DEAS 1147 : 2023 
ICS 67.180.10  
 
© EAC 2023                                                                                                                              First Edition 2023 
 DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  
Flavoured honey — Specification  
EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY  DEAS 1147: 202 3 
ii © EAC  2023 – All rights reserved  
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Reproduction for sales purposes may be subject to royalty payments or a licensing agreement.  
Violators may be prosecuted . DEAS 1147: 2023  
© EAC 2023 – All rights reserved  iii 
 Contents  Page 
Foreword  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................  iv 
1 Scope  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ......................  1 
2 Normative references  ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................  1 
3 Terms and definitions  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........................  2 
4 Requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .........  3 
4.1 Description  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .............  3 
4.2 Ingredients  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .............  3 
4.3 General requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........................  3 
4.4 Specific requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........................  3 
5 Contaminants  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .........  3 
5.1 Heavy metals  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ..........  3 
5.2 Pesticides residues  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...............................  4 
5.3 Microbiological requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ ..............  4 
5.4 Aflatoxins  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...............  4 
6 Sampling  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ................  4 
7 Packaging  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...............  4 
7.1 Packing  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...................  4 
7.2 Labelling  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .................  4 
Annex  A (normative)  Gravimetric determination of water -insoluble solids content (Type II 
method)  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ..................  6 
A.1 Sampling  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ................  6 
A.1.1  Liquid or strained honey ................................ ................................ ................................ .......................  6 
A.1.2  Comb honey  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........  6 
A.2 Procedure  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...............  6 
A.2.1   Preparation of test sample  ................................ ................................ ................................ ..................  6 
A.2.2  Gravimetric determination  ................................ ................................ ................................ ....................  6 
A.2.3  Expression of results  ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................  6 
Annex  B (normative)  Determination of fructose -glucose ratio  ................................ ................................ .... 7 
B.1 Principle of the method ................................ ................................ ................................ .........................  7 
B.2 Reagents  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ................  7 
B.3 Procedure  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...............  7 
B.4 Calculation and expression of results  ................................ ................................ ................................  7 
Annex  C (normative)  Fiehe's test  ................................ ................................ ................................ .....................  9 
C.1 Reagent  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ..................  9 
C.2 Procedure  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...............  9 
C.3 Expression of results  ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................  9 
Annex  D (normative)  Determination of sugars by HPLC  ................................ ................................ .............  10 
D.1 Principle o f the method ................................ ................................ ................................ .......................  10 
D.2 Reagents  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ..............  10 
D.3 Apparatus  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .............  10 
D.4 Preparation  of the sample solution  ................................ ................................ ................................ ... 11 
D.5 Calculation and expression of results  ................................ ................................ ..............................  11 
Bibliography  ................................ ................................ ................................ ............ Error! Bookmark not defined.  
 DEAS 1147: 202 3 
iv © EAC  2023 – 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 African Community. It is envisaged that through 
harmonized standardiz ation, trade barriers that are encountered when goods and services are exchanged 
within the Community will be removed.  
The Community has established an East African Standards Committee  (EASC)  mandated to develop and 
issue East African Standards  (EAS) . The Committee is composed of representatives of the National 
Standards Bodies in Partner States, together with the representatives from the public and private sector 
organizations  in the community .  
East African Standards are developed through  Technical Commi ttees that are representative of key 
stakeholders including government, academia, consumer groups, private sector and other interested parties. 
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 Principles and procedures for development of East African Standards.  
East African Standards are subject to review, to keep pace with tech nological 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 .  
The committee responsible for this document is Technical Committee EASC/TC 011, Apiary and apiary 
products  
TAttention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be subject of patent 
rights. EAC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.  
 
 DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  DEAS 1147: 2023  
 
 
© EAC 2023 – All rights reserved  1 
 
 
 Flavoured honey — Specification  
1 Scope   
This Draft East African Standard specifies the requirements, sampling and test methods for Flavored Honey  
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 t heir 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, 920.183, Sugars (reducing) in hone y 
AOAC 920.184, Sucrose in honey  
AOAC 958.09, Determination of diastase activity  
AOAC 980.23, Determination of hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) content  
AOAC 962.19, Determination of acidity (free, lactone, and total). Titrimetric method  
AOAC 969.38b, Determinat ion of moisture content  
AOAC 920.181, Ash of honey   
AOAC 999.1 , General atomic absorption spectrophotometric method for determination of lead in food and 
food stuffs  
EAS 36, Honey  — Specification  
EAS 38, Labelling of pre -packaged foods — General Requiremen t 
EAS 39, Hygiene in the food and drink manufacturing industry — Code of practice  
ISO 4833 -2, Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal method for the enumeration of 
microorganisms — Colony -count technique at 300c 
ISO 6579 -1, Microbiology  of food and feeding stuffs — Horizontal method for the detection of salmonella spp  
ISO 6888 -1, Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal method for the enumeration of 
coagulase -positive staphylococci (Staphylococcus aureus and other spec ies) DEAS 1147: 202 3 
2 © EAC  2023 – All rights reserved  
 ISO 6634, Fruits, vegetables and derived products — Sampling and methods of test Part 14: Determination of 
arsenic content — Silver diethyldithocarbamate spectrophotometric method  
ISO 6561 -2, Fruits, vegetables and derived products — Determination of cadmium content — Part 2: Method 
using flame atomic absorption spectrometry  
ISO 21527 -1, Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs  — Horizontal method for the enumeration of 
yeasts and moulds  — Part 1: Colony count technique in products with water act ivity greater than 0,95  
ISO 16649 -3, Microbiology of the food chain — Horizontal method for the enumeration of beta -glucuronidase -
positive Escherichia coli — Part 3: Detection and most probable number technique using 5 -bromo -4-chloro -3-
indolyl -ß-D-glucuron ide 
ISO 16050, Foodstuffs — Determination of aflatoxin B1, and the total content of aflatoxins B1, B2, G1 and G2 
in cereals, nuts and derived products — High-performance liquid chromatographic method  
ISO 11290 -1, Microbiology of food and animal feeding stu ffs — Horizontal method for the detection and 
enumeration of Listeria monocytogenes  
3 Terms and definitions  
For the purposes of this document, the terms and definitions given in ISO 10185  apply.  
ISO and IEC maintain terminological databases for use in sta ndardization at the following addresses:  
— ISO Online browsing platform: available at http://www.iso.org/obp  
3.1 
honey  
natural sweet substance produced by honeybees of genus Apis from the nectar of blossoms or from 
secretions of living parts of plants or excretions of plant sucking insects on the living parts of the plants, which 
honeybees collect, transform and combine with specific substances of their own, deposit, dehydrate, store and 
leave in the honey comb to ripe n and mature.  
 
3.2 
flavoured honey  
product obtained by mixing honey with flavouring agents  
3.3 
flavouring agents  
products that are added to food to impart, modify or enhance the flavour of food , flavourings do not include 
substances that have an exclusive ly sweet, sour, or salty taste (e.g. sugar, vinegar, and table  
salt).  
3.4 
foreign matter  
organic or inorganic material other than Honey or Flavouring agent added  
3.5 
Contaminant  
Any substance not intentionally added to food or feed for food producing anim als, which is present in such 
food or feed as a result of the production (including operations carried out in crop husbandry, animal 
husbandry and veterinary medicine), manufacture, processing, preparation, treatment, packing, packaging, 
transport or holdi ng of such food or feed, or as a result of environmental contamination. The term does not 
include insect fragments, rodent hairs and other extraneous matter”  DEAS 1147: 2023  
© EAC 2023 – All rights reserved  3 
 4 Requirements  
4.1 Description  
Flavoured honey is the product that is prepared by mixing honey wit h flavouring agents  that comply with the 
relevant  standards. It shall not contain any extraneous substances other than the material used for flavouring.  
4.2 Ingredients  
a) Honey shall comply  with specification of EAS 36 . 
b) Flavouring agent s should be used in a ccordance with CAC/GL 66  and shall conform with relevant 
standards.  
4.3 General requirements  
4.2.1  Taste and odour of Flavoured honey shall be pleasant and characteristic of the desig nated product. It 
shall not have a  rancid taste or must y smell and shall  be free from adulteration.  
4.2.2  If spices are used in  powder form  they shall be ground to fineness.  
4.2.3  Flavoured honey shall be free from extraneous matter, dirt, fungal growth and insect infestation.  
4.4 Specific requirements  
Flavoured honey shal l comply with the specific quality requirements given in Table 1 when tested in 
accordance with the test methods specified therein.  
 Table 1 ― Specific requirements for  flavoured honey  
S/N Characteristic  Requirement  Test method  
i Reducing sugar content ca lculated as 
invert sugar, % m/m, min.  60 AOAC 920.183  
ii Moisture content, % m/m, max.  20 AOAC 969.38 b  
iii Sucrose content, % m/m, max.  5 AOAC 920.184  
iv Water insoluble solids, % m/m, max.  0.5 Annex A  
v Total ash, % m/m, max.  0.6 AOAC 920.181  
vi Acidity as meq acid per kg, max.  40 AOAC 962.19  
vii Diastase activity, Schade units, min.  8 AOAC 958.09  
viii Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), mg/kg, 
max.  40 AOAC 980.23  
ix Fructose -glucose ratio  min. 1 Annex B  
x Fiehe's test  Negative  Annex C  
 
5 Contami nants  
5.1 Heavy metals  
Flavoured honey shall not contain any metal contaminants in excess of levels specified in Table 2.  DEAS 1147: 202 3 
4 © EAC  2023 – All rights reserved  
  
Table 2  — Requirements heavy metal in flavoured honey  
 
S/No  Characteristic  Maximum limit (mg/kg)  Test method  
i)  Arsenic  0.2 ISO 6634  
ii)  Lead  0.5 AOAC 999.1  
iii)  Cadmium  0.1 ISO 6561 -2 
 
