DEAS 1130 : 2023  
ICS 67.220.20  
 
© EAC 2023                                                                                                                               First Edition 2023  
 DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  
Natural coffee extract — Specification  
 
 
EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY  
 DEAS 1130 : 2023  
ii © EAC  2023  – All rights reserved  
 Copyright notice  
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participants in the EAC standards development process  is permitted without prior permission from EAC, 
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© East African Community  2023  — All rights reserved  
East African Community  
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Reproduction for sales purposes may be subject to royalty payments or a licensing agreement.  
Violators may be prosecuted . DEAS 1130 : 2023  
© EAC 2023  – All rights reserved  iii 
 Contents  Page 
Foreword  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................  iv 
1 Scope  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ......................  1 
2 Normative references  ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................  1 
3 Terms and definitions  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........................  2 
4 Ingredients  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .............  2 
4.1 Essential ingredients  ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................  2 
4.2 Optional ingredients  ................................ ................................ ................................ ..............................  2 
5 Requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .........  2 
5.1 General requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........................  2 
5.2 Specific requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........................  2 
6 Hygiene  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...................  3 
7 Contaminants  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .........  3 
7.1 Pesticide residues  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ . 3 
7.2 Heavy metals  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ..........  3 
7.3 Mycotoxin  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...............  4 
7.4 Other contaminants  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...............................  4 
8 Weights and measures  ................................ ................................ ............. Error! Bookmark not defined.  
9 Packaging  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...............  4 
10 Labelling  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .................  4 
11 Sampling  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ................  4 
Bibliography  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ........................  7 
 DEAS 1130 : 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 barrie rs 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 compo sed 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 repr esentative 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 commen ts 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 005, Food additives . 
Attenti on 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 1130 : 2023  
© EAC 2023  – All rights reserved  v 
 Introduction  
Natural Coffee Extract is produced from the cured  and roasted mature beans of Coffea arabica  and C. robusta  
by alcohol extraction . Natural coffee extract is used in flavouring various food products such as ice creams, 
syrups, baked goods, mulled ciders and tea and coffee. Natural coffee extracts contain ethyl  alcohol, water 
and coffee extractives.  
This draft East African standard has been developed to keep up with advancements of the natural coffee 
extract and to ensure the safety and quality of the product traded in the markets in order to safeguard the 
health of the consumers.  
 
 
. 
 1 DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  DEAS 1130 : 2023  
 
© EAC 2017  – All rights reserved  1 
 Natural coffee extract — Specification  
1 Scope  
This Draft East African Standard specifies the requirements , sampling and test methods for natural coffee 
extract obtained from Coffea arabica  and Coffea robusta for use as a flavo uring agent in food products . 
This standard does not apply to liquid coffee concentrates.  
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 999.11, Determination of Lead, Cadmium, Copper, Iron, and Zinc in Foods, Atomic Absorption 
Spectrophotometry after Dry Ashing  
AOAC 2015.01, Heavy Metals in Food Inductively Coupled Plasma –Mass Spectrometry  
AOAC 2000.09 Ochratoxin A in Roasted Coffee Immunoaffinity column HPLC method  
EAS 104, Alcoholic beverages — Methods of sampling and test  
ISO 17240  
CAC/GL 50, General guidelines on sampling  
Codex 193, General standard for contaminants and toxins in food and feed  
EAS 39, Code of practice for hygiene in the food and drink manufacturing industry  
CODEX STAN 107, General standard for the labelling o f food additives when sold as such  
ISO 4833, Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal method for the enumeration of 
microorganisms – Colony \-count technique at 30°C  
ISO 3509, Coffee and coffee products - Vocabulary  
ISO 6579, Microbiology  of food and feeding stuffs — Horizontal method for the detection of salmonella spp  
ISO 21527 -2, Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal method for the enumeration of 
yeasts and moulds — Part 2: Colony count technique in products with w ater activity less than or equal to 0,95  
EAS 38, Labelling of pre -packaged foods — General requirements  
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  
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\-perfor mance liquid chromatographic method   
2 © EAC  2023  – All rights reserved  
 ISO 7952 , Fruits, vegetables and derived products — Determination of copper  content — Method using flame 
atomic absorption spectrometry.  
ISO 6637 , Fruits, vegetables and derived products -- Determination of mercury conte nt -- Flameless atomic 
absorption method  
ISO 15141,  Cereals and cereal products — Determination of ochratoxin A — High performance liquid 
chromatographic method with immunoaffinity column cleanup and fluorescence detection  
 
