DEAS  754:2024  
 
ICS 67.060  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 DRAFT EAST AFRICAN  STANDARD  
 
 
Chickpeas  — Specification  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
EAST  AFRICAN  COMMUNITY  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
© EAS  2024  Second  Edition 2024  
© EAC  2024 – All rights  reserved  iii  
 DEAS  754:2024  
 
 
 
Copyright  notice  
 
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© East African  Community  2013  — 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 persecuted  © EAC  2024 – All rights  reserved  iii  
 DEAS  754:2024  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Contents  Page  
Foreword  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................  iv 
1 Scope  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ......................  1 
2 Normative  references  ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................  1 
3 Terms  and definitions  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........................  1 
4 Quality  requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ .............................  2 
4.1 General requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........................  2 
4.2 Specific  requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........................  3 
5 Contaminants  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .........  4 
5.1 Pesticide residues  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ . 4 
5.2 Other  contaminants  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...............................  4 
6 Hygiene  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...................  4 
7 Packaging  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...............  5 
8 Labelling  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .................  5 
9 Sampling  methods  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................  6 © EAC  2024 – All rights  reserved  iii  
 DEAS  754:2024  
 
 
 
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.  
 
In order to achieve this objective, the Community established an East African 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 represen tatives from  the private sectors  and consumer organizations.  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 754:2013  was prepared  by Technical  Committee  EAS/TC  014, Cereals,  Pulses  and related  products  © EAC  2024 – All rights  reserved  v  
 DEAS  754:2024  
 
 
 
Introduction  
This standard  has been developed  to take into account:  
 
a) the needs  of the market for  the product;  
 
b) the need  to facilitate  fair domestic,  regional  and international  trade  and prevent  technical  barriers  to 
trade  by establishing  a common trading  language  for buyers  and sellers;  
 
c) the structure of the  CODEX,  UNECE, USA,  ISO and other  internationally  significant  standards;  
 
d) the needs  of the producers  in gaining  knowledge  of market  standards,  conformity  assessment,  
commercial  cultivars  and crop  production  process;  
 
e) the need  to transport  the product  in a manner  that ensures  keeping  of quality  until it reaches  the 
consumer;  
 
f) the need  for the plant  protection  authority to  certify,  through  a simplified  form,  that the product  is fit for 
cross -border and  international  trade  without  carrying  plant  disease  vectors;  
 
g) the need  to promote good agricultural practices that will enhance wider market access, involvement of  
small -scale traders  and hence making farming  a viable means  of wealth  creation;  and 
 
h) the need  to ensure  a reliable  production  base  of consistent  and safe crops  that meet  customer  
requirements.  © EAC  2024 – All rights  reserved  v  
  © EAC  2024 – All rights  reserved  7  
  
DRAFT EAST AFRICAN  STANDARD                                                              DEAS  754:2024  
 
 
 
Chickpeas  — Specification  
 
1 Scope  
 
This draft East African Standard specifies requirements and methods of sampling and test for dry  chickpeas of 
the varieties  (cultivars) grown  from Cicer  arietinum  Linn.  intended for  human  consumption.  
 
 
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.  
 
EAS 38, Labelling  of pre-packaged  foods — Specification  
 
EAS 39, Hygiene  in the food and drink  manufacturing  industry  — Code of  practice  
 
EAS 900, Cereals and Pulses – Sampling  
 
EAS 901, Cereals and Pulses – Test method  
 
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  
 
ISO 215 27-2, Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal method for the enumeration of yeasts 
and moulds — Part 2: Colony cou nt technique in products with water activity less than or equal to 0,95  
 
CXS 193, Codex  general  Standards  for contaminants  and toxins in  Food  and Feed  
 
 
2 Terms  and definitions  
 
For the purposes  of this standard,  the following  terms  and definitions  shall apply.  
 
3.1 
chickpeas  
dry mature  seeds of  Cicer arietinum  L. 
 
3.2 
damaged grains  
chick peas that are pest damaged, discoloured, stained, rotten and diseased, immature and shrivelled grains 
and broken grains  
 
3.3 
mouldy  
chickpeas  with visible  mycelial  growth  on their surface  
 
3.4 
shriveled  
chickpeas  which  are under -developed  and wrinkled  over their entire  surface  excluding  wrinkled  chickpeas  
 
3.5 
pest damaged  
grains which show damage owing to attack by rodents, insects, mites or other pests. Grains may  have a hole 
(commonly referred to as bored) or have a chewed appearance on any part of the grain.  © EAC  2024 – All rights  reserved  8  
  
 
3.6 
discoloured chickpeas ; 
chickpeas which are damaged, by heat, frost or water  
 
3.7 
rotten and diseased chick peas  
chickpeas affected by fungi growth or bacterial decomposition, or other causes that may be noticed without 
having to cut the grains to examine them and render them unsafe for human consumption.  
 
3.8 
filth 
impurities of animal origin , (including dead insects).  
 
