DRAFT  UGANDA STANDARD  
  DUS 1598  
Second  Edition  
2021 -07-29 
 
 
 Reference number  
DUS 1598 : 2021 
© UNBS 2021   
  
 
Alcoholic beverages —Ready to Drink (RTD) — Specification  DUS 1598 : 2021  
ii © UNBS 2021  – 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 
responsibl e for its correct application  
© UNBS 2021   
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 4 333 2 50/1/2/3  
Fax: +256 41 4 286 123  
E-mail: info@unbs.go.ug  
Web: www.unbs.go.ug  DUS 2021 :2021  
© UNBS 2021  – All rights reserved  iii 
 Contents  Page 
Foreword  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................  iv 
1 Scope  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ......................  1 
2 Normative references  ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................  1 
3 Terms and definitions  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........................  2 
4 Requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...................  2 
4.1 Ingredients  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ....................  2 
4.1.1  Essential ingredients  ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................  2 
4.1.2  Optional ingredients  ................................ ................................ ................................ ..............................  2 
4.2 General requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........................  2 
4.2.1 Freedom from harmful ingr edients  ................................ ................................ ................................ ..........  2 
4.2.2 Taste and aroma  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ........  2 
4. 3 Specific quality requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ ..............  3 
5  Contaminants and toxins  ................................ ................................ ................................ .....................  3 
6 Pesticide residues  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ . 3 
7 Microbiological limits  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...... 3 
8 Hygiene  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .............................  4 
9 Food additives  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ....... 4 
10.  Weights and measures  ................................ ................................ ................................ .........................  4 
10 Packaging and labelling ................................ ................................ ................................ ........................  4 
10.1 Packaging  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ....................  4 
10.2 Labelling  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ......................  4 
11 Sampling and methods of test  ................................ ................................ ................................ .............  4 
 DUS 1598 : 2021  
iv © UNBS 2021  – All rights reserved  
 Foreword  
Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) is a parastatal under the Ministry of Trade , Industry and 
Cooperatives established under Cap 327 , of the Laws of Uganda , as amended .  UNBS is mandated to co -
ordinate the elaboration of standards and is  
(a) a member of International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) and  
(b) a contact point for the WHO/FAO Codex Alimentarius Commission on Food Standards, and  
(c) the National Enquiry Point on T BT 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 key stakeholder s 
including government, academia, consumer groups, private sector and other interested parties.  
Draft Uganda Standards adopted by the Technical Committee are widely circulated to stakeholders and the 
general public for comments. The committee reviews the comments before recommending the draft standards 
for approval and declaration as Uganda Standards by the National Standards Council.  
The committee responsible for this document is Technical Committee UNBS /TC 209, [Alcoholic beverages ] 
This second  edition c ancels and replaces the first edition ( US 1598 :2015 ), which has  been technically revised.  DUS 2021 :2021  
© UNBS 2021  – All rights reserved  v 
 Introduction  
Alcoholic Ready to drink beverages (RTDs) are primarily spirit based, malt based or wine based alcoholic 
drink. RTDs by nature are sweet flavoured alco holic beverages. These drinks are served in premixed form 
and are ready for consumption at any time.  DRAFT UGANDA STANDARD  DUS 1598 : 2021  
 
© UNBS 2021  – All rights reserved  1 
 Alcoholic beverages —Ready to Drink (RTD) — Specification  
1 Scope   
This Draft Uganda Standard specifies the requirements, sampling and test meth ods for Ready to Drink 
alcoholic beverages (RTD).  
This standard does not apply to the following categories of products for which other standards apply: Spirits, 
Wines, Liqueurs, Beers, Malt beverages, Cider and Perry, Mead, Distilled spirituous beverages  
2 Normative references   
The following referenced documents 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.  
CAC/GL 66, Guidelines for use of flavourings  
CAC/MRL 2 , Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs) and Risk Management Recommendations ( RMRs ) for residues 
of veterinary drugs in foods  
ISO 483 2, Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs - Horizontal method for the enumeration of coliforms 
- Colony -count technique  
ISO 4833 -1, Microbiology of the food chain - Horizontal method for the enumeration of microorganisms - Part 
1: Colony count at 3 0 C by the pour plate technique  
US 216 -1, Carbondioxide for use in the manufacture of beverages – part 1: Specifications  
US 217 -1/EAS 217 -1, Methods for the microbiological examination of foods — Part 1: General procedures 
and techniques  
US 28 , Code of pr actice for hygiene in the food and drink manufacturing industry  
US 45, General Standard for food additives  
US 738, General standard for contaminants and toxins in food and feed  
US 1659 , Materials  in contact with food - Requirements for packaging materials  
US EAS 104, Alcoholic beverages — Methods of sampling and test  
US EAS 109, Potable spirit – Specification  
US EAS 12, Potable water — Specification  
US EAS 144, Neutral spirit – Specification  
US EAS 38, Labelling of pre -packaged foods — General requirements   
2 © UNBS 2021  – All rights reserved  
 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 Onli ne browsing platform: available at http://www.iso.org/obp  
3.1  
ready to drink alcoholic beverages  
low strength carbonated  or non-carbonated  and pasteurized or sterile filtered and aseptically packaged  
alcoholic beverages derived from blending of neutral spirits and other spiritous/alcohol bas es with  permitted 
food additives  
3.2  
food grade material  
packaging material, made of substances which are safe and suitable for their intended use and which will not 
impart any toxic substance or undesirable odour or flavour to the product  
4 Requirements  
4.1 Ingredients  
4.1.1  Essential ingredients  
The following ingredients shal l be used for the production of ready to drink alcoholic beverages shall include 
the following:  
a) water conforming to US EAS 12  
b) extract b ase that can include Sugar, Malt/ cereal extract, Fruit Juice extract  conforming to applicable 
standards  
c) neutral spirit conforming to US EAS 144 or potable spirit conforming to US EAS 109 or other alcoholic 
beverage bases  conforming to applicable standards  
4.1.2  Optional ingredients  
These may include;  
d) flavouring agents, if used, in accordance with CAC/GL 66  
e) carbon dioxide if used in accordance with US 216 -1 
4.2 General requirements  
4.2.1 Freedom from harmful ingredients  
The product shall be free from sediments o r suspended foreign matter except for the components 
incorporated in colloidal suspension and roughage from fruit/juice.  
4.2.2 Taste and aroma  
The product shall possess the characteristics taste and aroma associated with respective base spirit. To 
enhance the characteristic flavor of the product, permitted flavors may be used.  DUS 1598 : 2021  
© UNBS 2021  – All rights reserved  3 
 4. 3 Specific quality re quirements  
Ready To Drink alcoholic beverages shall comply with the compositional requirements specified in Table 1 
when tested in accordance with US EAS 104.  
Table 1 ― Quality requirements for Ready to Drink alcoholic beverages  
S/No Characteristic  Requirement  
i pH  2.7 – 4.5 
ii Total acidity, g/L, as citric  2.00 – 7.00 
iii Volatile acidity, g/L, max.  0.5 
iv Ethyl alcohol content, %, v/v  3.00 – 8.00 
v Carbon dioxide, %, v/v max.  3 
vi Sugar, g/L max  200 
vii Methyl alcohol, mg/L max 30 
 
