DEAS 1027 : 2020  
ICS nn.nnn.nn  
© EAS 2020                                                                                                                               First Edition 2020   
 
DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  
Bacon  — Specification  
EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY  DEAS 1027 : 2020  
ii © EAC  2020  – All rights reserved  
 Copyright notice  
This EAC document is copyright -protected by EAC. While the reproduction of this document by 
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© East African Community  2020  — All rights reserved  
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Reproduction for sales purposes may be subject to royalty payments or a licensing agreement.  
Violators may be persecuted  DEAS 1027 : 2020  
© EAC 2020  – All rights reserved  iii 
 Contents  Page 
Foreword  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................  iv 
1 Scope  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ......................  1 
2 Conformance  ................................ ................................ .............................  Error! Bookmark not defined.  
3 Normative references  ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................  1 
4 Terms and definitions  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........................  2 
5 Symbols (and abbreviated terms)  ................................ ............................  Error! Bookmark not defined.  
6 Clause  ................................ ................................ ................................ .........  Error! Bookmark not defined.  
6.1 Subclause (level  1) ................................ ................................ ....................  Error! Bookmark not defined.  
6.1.1 Subclause (level  2) ................................ ................................ ....................  Error! Bookmark not defined.  
6.1.2 Subclause (level  2) ................................ ................................ ....................  Error! Bookmark not defined.  
6.2 Subclause (level  1) ................................ ................................ ....................  Error! Bookmark not defined.  
7 Clause  ................................ ................................ ................................ .........  Error! Bookmark not defined.  
8 Special  ................................ ................................ ................................ ........  Error! Bookmark not defined.  
Annex  A (normative)  Annex title  ................................ ................................ ..........  Error! Bookmark not defined.  
A.1 General  ................................ ................................ ................................ ....... Error! Bookmark not defined.  
A.2 Clause  ................................ ................................ ................................ .........  Error! Bookmark not defined.  
A.2.1  Subclause (level  1) ................................ ................................ ....................  Error! Book mark not defined.  
A.2.2  Subclause (level  1) ................................ ................................ ....................  Error! Bookmark not defined.  
A.3 Clause  ................................ ................................ ................................ .........  Error! Bookmark not defined.  
Annex  B (informative)  Which styles correspond to which element  — Quick reference guide Error! Bookmark not defined.  
Bibliography  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ........................  6 
 
 DEAS 1027 : 2020  
iv © EAC  2020  – 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 Afri can 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.  
In order to achieve this objective, the Community established an East A frican Standards Committee mandated 
to develop and issue East African Standards.   
The Committee is composed of representatives of the National Standards Bodies in Partner States, together 
with the representatives from the private sectors and consumer organ izations. 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 procedures 
of the Community.  
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 .  
EAS nnn-n was prepared by Technical Committee EAS/TC 004, Meat, poultry, game, eggs and their products . 
 
 DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  DEAS 1027 :2020  
 
© EAC 2020  – All rights reserved  1 
 Bacon  — Specification  
1 Scope  
This Draft East African standard specifies requirements, methods of sampling and test for bacon.  
2 Normative references  
The following referenced documents are indispensable for the application 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/RC P 58, Code of hygienic pr actice for m eat 
CAC/MRL 2 -1995 , Maximum residue limits for veterinary drugs in food  
CAC/GL 50 , General guidelines on sampling  
CAC/GL66 , Guidelines for the use of flavourings  
CAC/RCP 68 , Code of practice for the reduction of contami nation of food with Polycyclic Aromatic 
Hydrocarbons (PAH) from smoking and direct drying processes  
CODEX STAN 192,  General standard for food additives   
EAS 12, Potable Water — Specification  
EAS 35, Edible salt — Specification  
EAS 38, Labelling of pre -pack aged foods — Specification  
EAS 39, Hygiene in the food and drink manufacturing industry — Code of practice  
ISO 6579, Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal method for the detection of Salmonella 
spp. 
ISO 5961, Water quality — Determin ation of cadmium by atomic absorption spectrometry  
ISO 6633,  Fruits, vegetables and derived products — Determination of lead content — Flameless atomic 
absorption spectrometric method  
ISO 6637, Fruits, vegetables and derived products — Determination of mer cury content — Flameless atomic 
absorption method  
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  DEAS 1027 : 2020  
2 © EAC  2020  – All rights reserved  
 ISO 7937 , Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal method for the enumeration of 
Clostridium perfringens — Colony -count technique  
ISO 166 54, Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal method for the  detection of 
Escherichia coli O157  
ISO 17294 -2, Water quality — Application of inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP -MS) — Part 
2: Determination of 62 elements  
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 water activity less than or equal to 0.95  
ISO 11290 -1, Microbiology of the food chain — Horizontal method for the detection and enumeration of 
Listeria monoc ytogenes an d of Listeria spp. — Part 1: Detection method  
ISO/TS 17728,  Microbiology of the food chain — Sampling techniques for microbiological analysis of food and 
feed samples  
3 Terms and definitions  
For the purposes of this standard, the following terms and defini tions shall 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  
— IEC Electropedia: available  at http://www.electropedia.org/  
3.1 
meat 
is all parts of an animal that are intended for, and have been judged as safe and suitable for human 
consumption  
3.2 
bacon  
is a cured meat product traditionally derived  from pork belly.  
NOTE  If meat from other portions of the carcass or other food animals are used, the product name must be qualified 
to identify the portions or food animal. For example  “Pork Shoulder Bacon, streaky bacon, beef bacon, back bacon, 
wiltshir e bacon . 
3.3 
streaky bacon / streaky rashers  
 
