DEAS 1187 : 2023 
ICS 67.120.10 
 
© EAC 2023                                                                                                                              First Edition 2023 
 DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  
Edible offal — Specification  
 
 
 
 
 
 
EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY  DEAS 1187 : 2023 
ii © EAC  2023 – All rights reserved  
 Copyright notice  
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Violators may be prosecuted . DEAS 1187 : 2023 
© EAC 2023 – 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 General requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........................  2 
4.2 Requirements for routine inspection of edible offal of cattle, pig, goats, sheep, buffalo, 
deer, horses, pigs, ratites, camelids and poultry are given in table 1  ................................ .............  3 
5 Storage  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...................  4 
6 Hygiene requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........................  4 
6.2 Microbiological Requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ ....................  4 
7 Food additives  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ....... 5 
8 Contaminants  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .........  5 
8.1 Heavy metals  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ..........  5 
8.2 Pesticide residues  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ . 5 
8.3 Veterinary drug residues  ................................ ................................ ................................ ......................  5 
9 Packaging and Labelling  ................................ ................................ ................................ ......................  5 
9.1 Packaging  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...............  5 
9.2 Labelling  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .................  5 
11 Sampling  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ................  5 
Bibliography  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ........................  6 
 
 DEAS 1187 : 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 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 including 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 incorporated 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.  
This second/third/… edition cancels and replaces the first/second/… edition (US nnn-n:yyyy), which has been technically 
revised.  
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 1187 : 2023 
© EAC 2023 – All rights reserved  v 
 Introduction  
A paragraph.  
The introduction  is an optional preliminary element used, if required, to give specific information or 
commentary about the technical content of the document, and about the reasons prompting its preparation. It 
shall not contain requirements.  
The introduction shall not be numbered unless there is a need to create numbered subdivisions. In this case, it 
shall be numbered 0, with subclauses being numbered 0.1, 0.2, etc. Any numbered figure, table, displayed 
formula or footnote shall be numbered normally beginning with 1.  
 DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  DEAS 1187 : 2023 
 