3 Terms and definitions  
For the purposes of this document, the terms and definitions given in ISO 3509 and the following 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  
natural  coffee extract  
the solution in aqueous ethyl alcohol of the sapid and odorous principles extractable fr om roasted ground 
coffee beans  
3.2  
food grade material  
material made of substances which ar e safe and suitable for their intended use and which will not impart any 
toxic substance or undesirabl e odour  or flavour  to the product  
4 Ingredients  
4.1 Essential ingredient s 
Roasted coffee  extractives, ethyl alcohol and water  complying with the relevant East African standards  
4.2 Optional ingredients  
Natural coffee extract may contain one or more of the following optional ingredients and shall comply to the 
relevant standard:  
a) glycerine;  
b) propylene g lycol;  
5 Requirements  
5.1 General requirements  
Natural cof fee extract shall:  
a) have the characteristic  aroma, flavour and colour; and 
b) not be mixed with any synthetic flavour material .  
© EAC 2023  – All rights reserved  3 
 5.2 Specific requirements  
Natural coffee extract shall comply with the physicochemical requirements in Table 1 when tested in 
accord ance with the test methods specified therein.  
Table 1 — Physicochemical requirements for natural coffee extract  
S/N Characteristic  Requirement  Test method  
i Alcohol % (v/v), min . 35 EAS 104  
ii pH 4 -  6.5 ISO 10523  
iii Specific gravity, min . 0.83 Annex A 
6 Hygiene  
6.1 Natural coffee extract shall be prepared and packaged in premises built and maintained under hygienic 
cond ition in accordance with EAS 39 . 
6.2 The product shall comply with microbiological limits given in Table 2 when tested in accordance with the 
test methods specified therein.  
Table 2 — Microbiological limits for natural coffee extract  
S/N Microorganism  Maximum limit  Test method  
i. Total viable count, cfu/ml  104 ISO 4833 -1 
ii. Yeast and moulds, cfu/ml  102 ISO 21527 -1 
iii. Salmonella spp in 25 ml  Absent  ISO 6579 -1 
iv. E. coli, cfu/ml  Absent  ISO 16649 -2 
 
7 Contaminants  
7.1 Pesticide residues  
Natural coffee extract shall comply with pesticide residue limits established by the Codex Alimentarius 
Commission for this commodity.  
7.2 Heavy m etals  
Natural coffee extract shall comply with the maximum levels for the heavy metals given in Table 3 when tested 
in accordance with the test methods specified therein.  
Table 3  — Permitted maximum level of heavy m etals in natural coffee extract  
S/N Heavy  metal  Maximum limit  
mg/kg  Test method  
i. i. Lead (Pb)  0.3 AOAC 999.11  
ii.  Tin (Sn)  250 AOAC2015.01  
iii.  Arsenic (As)  0.05 AOAC 999.11  
iv.  Cadmium (Cd)  0.01 AOAC 999.11   
4 © EAC  2023  – All rights reserved  
 v.  Mercury (Hg)  0.01 ISO 6637  
 
 
7.3 Mycotoxin  
When tested in accordance with ISO 15141 , Ochra toxin A in natural coffee extract shall not exceed 10 ug/kg . 
 
7.4 Other contaminants  
Natural Coffee Extract shall comply with the contaminant limits specified in the latest edition of CODEX STAN 
193. 
8 Packaging  
Natural Coffee Extract shall  be packaged  in food grade  material  to safeguard  the safety,  hygienic,  nutritional 
and organoleptic  qualities  of the product.  
9 Labelling  
9.1 In addition to the requirements in CODEX STAN 107 , each package shall be legibly and indelibly labelled 
with the  name of the produ ct as “Natural coffee extract ”. 
9.2 The labelling shall be in English or any other official language used in the importing East African Partner 
State.  
10 Sampling  
Samp ling shall  be done  in accordance  with CAC/GL 50 .  
© EAC 2023  – All rights reserved  5 
 Annex A  
(normative)  
 
Determination of  specific gravity  
A.1 Apparatus  
A.1.1  Pyknometer ,  50ml  capacity. 
A.1.2  Constant -Temperature  Bath  provided with suitable pycnometer holders or clips and means for 
maintaining temperatures constant in the desired range.  
A.1.3  Thermometer - graduated in 0.1 ° C with the range of 0 to 50°C with sub -divisions at every 0.5°C  
A.1.4  Hypodermic Syringe , 30 mL capacity, of chemically resistant glass, equipped with a 152 mm needle 
made of stainless steel tubing.  
A.1.5 Balance,  capable of reproducing weighing  within 0.1 m g.  
A.2  Reagents  
A.2.1  Acetone — (Warning —Extremely flammable. Use adequate ventilation.)  
A.2.2  Isopentane — (Warning —Extremely flammable. Avoid buildup of vapors and remove all sources of 
ignition)  
A.3 Preparation of equipment  
Pyknometer shall be sufficie ntly cleaned with a suitable solvent, rinsing with pure, dry acetone, followed by 
isopentane, and vacuum dryied.  
A.2  Procedure  
A.4.1  Weigh the empty pyknometer and record the weight, (W 0) 
A.4.2  By means of a hypodermic syringe, f ill the pyknometer with th e extract/ alcoholic liquid sample 
brought to room temperature 20 ±0.1°C.  
A.4.3  Weigh the pyknometer with the alcoholic liquid thus filled at Py knometer. ( W1) 
A.4.4  Calculate the net mass  of alcoholic liquid in the pyknometer by subtracting the mass of th e empty 
pyknometer.  (W1-W0) 
A.4.5  Divide the mass so obtained by the mass in air of 50 ml of distilled water in the pyknometer.  W2 
A.4.6  This gives the apparent specific gravity of the alcoholic liquid in the air.  
Specific gravity  
   
6 © EAC  2023  – All rights reserved  
   
© EAC 2023  – All rights reserved  7 
 Bibliogra phy 
IS 3506:1989, Tables for alcholometry (Pyknometer Method)  DEAS 1130 : 2023    
 
© EAC 2023  – All rights  reserved