5  Contaminants and toxins  
5.1 Ready to Drink alcoholic beverage shall co nform to the relevant provisions of US 738 . 
5.2 The maximum limits for heavy metal contaminants in Ready to Drink alcoholic beverage shall comply 
with the requirements in Table 2 when tested in accordance with US EAS 104.  
Table 2 ― Contaminants limits for Ready to Drink alcoholic beverage  
S/No  Contaminant  Maximum limit, mg/L  
i Copper (as Cu)  2 
ii Lead (as Pb)  0.1 
iii Arsenic, (as As)  0.1 
iv Zinc (as Zn).  5 
6 Pesticide residues  
Ready to Drink alcoholic beverage shall co nform to  the maximum residue limits specified in CAC/MRL 2  
7 Microbiological limits  
The maximum limits for microbiological contaminants in ready to drink alcoholic beverage shall comply with 
the requirements in T able 3 when tested in accordance with US 217 -1/EAS 217 -1. 
Table 3 ― Microbiological limits for ready to drink alcoholic drink  
S/No.  Organism  Limit  Test method  
i) Coliforms  Absent  ISO 4832 
ii) Total plate count, cfu/mL, max.  100 ISO 4833 -1 
  
4 © UNBS 2021  – All rights reserved  
 8 Hygiene  
Ready To Drink  alcoholic beverage shall be produced, processed, handled and stored in accordance with US 
28 EAS 39.  
9 Food additives  
Ready To  Drink alcoholic beverage  shall conform to the requirements of US 45.  
10.  Weights and measures  
The packages shall comply with the Weights and measures regulations of Uganda  
10 Packaging  
10.1 Ready  To Drink alcoholic beverage shal l be packaged in food grade containers, which protect the 
product from damage .  
10.2 The packaging materials used shall conform to the requirements given in US 1659.  
11 Labelling  
In addition to the requirements of US EAS 38, the following specific provisions apply:  
a) name of the product shall be “Ready to Drink Alcoholic Beverage” in close proximity to the brand name;  
b) name, physical location and address of manufacturer;  
c) ethyl alcohol content, percent by volume;  
d) list of ingredients in descending order of proportion by mass;  
e) net contents;  
f) date of manufacture;  
g) best  before date;  
h) batch identification number/code;  
i) country of origin;  
j) storage condition; and  
k) a statement “Not for sale to persons under 18 years”.  
12 Sampling and methods of test  
Sampling and testing shall be carried out in accordance with U S EAS 104.  DUS 1598 : 2021  
© UNBS 2021  – All rights reserved  5 
 Certification marking  
Products that conform to Uganda standards may be marked with Uganda National Bureau of Standards 
(UNBS) Certification Mark shown in the figure below.  
The use of the UNBS Certification Mark is governed by the Standards Act , and the Regulations made 
thereunder. This mark can be used only by those licensed under the certification mark scheme operated by 
the Uganda National Bureau of Standards and in conjunction with the relevant Uganda Standard. The 
presence of this mark on a  product or in relation to a product is an assurance that the goods comply with the 
requirements of that standard under a system of supervision, control and testing in accordance with the 
certification mark scheme of the Uganda National Bureau of Standards . UNBS marked products are 
continually checked by UNBS for conformity to that standard.  
Further particulars of the terms and conditions of licensing may be obtained from the Director, Uganda 
National Bureau of Standards.  
 
 DUS 1598 : 2021    
 
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