ICS 65.120  
 
Reference number  
DRS 487 : 2021  
© RSB 2021  
  
 RWANDA 
STANDARD  DRS 487  
487-1  
 
First edition  
2021 -mm-dd 
 
Edible insect  products — Specification   
Part 1: Whole insect and edible insect flour  
   
DRS487 -1: 2021  
©RSB 2021 - 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 2021  
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 R SB. 
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 487 -1: 2021  
iii                ©RSB 2021  - All rights reserved  
 Contents  Page 
Foreword  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...................  iv 
1 Scope  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .............  1 
2 Normative references  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...................  1 
3 Terms and definitions  ................................ ................................ ................................ ..................  2 
4 Requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................  3 
4.1 General requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ ..................  3 
4.2 Specific requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ ..................  3 
4.3 Optional ingredients  ................................ ................................ ................................ .....................  3 
5 Food additives  ................................ ................................ ................................ ..............................  4 
6 Hygiene  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ..........  4 
7 Contaminants  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................  4 
8 Packaging  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...... 5 
9 Labelling  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ........  5 
Annex  A (normative)  P otential species for production of edible insect products  ... Error! Bookmark 
not defined.  
A.1 General  ................................ ................................ .............................  Error! Bookmark not defined.  
 DRS487 -1: 2021  
©RSB 2021 - All rights reserved                  iv 
 Foreword  
Rwanda Standard s 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 S tandards adopted 
by Technical committ ees are ratifie d by me mbers of RSB Board of Director s for publication and gazettment as 
Rwanda Standards.  
DRS 487-1 was prepared by Technical Committee RSB/TC 005, Meat and Meat products . 
In the preparation of this standard, reference was made to the following standard  (s): 
1) KS 2922 -1:2020 Edible insects ― Specification Part 1: Edible insects’ products  
The assistance de rived from the above source is hereby acknowledged with thanks.  
DRS 487 nnn consists of the following parts, under the general title Edible insect products — Specification  
⎯ Part 1: Whole insect and edible insect flour  
⎯ Part [n+1]: Part title  
⎯ Part [n+2]: Part title  
Committee membership  
The following organizations were represented on the Technical Committee on Title of TC  (RSB/TC 005) in the 
preparation of this standard.  
Paragraph of p articipants  
Rwanda  Standards Board  (RSB) – Secretariat  
 DRS 487 -1: 2021  
1                ©RSB 2021  - All rights reserved  
 Edible insects’  products  — Specification  —Part 1: Whole  edible insect  
and edible insect  flour   
1 Scope   
This Draft Rwanda Standard specifies the requirements, sampling and test methods for edible w hole insect s 
and edible insect flour 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.  
RS CODEX STAN 192, Genera l standard for food additives  
RS EAS 38, Labelling of prepackaged foods — General requirements  
RS EAS 804, Claims on food — General requirements  
RS EAS 805, Use of nutrition and health claims — Requirements  
RS ISO 4833 -1, Microbiology of the food chain — Horizontal method for the enumeration of microorganisms — 
Part 1: Colony count at 30 ºC by the pour plate technique  
ISO 5983 -1, Animal feeding stuffs —  Determination of nitrogen content and calculation of crude protein  content 
—  Part 1: Kjeldahl method  
RS ISO 5985, Animal feeding stuffs — Determination of ash insoluble in hydrochloric acid  
ISO 6633, Fruits, vegetabl es and derived products —  Determination of lead content —  Flameless atomic  
absorption spectrometric method  
ISO 6496, Animal feeding s tuffs —  Determination of moisture and other volatile matter content  
RS ISO 6579 -1, Microbiology of the food chain — Horizontal method for the detection, enumeration and  
serotyping of Salmonella — Part 1: Detection of Salmonella spp  
RS ISO 6888 -1, Microbiol ogy of food and animal feeding stuffs —  Horizontal method for the enumeration of  
coagulase -positive staphylococci (staphylococcus Aureus and other species) Part  1: Technique using bairdpac  
ISO 10272 -1, Microbiology of the food Chain -Horizontal method for detection and enumeration of 
Campylobacter spp. — Part 1: Detection method   
©RSB 2021 - All rights reserved                  2 
 ISO 11290 -2, Microbiology of the food chain — Horizontal method for the detection and enumeration of Listeria 
monocytogenes and of Listeria spp. — Part 2: Enumeration method  
ISO 166 49-2, Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal method for the enumeration of 
Bglucuronidase -positive Escherichia coli —Part 1: Colony -count technique at 44 using membranes and 5 -
bromo -4 
ISO 13547 -2, Copper, lead, zinc and nickel sulphide concentrates —Determination of arsenic Part 2: Acid  
digestion and inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometric method  
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 22964, Microbiology of the food chain — Horizontal method for the detection of cronobacter spp.  
KS 2921 , Primary production of  insects for food and feed — Code of practice  
ISO 27085, Animal feeding stuffs —Determination of calcium, sodium, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, 
iron, zinc, copper, manganese, cobalt, molybdenum, arsenic, lead and cadmium by ICP -AES 
3 Terms and definition s  
For the purposes of this standard, the follow ing terms and definitions apply . 
3.1 
edible insect product  
product that has been processed from edible insects collected either from domesticated farms or from the wild   
3.2 
whole edible insect  
edible insect intended  for human consumption in their natural form after primary processing to minimize 
contamination and improve palatability  
3.3 
edible insect flour  
 particulate product obtained by processing edible insect into flour  
 DRS 487 -1: 2021  
3                ©RSB 2021  - All rights reserved  
 4 Requirements  
4.1 General requirements  
Edible whole insects and  edible  insect flour shall be:  
a) produced from edible insect species;  
b) free from adulterants, extraneous material and objectionable  odour  and taste ;  
c) free from infestation and contamination from pests.  
d)  produced from any suitable life stage  
e) Free from inedible parts including legs, antenna, wings  
4.2 Specific requirements  
whole insects and insect flour shall comply with the specific requi rements given in Table 1, when tested in 
accordance with the test methods given therein.  
Table 1 — Requirements for edible insects’ products  
S/N  Parameter  Whole 
insects  Insect flour  Test method  
Whole 
Insect flour  Defatted Insect flour  
i.  Moisture content, % 
m/m, max.  10 10 10 ISO 6496  
ii.  Protein content % m/m, 
min.  - 30 40 ISO 5983 -1 
iii.  Crude fat % m/m, max. - 15 5 ISO 11085  
iv.  Crude fiber, % m/m, max - 8 10 ISO 5498  
v.  Total ash, % m/m, max - 20 20  
vi.  Fatty acidity, mg 
KOH/100g   80 80 ISO 7305  
vii.  Acid insoluble ash, % 
m/m, max.   1 1 ISO 5985  
The deviation from the declared  protein content shall not be more than 5%  of the actual protein content  
4.3 Optional ingredients  
Edible insect products may contain other approved food ingredients to enhance flavour and palatability such as 
edible salt, seasonings and herbs complying with relevant standards.   
©RSB 2021 - All rights reserved                  4 
 5 Food additives  
Only permitted food additives in accordance with RS CODEX STA N 192 for similar products may be used.  
6 Hygiene  
6.1 The edible insects’ products shall be prepared and packaged in premises built and maintained under 
hygienic conditions in accordance with RS CAC/RCP 1.  
6.2 Edible insects’ products shall not exceed microb iological limits indicated in Table 2, when tested in 
accordance with the test methods specified therein.  
Table 2 — Microbiological limits for edible insect’ products  
S/N  Type of micro -organism  Maximum limit  Test method  
i.  Total Plate  Count  , CFU/g  105 RS ISO 4833 -1 
ii.  Salmonella  spp per 25 g  absent  RS ISO 6579 -1 
iii.  E.Coli,  CFU/g  Absent  RS ISO 16649 -2 
iv.  Staphylococcus aureus  CFU/g  <10 RS ISO 6888 -1 
v.  Cronobacter spp.(Enterobacter  sakazakii) 
CFU/g  Absent  ISO 22964  
vi.  Campylobacter, per 25 g  Absent  RS ISO 10272 -1 
vii.  Yeast and moulds, CFU/g  103 RS ISO 21527 -2 
 
