7 DRAFT UGANDA STA NDARD  
  DUS 997 
Second Edition  
2021 -mm-dd 
 
 
 Reference number  
DUS 997: 2021 
© UNBS 2021   
  
Cooking banana (matooke)  — Specification  
  
 DRAFT UGANDA STANDARD  DUS 997: 2021  
 
© UNBS 2021 – All rights reserved  1 
 Compliance with this standard does not, of itself confer immunity from legal obligations  
A Uganda Standard does not purport to include all necessary provisions of a contract. Users are 
responsible for its correc t application  
© UNBS 2021  
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, no part of this publication may be reproduced or utilised in any 
form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and microfilm, without prior written 
permissi on from UNBS.  
Requests for permission to reproduce this document should be addressed to  
The Executive Director  
Uganda National Bureau of Standards  
P.O. Box 6329  
Kampala  
Uganda  
Tel: +256 41 4 333 2 50/1/2/3  
Fax: +256 41 4 286 123  
E-mail: info@unbs.go.ug  
Web: www.unbs.go.ug   
2 © UNBS 2021 – All rights reserved  
 Contents  Page 
Foreword  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .......................  3 
1 Scope  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ................  4 
2 Normative references  ................................ ................................ ................................ .......................  4 
3 Terms and definitions  ................................ ................................ ................................ ......................  4 
4 Presenta tion ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ..... 4 
5 Classification  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .... 5 
5.1 General  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .............  5 
5.2  “Extra” Class  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .... 5 
5.3 Class I  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...............  5 
5.4 Class II  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ..............  5 
6 Requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ... 6 
6.1 General requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ ......................  6 
6.2 Specific requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ ......................  6 
7 Sizing  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ................  6 
8 Tolerances  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ........  7 
8.1 General  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .............  7 
8.2 Quality tolerances  ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................  7 
8.3 Size tolerances  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ . 7 
9 Hygiene  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .............  7 
10 Contaminants  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ... 7 
10.1  Heavy metals  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .... 7 
10.2  Pesticide residues  ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................  7 
11 Packaging  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .........  7 
12 Weights and measures  ................................ ................................ ................................ ....................  8 
13 Labelling  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........  8 
Bibliography ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ..................  9 
 DUS 997: 2021  
© UNBS 2021 – All rights reserved  3 
 Foreword  
Uganda Nat ional Bureau of Standards (UNBS) is a parastatal under the Ministry of Trade , Industry and 
Cooperatives established under Cap 327 , of the Laws of Uganda , as amended .  UNBS is mandated to co -
ordinate the elaboration of standards and is  
(a) a member of Internat ional Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) and  
(b) a contact point for the WHO/FAO Codex Alimentarius Commission on Food Standards, and  
(c) the National Enquiry Point on TBT  Agreement  of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).  
The work of preparing Uganda Standard s is carried out through Technical Committees. A Technical 
Committee is established to deliberate on standards in a given field or area and consists of key stakeholders 
including government, academia, consumer groups, private sector and other interested pa rties.  
Draft Uganda Standards adopted by the Technical Committee are widely circulated to stakeholders and the 
general public for comments. The committee reviews the comments before recommending the draft standards 
for approval and declaration as Uganda S tandards by the National Standards Council.  
The committee responsible for this document is Technical Committee UNBS /TC 204, Fruits, vegetables,  
tubers and processed products  
This second edition cancels and replaces the first edition ( US 997:2014 ), which ha s been technically revised.   