© EAC 2023 – All rights reserved  1 
 Edible offal — Specification  
1 Scope   
This draft  East African Standard specifies the requirements, sampling and test methods for edible offal 
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.  
CAC/MRL 2 , Maximum Residue Limits for Veterinary Drugs in Food  
EAS 38,  Labelling of pre -packaged foods  
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-indolyl beta -D-glucuronide.  
ISO 6888 -1, Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal method for the enumeration of 
coagulase -positive staphylococci (Staphylococcus aureus and other species) — Part 1: Technique using 
Baird -Parker agar medium.  
ISO 6579 -1, Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal method for the detection of 
Salmonella spp.  
ISO 11290 – 1, Microbiology of the food chain - Horizontal method for the detection and enumeration of 
Listeria monocytogenes and other Listeria spp. -- Part 1: Detection method  
CAC/RCP 58 -2005, Codex code of hygienic practice for meat.  
ISO 17604 , Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs - carcass sampling  
ISO 16654 , Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs - Horizontal method for the detection of Escherichia 
coli 0157:H7  
CX/RCP 41 , Recommended International code for ante -mortem and post -mortem inspection of slaughter 
animals and for ante -mortem and post -mortem judgement of slaughter animals and meat    
ISO 4833 -1, Microbiology of the food chain — Horizontal method for the enumeration of microorganisms — 
Part 1: Colony count at 30 °C by the pour plate technique   
AOAC 972.25 , Lead in Food — Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometric Method  
EAS 955:  2020 , Production of packaged meat products - Hygienic requirements  
FDEAS 1138 :2023  Design and operation  of Slaughterhouse – requirements   
2 © EAC  2023 – All rights reserved  
 ISO 10272 -1, Microbiology of the food chain — Horizontal method for detection and enumeration of 
Campylobacter spp. — Part 1: Detection method  
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: available at http://www.iso.org/obp  
3.1  
meat  
all parts of slaughtered animal that are intended for and have been passed as fit for human consumption by 
the competent authority in the respective Partner State  
3.2  
Slaughterhouse  
establishment  licensed by competent authority for slaughter of animals and/or processing into meat products 
intended for human consumption   
3.3 
carcass  
body of any slaughtered animal after bleeding and dressing (meat act)  
3.4 
edible offal  
Internal organs of slaughtered animal that ha ve been passed as fit for human consumption. In the case of 
food animals other than poultry, these include red offal, green offal and whit e offal, In the case of poultry, 
these include giblets (the heart, gizzard and the liver without the gall bladder)  and intestine  
3.5  
red offal  
Internal organs including  heart, liver, kidney, spleen, tongue, lungs, pancr ease and  
3.6 
Green offal  
Internal organs including  the rumen, reticulum, omasum, abomasum, small intestines, large intestines, colon, 
and gizzards.  
3.7 
white offal  
Internal organs including  the brain, spine, bone marrow, testicles and teats   
4 Requirements  
4.1 General requirements  
All animals shall be slaughtered in a hygienically managed slaughterhouse  in accordance with FDEAS 1138.  
The slaughter  animal  and post mortem inspection of the offal shall be done by a competent authority.  
The edible offal shall be : 
4.1.1  Obtained from slaughtered  healthy animals   
4.1.2  Prepared under hygienic conditions as stipulated in CAC/RCP 58/ CAC/RCP 41.    
© EAC 2023 – All rights reserved  3 
 4.1.3  Free from any visible foreign matter (e.g., dirt, wood, plastic, metal particles).  
4.1.4  Free from signs of spoilage and objectionable odour  
4.1.5  Free from infectious parasites  
4.1.6  Intact, taking into account the presentation  
4.1.7  Free from blood clots bone dust or bone fragments  
4.1.8  Free of contusions having a material impact on the product  
4.1.9  Free from freezer -burn 
4.1.10 All viscera shall be inspected as they are removed from the carcass or in such a way that they can be 
traced back or identified  with a particular carcass.  
4.1.11 Every organ and the associated  lymph nodes  shall be examined.   When  any abnormal  condition  is 
observed,  the organ or gland shall be incised and the incision made in such a manner as to avoid soiling or 
contaminating, or unnecessarily  depreciating  the value of any part of the carcass or other organs that may be 
passed  as fit for human consumption.  
4.2 Requirements for routine inspection of edible offal of cattle, pig, goats, sheep, buffalo, deer, horses, 
pigs, ratites, camelids and poultry are given in table 1  
Table 1  — Requirements for a routine inspection of edible offal  
SN Organ  Requirements  
i Stomach, 
intestines and 
spleen  The outer, and when necessary, the inner, surfaces of the stomach, and intestines 
shall be inspected. The surface and substance of the spleen shall be inspected, 
together with the lymph nodes of the stomach and bowel, gastro -splenic and 
mesenteric) and web (omentum). The spleen shall be inspected  for sign of 
inflammation and incised to determine the colour of the pulp . They shall be free 
