ICS 67.060  
 
Reference number
DRS 350: 2023
© RSB 2023
  
 RWANDA 
STANDARD  DRS 
350 
 
Second edition  
yyyy-mm-dd  
 
Iron bio-fortified dry beans — Specification  
   
DRS 350: 2023 
©RSB 2023- All rights reserved                  ii 
 In order to match with technological development and to keep continuous progress in industries, 
standards are subject to periodic review. Users shall ascertain that they are in possession of the latest 
edition 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
© RSB 2023 
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, no part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized 
in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and microfilm, without 
prior written permission from RSB. 
Requests for permission to reproduce this document should be addressed to: 
Rwanda Standards Board 
P.O Box 7099 Kigali-Rwanda 
KK 15 Rd, 49 
Tel. +250 788303492 
Toll Free: 3250 
E-mail: info@rsb.gov.rw  
Website: www.rsb.gov.rw  
ePortal: www.portal.rsb.gov.rw  DRS 350: 2023 
iii                ©RSB 2023- All rights reserved 
 Contents Page 
Foreword ............................................................................................................................................................ iv 
1 Scope ................................................................................................................................................................ 1 
2 Normative references ...................................................................................................................................... 1 
3 Terms and definitions ..................................................................................................................................... 1 
4 Requirements ................................................................................................................................................... 3 
4.1 General requirements .................................................................................................................................. 3 
4.2 Specific requirements .................................................................................................................................. 4 
4.3 Iron content requirements ........................................................................................................................... 4 
5 Contaminants ................................................................................................................................................... 4 
5.1 Pesticide residues ........................................................................................................................................ 4 
5.2 Heavy metals ................................................................................................................................................. 5 
6 Hygiene ............................................................................................................................................................. 5 
7 Packaging ......................................................................................................................................................... 5 
8 Labelling ........................................................................................................................................................... 5 
8.1 General .......................................................................................................................................................... 5 
8.2 Labelling of non-retail containers ............................................................................................................... 6 
9 Sampling .......................................................................................................................................................... 6 
 DRS 350: 2023 
©RSB 2023- All rights reserved                  iv 
 Foreword 
Rwanda Standards are prepared by Technical Committees and approved by Rwanda Standards Board (RSB) 
Board of Directors in accordance with the procedures of RSB, in compliance with Annex 3 of the WTO/TBT 
agreement on the preparation, adoption and application of standards. 
The main task of technical committees is to prepare national standards. Final Draft Rwanda Standards 
adopted by Technical committees are ratified by members of RSB Board of Directors for publication and 
gazettment as Rwanda Standards. 
DRS 350  was prepared by Technical Committee RSB/TC 003, Cereals, pulses, legumes and cereal products. 
In the preparation of this standard, reference was made to the following standard (s): 
1) RS EAS 46: 2017, Dry beans — Specification 
The assistance derived from the above source is hereby acknowledged with thanks. 
This secondedition cancels and replaces the firstedition (RS 350:2018), which has been technically revised. 
Committee membership  
The following organizations were represented on the Technical Committee on Cereals, pulses, legumes and 
cereal products (RSB/TC 003) in the preparation of this standard. 
Enterprise URWIBUTSO/SINA GERARD 
MANOSALIWA Food Industries Ltd  
MINIMEX Ltd  
National Agricultural Export Development Board (NAEB) 
National Industrial Research and Development Agency (NIRDA) 
Nyarutarama Business Incubation Center 
One Acre Fund-Tubura 
Rwanda Food and Drugs Authority 
Zamura Feeds Ltd 
Rwanda Standards Board (RSB) – Secretariat DRS 350: 2023 
v                ©RSB 2023- All rights reserved 
  DRS 350: 2023 
1                ©RSB 2023- All rights reserved 
 Iron bio-fortified beans — Specification  
1 Scope 
This Draft Rwanda Standard specifies requirements, sampling and test methods for iron bio-fortified dry 
common beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) 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 972.25, Lead in food — Atomic absorption spectrophotometric method  
AOAC 973.34, Cadmium in food — Atomic absorption spectrophotometric method  
AOAC 999.10, Lead, Cadmium, Zinc, Copper, and Iron in Foods. Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry  
RS CAC/RCP 1, Code of Practice — General principles of food hygiene  