4 © UNBS 2021 – All rights reserved  
 Cooking banana (matooke)  — Specification  
1 Scope   
This Draft Uganda Standard specifies requirements for cooking banana (matooke) grown from Musa spp . 
(AAA -EAH)  and of family Musaceae to be supplied raw to the consumer  
2 Normat ive references   
The following referenced documents 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 e dition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.  
US EAS 38 Labelling of pre -packaged foods - General requirements  
US 28 EAS 39 , Code of practice for hygiene in the food and drink manufacturing industry  
US EAS 803 , Nutrition labelling - Requirements  
US EAS 805,  Use of nutrition and health claims - Requirements  
US 738, General standard for contaminants and toxins in food  and feed   
CAC/RCP 44 , \ Code of practice for packaging and transport of fresh fruits and vegetables  
3 Terms and defini tions   
:For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions 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  
clusters  
fingers on the same crown of cooking banana (matooke)  
3.2  
fingers  
individual cooking banana (matooke) fruits  
3.3  
matooke  
Ugandan local name for East African Highland (EAH) green banana  
4 Present ation  
Cooking banana (matooke) may be presented in one of the following styles:  
a) raw ( green, unpeeled), in form of clusters or fingers;  DUS 997: 2021  
© UNBS 2021 – All rights reserved  5 
 b) raw (peeled); or  
c) other sufficiently distinctive styles of presentation.  
5 Classification  
5.1 General  
Cooking banana ( matooke) may be classified in three classes namely  
a) “Extra” Class,  
b) Class I, and  
c) Class II.  
5.2  “Extra” Class  
Cooking banana (matooke) in this class shall be of superior quality and characteristic of the variety and/or 
commercial type. The fingers shall  be free of defects, with the exception of very slight superficial defects, 
provided these do not affect the general appearance and quality of the produce, the keeping quality and 
presentation in the package.  
5.3 Class I  
Cooking banana (matooke) in this class shall be of good quality and characteristic of the variety. The following 
slight defects of the fingers, however, may be allowed, provided these do not affect the general appearance 
and quality of the produce, the keeping quality and presentation in the package:  
a) slight defects in shape and colour; and  
b) slight skin defects due to rubbing and other superficial defects not exceeding 2 cm 2 of the total surface 
area.  
c) The defects shall not, in any case, affect the flesh of the fruit.  
5.4 Class II  
This cl ass includes cooking banana (matooke) which does not qualify for inclusion in the higher classes, but 
satisfies the requirements specified in 6.2.1 The following defects, however, may be allowed, provided the 
cooking banana (matooke) retains its essential characteristics as regards the quality, the keeping quality and 
presentation:  
a) defects in shape and colour, provided the product retains the normal characteristics of cooking 
banana (matooke); and  
b) skin defects due to scraping, scabs, rubbing, blemishes or  other causes not exceeding 4 cm 2 of the 
total surface area.  
c) The defects shall not, in any case, affect the flesh of the fruit.   
6 © UNBS 2021 – All rights reserved  
 6 Requirements  
6.1 General requirements   
Cooking banana (matooke) shall be of a colour, flavour and taste appropriate for the species, free of organic 
and mineral impurities and free, as far as possible, from damage caused by disease and insects.  
6.2 Specific  requirements   
6.2.1  In all classes, subject to the special provisions for each class and the tolerances allowed, cooking 
banana (matooke) shall be:  
a) whole and firm (taking the finger as the reference);  
b) sound, that is, produce not affected by rotting or deterioration such as to make it unfit for 
consumption;  
c) clean, practically free of any visible foreign matter;  
d) practicall y free of pests affecting the general appearance of the produce;  
e) practically free of damage caused by pests;  
f) free of damage caused by low or high temperatures;  
g) practically free of bruises;  
h) free of malformation or abnormal curvature of the fingers;  
i) with pistils removed (deflowered);  
j) with the stalk intact, without fungal damage or dessication;  
k) free from ripening;  
l) free from fused fingers;  
m) free from finger end rot;  
n) of the correct length; and  
o) without splits or broken pedicels or tips.  
6.2.2  In additi on clusters shall include:  
a) a sufficient portion of the crown of normal coloring, sound and free of fungal contamination; and  
b) a cleanly cut crown, not bevelled or torn, with no stalk fragments.  
7 Sizing  
The reference fruit for measurement of the length i s the median finger on the outer row of the clusters. The 
minimum length shall not be less than 10.0 cm.  DUS 997: 2021  