3.9 
broken  
broken pieces  of peas  that are less than three -quarters of  the whole seed,  and cotyledons that  are 
loosely  held together  by the  seed  coat 
 
3.10 
contrasting varieties  
that are of a different colour, size, or shape from the chickpeas of the designated variety.  
 
3.11 
foreign matter  
total of inorganic and organic  matter  
 
3.11.1  
inorganic matter  
stones, glass, soil, metal and other mineral matter  
 
3.11.2  
organic matter  
any plant matter (seed coats, straws, weeds) other than grains of soybeans, damaged soybean grains and other 
grains 
 
3.12 
poisonous,  toxic  and/or  harmful  seeds  
seed  which  if present  in quantities  above  permissible  limit may have  damaging  or dangerous  effect  on health,  
organoleptic  properties  or technological  performance  such  as Jimson  weed  — dhatura  (D. fastuosa  Linn and 
D. stramonium  Linn.)  corn cokle  (Agrostemma  githago  L., Machai  Lallium  remulenum  Linn.)  
Akra (Vicia  species),  Argemone  mexicana , Khesari  and other  seeds that  are commonly  recognized as 
harmful  to health  
 
3.13 
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  
 
 
4.0 Quality  requirements  
 
4.1 General  requirements  
 
Chickpeas  shall be: 
 
a) the dried  mature  grains  of Cicer  arietinum  Linn.;  
 
b) well-filled,  clean,  wholesome,  uniform in  size, and shape;  
 
c) safe and suitable for human consumption.  © EAC  2024 – All rights  reserved  9  
 d) free from abnormal  flavours,  musty,  sour or other  undesirable  odour,  obnoxious  smell  and; and 
 
e) free from, moulds, live pests, toxic or noxious weed seeds  
 
 
4.2 Specific  requirements  
Chickpeas  shall comply with the maximum limits specific requirements given in Table 1 when tested in accordance 
with the test methods specified therein.  
 
Table  1 — Specific  requirements for Chickpeas  
 
S/
N Characteristics  Maximum  
limits  Method 
of 
test Grade  
1 Grade  2 Gra
de 3 
i) Foreign  matter,  % m/m  1.0 2.0 3.0  
 
 
 
 
 
EAS 901  
 
 ii) Inorganic  matter,  % m/m 0.1 0.3 0.5  
iii) Broken  grains, %  m/m 1 2 3 
iv) Pest damaged  grains,  % m/m 2 4 6 
v) Rotten and  diseased  grains, %  
m/m 0.2 
 0.5 
 1 
vi) Discoloured  grains,  % m/m 1 2 3 
vii) Immature/shrivelled  grains,  % 
m/m 3 5 8 
viii) Filth,  % m/m 0.1 
ix) Moisture,  % m/m 14 
x) contrasting varieties , % m/m  1
.
5 3
.
0 5
.
0 
 
5.0 Contaminants  
 
5.1 Pesticide  residues  
 
Chickpeas  shall comply  with those  maximum  pesticide  residue  limits  established  by the Codex  Alimentarius  
Commission for  this commodity.  
 
5.2 Chickpeas shall comply  with those maximum heavy metal  limits stipulated in CXS 193  
 
5.3 Chickpeas shall comply with those maximum mycotoxin limits stipulated in CXS 193  
 
 6.0  Hygiene  
 
Chickpeas  shall be produced,  prepared  and handled  in accordance  with the provisions  of appropriate  
sections  of EAS 39 
 
 7.0 Packaging  
 
7.1 Chickpeas  shall be packaged in food grade packaging material which will safeguard the hygienic, nutritional, 
technological and organoleptic qualities of the products.  
 
7.2 Each package shall be securely closed and sealed.  
 
 
 
 © EAC  2024 – All rights  reserved  1
0  
  8.0 Labelling  and marking  
 
8.1 In addition  to the requirements  in EAS 38, each  package  shall be legibly  and indelibly  labelled  with 
the following:  
 
a) product  name  as ―chickpeas ; 
 
b) variety;  
 
c) grade;  
 
d) name,  address  and physical  location  of the producer/  packer/importer;  
 
e) lot/batch/code  number;  
 
f) net weight,  in metric units  
 
g) the declaration  ―Food  for Human  Consumption’’;  
 
h) storage  instruction  as ―Store  in a cool dry place  away  from any  contaminants’’;  
 
i) crop year;  
 
j) packing  date;  
 
k) instructions  on disposal  of used  package;  
 
l) country  of origin; and  
 
m) a declaration  on whether  the chickpeas  were  genetically  modified  or not.  
 
 
 8.2 Labelling of non -retail containers  
 Information detailed 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 a n identification mark provided that such a mark is clearly identifiable with the 
accompanying documents.  
 
9.0 Sampling  methods  
 
Sampling  shall be done  in accordance  with the EAS 900 
  
© EAC  2024  – All rights  reserved