from haemorrhage, cysts and swellings, free from worms  
ii Liver The surfaces and substance of the liver shall be inspected. The gall bladder shall 
be incised to release bile and removed from the liver by cutting  the associated 
lymph nodes (hepatic)  shall also be inspected and the bile ducts incised . They 
shall be free from haemorrhage, cysts, swellings and free from worms.  
iii Kidneys  The lymph -nodes of the kidneys (renal) and the adrenal glands shall be inspected 
before the removal of the kidneys. the kidneys shall be exposed  by removing the 
capsule  and the surface,  inspected for discolouration cyst and haemorrhages.  The 
kidneys shall be split by incision  and examine for internal lesions.  
iv Lungs  The lungs shall be palpated  and   incised at the base. The associated lymph -nodes 
(bronchial and mediastinal) shall also be inspected and    incised. They shall be 
free from haemorrhage, cysts, swelling, and worms.  
v Heart The heart sac (pericardium) shall be opened, and the heart inspected and, incised. 
It shall be free of abnormal swelling, haemorrhage, free of worms and cysts.  
vi Poultry offal 
(liver, heart 
and gizzard)  The heart shall be free from abnormal swelling, haemorrhage, worms and cysts. 
Liver shall be free from gal, discolouration, contaminants and ulcerations and 
worms. Gizzard shall be clean, shall be free from abnormal swelling, haemorrhage,  
free from worms and cysts  
vii Testicles and 
Penis  The outer surface and the substance of the testicles and penis and the superficial 
inguinal lymph -nodes shall be inspected routinely if meant for the consumption. 
They shall be free of abnormal swelling, haemorrhage, free of worms and cysts   
4 © EAC  2023 – All rights reserved  
 Note: 1  The spine, bone marrow and brain are clinically examined  in the laboratory and not in the abattoir  
 2 All the other unmentioned internal and external offal shall be inspected to be of good quality and safety as 
guided by table 1 above   
5 Storage  
5.1 Edible offal shall be chilled at  0 ºC to 4 º C before leaving the premises.  
5.2 Edible offal may be presented fresh (warm, chilled, frozen). Storage temperatures throughout the 
supply chain shall be such as to ensure uniform internal product temperatures as  follows;  
a) Chilled : Internal product temperature sh all be maintained at  –1.5 °C to 4⁰C at any time following the 
post-slaughter chilling process.  
b) Frozen :  Internal product temperature  shall be maintained at  a temperature below –18 °C at any time 
after fre ezing  and shall not show any sign of deterioration  
6 Hygiene requirements  
6.1 Edible offal shall be prepared, handled, and stored in accordance with CX/RCP 58 and EAS 39 . Offal  
preparation shall be done in accordance with EAS 955  
6.2 Microbiological Requirements  
Edible offal shall comply with the microbiological limits given in Table 2, when tested in accordance with the 
methods given therein.  
Table 2 — Microbiological limits for Edible offal  
S/No.  Microorganism  Edible offal  Test 
method  
  Heart, liver kidney, 
spleen, lungs, trachea, 
testicles, tongue  Stomach, 
esophagus, 
gizzard  Small 
intestines  
 Large 
intestines   
i.  Staphylococcus 
aureus , cfu/g ,max  102 103 103 104 ISO 6888 -1 
ii.  Escherichia Coli  
O157:H7 per 25 g  Absent  Absent  Absent  Absent  ISO 16654  
iii.  Salmonella spp, per 
25 g Absent  Absent  Absent  Absent  ISO 6579  
iv.  Clostridium 
perfringe ns Absent  Absent  Absent  Absent  ISO 7937  
v.  Listeria 
monocytogen es, per 
25 g,  Absent  Absent  Absent  Absent  ISO 11290 -
1 
vi.  Campylobacter  per 
25 g Absent  Absent  Absent  Absent  ISO 10272 -
1  
All the other unmentioned internal and external offal shall comply with the microbiological limits in table 2 
above   
© EAC 2023 – All rights reserved  5 
 7 Food additives  
Food additives, if used in edible offal shall comply with  Codex Stan 192 . 
8 Contaminants  
8.1 Heavy metals  
Edible offal shall not contain Lead (Pb) in amounts exceeding 0.1 mg/kg, when tested in accordance with 
AOAC 972.25.  
8.2 Pesticide residues  
Edible offal shall comply with maximum pesticide residue limits prescribed in Codex Alimentarius 
Commission  
 8.3 Veterinary drug residues  
Edible offal shall comply with the maximum veterinary drugs residue limits in accordance with CX/MRL 2 . 
9 Packaging and Labelling  
9.1 Packaging  
Edible offal shall be packaged in food grade packaging materials that can safeguard the safety, quality, and 
integrity of the products during storage, transportation and distribution.  
9.2 Labelling  
In addition to the labelling requirements of EAS 38 edible offal shall be legibly and labelled with the following 
information:  
a) Name of the product as edible offal  
b) Name of the animal from which the offal is derived  
c) name of the manufacturer and physical address;  
d) net weight in metric units  
e) date of production/packaging;  
f) best before date;  
g) batch or code number;  
h) storage conditions;  
i) country of origin  
10 Sampling  
Sampling shall be done in accordance with CAC/GL 50 for general sampling and ISO 17604 for 
microbiological analysis.   
6 © EAC  2023 – All rights reserved  
 Bibliography  
TZS 3183:  2021 , Edible offal – Specification  DEAS 1187 : 2023   
 
© EAC 2023 – All rights reserved