved  5   DARS 1250: 2022 
© ARSO 2022 — All rights reserved  6  
 
 
 
 
  
© ARSO 2022 — All rights reserved