made from the belly of a pig and is very fatty with long veins of fat running parallel to the rind.  
3.4 
beef bacon  
is a cured beef product sliced to resemble regular bacon. It is prepared from various beef cut s and offered 
with a variety of coined names, including “Breakfast Beef,” “ Beef Bacon, ” etc 
3.5 
ready -to-eat  
products that are intended to be consumed without any further treatment.   
3.6 
macon  
bacon made from mutton.  DEAS 1027 : 2020  
© EAC 2020  – All rights reserved  3 
 NOTE  The product must be qualified if  made from other foo d animals eg turkey and chicken.  
4 Requirements  
4.1 Raw material  
4.1.1 Meat shall be derived from animals slaughtered in a hygienically managed slaughter house complying 
with relevant according to requirements provided by relevant nati onal regulatory authority  of the partner 
states . 
4.1.2 Salt used shall comply with EAS 35 . 
4.1.3 Nitrites and other additives used shall comply with CODEX STAN 192. 
4.1.4 Portable water used shall comply with EAS 12.  
4.2 Optional i ngredients  
4.2.1 All opt ional ingredients used shall be of food grade quality and conform to applicable EAS Standards.   
4.2.2 Sucrose, honey, invert sugar, dextrose (glucose), lactose, maltose, glucose syrup (including corn 
syrup).  
4.2.3 Spices, seasonings and flavorings complyi ng with respective EAS Standards.  
4.2.4 Smoking shall be done according to the Code of Practice for the reduction of contamination of food 
with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) f rom smoking and direct drying p rocesses CAC/RCP 68 -2009  
4.2.5 Liquid sm oke shall be used in accordance with CAC/GL66 and CAC/RCP68.  
4.3 General r equirements  
4.3.1 The food animal from which the bacon is derived shall be slaughtered in a hygienically managed 
slaughter -house and subjected to ante -mortem and post -mortem examinat ion accor ding to the procedure 
specified  in CAC/RCP 58.  
4.3.2 The meat from which the product is prepared shall be of a quality suitable for human consumption and 
free from objectionable odours.  
4.3.3 Bacon shall be free from foreign matter and discolorati on. 
5 Food additives  
Food additives used in bacon shall be complying with CODEX STAN 192.  
 
6 Hygienic requirements  
6.1 Bacon shall be produced and handled in accordance with CAC/RCP 58 and EAS 39 . 
6.2 Bacon shall comply with microbiological limits given in  Table 1 when tested in accordance with the test 
methods specified therein.  DEAS 1027 : 2020  
4 © EAC  2020  – All rights reserved  
 Table 1 — Microbiological limits for Bacon  
SL No.  Type of organisms  Max Test method  
Raw  Ready -To-
Eat 
i)  E. coli  0157:H7  cfu/25g  Absent  Absent  ISO 166 54 
ii)  Salmonella spp  cfu/2 5g Absent  Absent  ISO 6579  
iii)  Listeria monocytogenes  cfu/25g  Absent  Absent  ISO 11290 -1 
iv)  Coagulase  positive   
Staphylococcus  aureus  cfu/g  103 Absent  ISO 6888 -1 
v)  Yeast  and Moulds  cfu/g  Not applicable 102 ISO 21527 -2 
vi)  Clostridium  Perfringens   Absent  Absent  ISO 7937  
 
7 Meat Identification  
The identification/isolation of meat used in bacon shall be done according to the Polymerase Chain Reaction 
test or any other validated test method  to determine the species of origin.  
8 Contaminants  
8.1 Veterinary drugs res idues  
Bacon shall comply with the maximum residue  limits specified in CAC/MRL 2.  
 
8.2 Pesticide Residues  
Bacon when tested shall comply with the maximum residue limits set by codex alimentarius commission.  
 
8.3 Heavy metal  
Bacon shall not con tain heavy met al in excess of the limits given in Table 2.  
 
Table 2 — Limits for heavy metal  in bacon  
 
S/No.  Heavy metals  Maximum limits  
ppm  Test method  
i)  Arsenic (Ar)  0.1 ISO 17294 -2 
ii)  Lead (Pb)  0.1 ISO 6633  
iii)  Cadmium  (Cd) 0.05 ISO 5961  
iv)  Mercury  (Hg) 0.03 ISO 6637  
 
 
 DEAS 1027 : 2020  
© EAC 2020  – All rights reserved  5 
 9 Packaging and labelling  
9.1 Packaging  
Packaging shall be done in food grade packaging materials that protect the product from any physical, 
microbiological, chemical or any other type of contamination during handling, storage and distribution.  
The pac kages shall be able to withstand the rigors of handling and transportation and shall not be exposed to 
direct sun or rain.  
9.2 Labelling  
Labelling of packages shall be done in accordance with the requirements stipulated in EAS 38. In addition, the 
followin g particulars shall be legibly and indelibly labelled on the container:  
a) description /Nam e of the product as appropriate;  
b) list of ingredients in descending order ; 
c) allergens declaration;  
d) name, location and address of manufacturer ; 
e) net weight, in metric units ; 
f) declaration as “raw” product, or ready to eat  ; 
g) date of manufacture ; 
h) expiry date ; 
i) batch number ; 
j) instructions for use (must inform the end -user to cook the product for e recommended period of time 
before consumption) ; 
k) storage conditions and temperature of  storage ; and 
l) country of origin;  
11 Sampling  
Sampling shall be carried out in accordance with CAC/GL 50.  For microbial analysis samples shall be carrie d 
out in accordance with ISO/TS 17728.  DEAS 1027 : 2020  
6 © EAC  2020  – All rights reserved  
 Bibliography  
[1]  
[2]  
[3]  
[4]  
[5]  
. DEAS 1027 : 2020    
 
© EAC 2020  – All rig hts reserved