7 Contaminants  
7.1 Edible insect’ products  shall comply with those maximum limits for pesticides that are p rovided by Codex 
Alimentarius Commission . 
7.2 Edible insect’ products shall not contain heavy metal exceeding the limits indicated in Table 3, when tested 
in accordance with the test methods specified therein.  
Table 3 — Limits for heavy metal contaminants for edible insects’ products  
S/N  Contaminant  Maximum  limit, mg/kg  Test method  
i.  Lead (Pb)  0.5  RS ISO 6633  
ii.  Arsenic (Ar)  0.1  RS ISO 13547 -2 
iii.  Cadmium  0.4  RS ISO 27085  
iv.  Mercury  0.03  
7.4 Edible insects’ products shall not exceed those maximum levels of mycotoxins specified in Table 4  when 
tested in accordance with test methods specified therein.  DRS 487 -1: 2021  
5                ©RSB 2021  - All rights reserved  
 Table 4 — Mycotoxins limits for flaked cereals  
S/N Mycotoxin  Maximum levels μg/kg, 
max Test method  
i.  Total aflatoxins  10 RS ISO 16050  
ii.  Aflatoxin B1  5 
8 Packaging  
The edible insects’ products shall be packaged in food grade packaging materials that shall ensure the safety 
and integrity of the product throughout the shelf life.  
9 Labelling  
9.1 In addition to  the labelling requirements of R S EAS 38, the label shall include the following in formation:  
a) name of the product shall be either ‘whole edible insect’ or ‘ edible insect flour” defatted  edible  insect flour ; 
b) declare the insect by scientific name  and common name  in bracket   
c) the life stage of edible insect used  
d) direction for use of the prod uct; and  
e) storage instructions.  
f) Protein content  
g) fat content  
h) declare the flavour agent if used  
i) batch number/lot number  
j) expiry date  
9.2 Any health and/or nutrition claim on products from edible insect s shall comply with the provisions of R S 
EAS 804 and R S EAS 805.  
 
 DRS 487 -1: 2021  
 
Price based on  nnn pages  
©RSB 2021  - All right s reserved