© UNBS 2021 – All rights reserved  7 
 8 Tolerances  
8.1 General  
Tolerances in respect of quality and size shall be allowed for produce not satisfying the requirements of the 
class indicat ed.  
8.2 Quality tolerances  
8.2.1  “Extra” Class  
5 % by number or weight of cooking banana (matooke) not satisfying the requirements of the class, but 
meeting those of Class I  
8.2.2  Class I  
10 % by number or weight of cooking banana (matooke) not satisf ying the requirements of the class, but 
meeting those of Class II  
8.2.3  Class II  
10 % by number or weight of cooking banana (matooke) satisfying neither the requirements of the class nor 
the minimum requirements, with the exception of produce affected by  rotting, major imperfections or any other 
deterioration rendering it unfit for consumption  
8.3 Size tolerances  
For all classes, 10 % by number or weight of cooking banana (matooke) not satisfying the requirements as 
regards sizing, but falling within th e size immediately above or below that indicated in Clause 5.  
9 Hygiene  
Cooking banana (matooke) shall be produced and handled in accordance with US 28. EAS 39  
10 Contaminants  
10.1 Heavy metals  
Cooking banana (matooke)shall comply with those maximum leve ls for heavy metals in US 738.  
10.2 Pesticide residues  
Cooking banana (matooke) shall comply with those maximum pesticide residue limits established by the 
Codex Alimentarius Commission for this commodity.  
11 Packaging  
11.1 Cooking banana (matooke) sha ll be packed in such a way as to protect the produce properly.  
11.2 The materials used inside the package shall be of food grade, new, clean, and of such a quality as to 
avoid causing any external or internal damage to the produce during handling.   
8 © UNBS 2021 – All rights reserved  
 11.3 The use of materials, particularly of paper or stamps bearing trade specifications is allowed, provided 
the printing or labelling has been done with non -toxic ink or glue.  
11.4 Cooking banana (matooke) shall be packed in each container in compliance with C AC/RCP 44.  
11.5 Packaging materials shall conform to the environmental requirements and regulations of importing 
countries.  
11.6 The contents of each package shall be uniform and contain only cooking banana (matooke) of the same 
origin, variety, and qual ity. The visible part of the contents of the package shall be representative of the entire 
contents.  
11.7  Cooking banana (matooke) may be presented as clusters or as single fingers. Clusters with no more 
than one missing fingers are allowed, provided the crown is not torn but cleanly cut, without causing damage 
to the neighbouring  fingers.  
12 Weights and measures  
Cooking banana (matooke) shall be packaged in accordance with the Weights and Measures legislation of 
Uganda . 
13 Labelling  
Cooking banana (mat ooke) shall be labelled in accordance with the requirements of US EAS 38 . In addition, 
the following specific provisions shall apply:  
a) name and address of exporter, packer and/or dispatcher and identification code (optional);  
b) name of the produce   as Cooki ng banana (matooke)  
c) name of the variety or commercial type (optional);  
d) name of country of origin and, optionally district where grown;  
e) commercial Identification which may include cooking banana (matooke) in fingers or clusters;  
f) class;  
g) net weight (optio nal); and  
h) official inspection mark ( optional).  
i) Nutritional and health labelling claims may be made in accordance with US EAS 803 and US EAS 805  DUS 997: 2021  
© UNBS 2021 – All rights reserved  9 
 Bibliography  
[1] US 997:2014, Cooking banana (matooke) — Specification  
[2] CODEX S TAN 205 -1997, AMD. 1 -2005, Codex  Standard for Bananas  
[3] www.traditionaltree.org  
 DUS 997: 2021  
© UNBS 2021 – All rights reserved  11 
 Certification marking  
Products that conform to Uganda standards may be marked with Uganda National Bureau of Standards 
(UNBS) Certification Mark shown in  the figure below.  
The use of the UNBS Certification Mark is governed by the Standards Act, and the Regulations made 
thereunder. This mark can be used only by those licensed under the certification mark scheme operated by 
the Uganda National Bureau of Sta ndards and in conjunction with the relevant Uganda Standard. The 
presence of this mark on a product or in relation to a product is an assurance that the goods comply with the 
requirements of that standard under a system of supervision, control and testing in accordance with the 
certification mark scheme of the Uganda National Bureau of Standards. UNBS marked products are 
continually checked by UNBS for conformity to that standard.  
Further particulars of the terms and conditions of licensing may be obtained  from the Director, Uganda 
National Bureau of Standards.  
 
 DUS 997: 2021    
 
ICS 67.080.10  
Price based o n nn pages  
© UNBS 2021 – All rights reserved