RS EAS 38, Labelling of pre-packaged foods — Requirements  
RS ISO 605, Pulses — Determination of impurities, size, foreign odours, insects, and species and variety — 
Test methods  
RS ISO 24333, Cereals and cereal products — Sampling  
RS ISO 24557, Pulses — Determination of moisture content — Air-oven method 
3 Terms and definitions 
For the purposes of this standard, the following terms and definitions apply. 
3.1 
iron bio-fortified dry beans 
dry beans produced from varieties that have higher level of iron  
©RSB 2023- All rights reserved                  2 
 3.2 
bio-fortification 
practice of deliberately increasing the content of an essential micronutrient, i.e. vitamins and minerals 
(including trace elements) in a food, through agronomic practices, conventional plant breeding 
3.3 
dry beans 
dry threshed field and garden beans of the variety Phaseolus vulgaris  L. 
3.4 
defective beans 
slightly or seriously defective 
3.4.1 
slightly defective beans 
immature, slightly stained, wrinkled or broken 
3.4.1.1 
immature beans 
which are light, not fully filled and thin due to under development 
3.4.1.2 
broken beans 
which the cotyledons are separated or one or both cotyledons have been broken 
3.4.2 
severely defective beans 
pest damaged, mouldy, rotten, Seriously Stained beans, Germinated and heat damaged 
3.5 
foreign/extraneous matter 
fraction consisting of inorganic extraneous matter and organic extraneous matter other than filth DRS 350: 2023 
3                ©RSB 2023- All rights reserved 
 3.6 
inorganic foreign/extraneous matter 
stones, glass, pieces of soil and other mineral matter 
3.7 
filth 
impurities of animal origin such as dead insects, fragments or remains of insects 
3.8 
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 
3.9 
contrasting varieties 
beans of other varieties that are of a different colour, size, or shape from the beans of the designated variety 
3.10 
other edible grains 
other than common bean ( Phaseolis vulgaris ), whole or broken such as maize, sorghum, wheat, etc that are 
naturally comestible 
3.11 
Harmful/toxic seeds 
seeds which, if present in quantities above a certain limit, can have a damaging or dangerous effect on health, 
sensory properties or technological performance i:e Crotolaria (Crotalaria spp.), Corn cockle (Agrostemma 
githago L.), Castor bean (Ricinus communis L.), Jimson weed (Datura spp.) 
4 Requirements 
4.1 General requirements 
Iron bio-fortified dry beans shall be: 
a) dried and mature; 
b) well-filled;  
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 c) uniform in size, colour and shape and produced from one variety; 
d) free from off flavours and musty or other undesirable odour. 
4.2 Specific requirements 
Iron bio-fortified dry beans shall be categorised into three grades on the basis of the tolerable limits 
established in Table 1. 
Table 1 —  Specific requirements 
S/N Characteristics Maximum limits,%, m/m Test method 
Grade 1 Grade 2 Grade 3 
i.  Moisture content 14 RS ISO 24557 
ii.  Foreign/ matter 0.5 0.75 1 RS ISO 605 
iii.  Inorganic foreign matter 0.1 0.2 0.3 
iv.  Filth 0.1 
v.  Other edible grains 0.1 0.2 0.5 
vi.  Contrasting varieties 0.5 1 1.5 
vii.  Slightly defective beansa 1 3 7 
viii.  Severely defective beans 0.2 0.4 1 
ix.  Total defective beans 0.8 2.4 5.6 
x.  Harmful/toxic seeds 0.05 
a broken bean shall not exceed 3.0% of the slightly defective beans 
NOTE The parameter, Total defective grains is not the sum total of the individual defects. It is limited to 70 % of the sum total of individual defects 
4.3 Iron content requirements 
Iron bio-fortified beans shall be classified and have iron content limits as per the Table 2. 
Table 2 — Levels of iron in bio-fortified beans 
S/N Class Iron content mg/kg Test method 
i.  Class I (C1) ≥ 90 AOAC 999.10 
ii.  Class II (C2) ≥ 80 to ˂ 90 
iii.  Class III (C3) ≥ 60 to ˂ 80 
5 Contaminants 
5.1 Pesticide residues 
Iron bio-fortified dry beans shall comply with those maximum pesticide residue limits established by the Codex 
Alimentarius Commission for this commodity. DRS 350: 2023 
5                ©RSB 2023- All rights reserved 
 5.2 Heavy metals 
Iron bio-fortified dry beans shall comply with those maximum limits for heavy metals stated in Table 2. 
Table 3 — Heavy metals limits for beans 
Heavy metal Maximum limit, mg/kg Test method 
Lead 0.1 AOAC 999.11 
 Cadmium 0.1 
6 Hygiene 
Iron bio-fortified dry beans shall be produced,  handled and stored in accordance with RS CAC/RCP 1. 
7 Packaging 
7.1 Iron bio-fortified dry beans shall be packaged in food grade packaging materials that do not affect the 
quality of the product. 
7.2 Each package shall contain iron bio-fortified dry beans of the same grade designation. 
8 Labelling 
8.1 General 
In addition to the requirements in RS EAS 38, each package shall be legibly and indelibly labelled with the 
following: 
a) product name as “Iron bio-fortified dry beans”; 
b) grade; 
c) iron content; 
d) class; 
e) nameand address of the producer/packer/distributor/ importer/exporter/vendor  
f) batch number; 
g) net  content shall be declared in the metric system; 
h) storage instructions’; 
i) crop year;  
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 j) packing date. 
k) instructions on disposal of used package; 
l) country of origin; and 
m) the declaration “Food for Human Consumption”. 
8.2 Labelling of non-retail containers 
Information in 8.1 shall be given either on the container or in accompanying documents, except that the name of the 
product, lot identification, and the name and address of the processor or packer as well as storage instructions, 
shall appear on the container. However, lot identification, and the name and address of the processor or packer 
may be replaced by an identification mark provided that such a mark is clearly identifiable with the accompanying 
documents.  
9 Sampling 
Sampling shall be done in accordance with the RS ISO 24333. 
 
  DRS 350: 2023 
7                ©RSB 2023- All rights reserved 
 Bibliography 
[1] RS 350: 2018 Iron biofortified beans — Specification (First edition) 
 DRS 350: 2023 
 
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©RSB 2023 - All rights reserved