5.2 Pesticides residues  
Flavoured honey shall comply with the pesticide residue limits prescribed by the Codex Alimentarius 
Commission.   
5.3 Microbiological requirements  
Flavoured honey shall be prepared in  accordance with EAS 39, and shall comply with the microbi ological 
limits given in Table 3 .  
Table 3  — Microbiological requirement for flavoured honey  
S/No  Characteristic  Maximum limit  Test method  
i)  E. coli , MPN  Absent  ISO 16649 -3  
ii)  Yeast/moulds, cfu/g   102 ISO 21527 -1  
iii)  Total plate count, cfu/g  103 ISO 21527 -1  
iv)  Salmonella  spp /25g Absent  ISO 6579 -1 
v)  Listeria monocytogenes ,cfu/g  Absent  ISO 11290 -1 
vi)  S. aureus , cfu/g  Absent  ISO 6888 -1 
 
5.4 Aflatoxin s 
Flavoured honey shal l not have more than 5 ppb for aflatoxin B1 and 10 ppb for total a flatoxin s when tested 
according to ISO 16050 . 
6 Sampling  
Sampling of flavoured honey shall be done in accordance with CAC/GL 50.  
7 Packaging  
7.1 Packing  
Flavoured honey shall be packaged in a food grade material that pro tects the integrity and safety of the 
product.  
 
7.2 Labelling  
In addition to the labelling requirements given in EAS 38, the package shall be legibly and indelibly labelled 
with the following information;  DEAS 1147: 2023  
© EAC 2023 – All rights reserved  5 
 a) name of the product” Flavoured honey”  
b) list of ingr edients in order of proportion;  
c) batch number;  
d) date of packing and expiry date;  
e) name, contact and physical address of the manufacturer;  
f) net weight;  
g) country of origin;  
h) storage condition;  
i) direction for use and disposal of used packages  DEAS 1147: 202 3 
6 © EAC  2023 – All rights reserved  
 Annex  A 
(normative)  
 
Gravimetric determination of water -insoluble solids content (Type II 
method)  
A.1 Sampling  
A.1.1  Liquid or strained honey  
If sample is free from granulation, mix thoroughly by stirring or shaking; if granulated, place closed container in 
water -bath without submerging, and heat 30 min. at 60 °C; then if necessary, heat at 65 °C until liquefied. 
Occasional shaking is essential. Mix thoroughly and cool rapidly as soon as sample liquefies. Do not heat 
honey intended for hydroxymethylfurfural or diastatic determi nation. If foreign matter, such as wax, sticks, 
bee’s particles or comb, etc., is present, heat sample at 40 °C in water -bath and strain through cheesecloth in 
hot-water -funnel before sampling.  
A.1.2  Comb honey  
Cut across top of comb, if sealed, and sepa rate completely from comb by straining through a sieve the 
meshes of which are made by so weaving wire as to form square opening of 0.500 mm by 0.500 mm when 
portions of comb or wax pass through sieve, heat sample as in 7.1.3.1 and strain through cheeseclo th. If 
honey is granulated in comb, heat until wax is liquefied; stir, cool and remove wax.  
A.2 Procedure  
A.2.1   Preparation of test sample  
Honey (20 g) is weighted to the nearest centigram (10 mg) and dissolved in a suitable quantity of distilled 
water  at 80 °C and mixed well.  
A.2.2  Gravimetric determination  
The test sample is filtered through a previously dried and weighed fine sintered glass crucible (pore size 
15.40) and washed thoroughly with hot water (80 °C) until free from sugars (Mohr test).  The crucible is dried 
for one hour at 135 °C, cooled and weighed to 0.1 mg.  
A.2.3  Expression of results  
 The result is expressed as percent water insoluble solids (m/m)  DEAS 1147: 2023  
© EAC 2023 – All rights reserved  7 
 Annex  B 
(normative)  
 
Determination of fructose -glucose ratio  
B.1 Principle of the method  
The glucose portion of the invert sugar content of honey is determined by reacting it with iodine. The fructose 
content is calculated by subtraction.  
B.2 Reagents  
 —  0.05 N iodine solution  
 —  0.01 N sodium hydroxide solution  
 —  Standard sodium thiosulphate solution (0.05 N).  
B.3 Procedure  
Pipette 50 ml of honey solution in a 250 ml stoppered flask. Add iodine solution and 25 ml of sodium 
hydroxide solution. Stopper the flask and keep in dark for  20 min. Acidify with 5 ml of sulphuric acid and titrate 
quickly the excess of iodine against standard thiosulphate solution. Conduct a blank using 50 ml of water 
instead of honey solution.  
B.4 Calculation and expression of results  
B.4.1  Approximate gluc ose, per cent by mass (g of glucose per 100 g honey) :  
 
    (B−S)×0.004502 ×100 
w = 
                                               a 
where  
B is the volume of sodium thiosulphate solution required for the blank (ml).  
 S is the volume of sodium thiosulphate solution required for the sample (ml), and  
 a is the mass o f honey taken for the test.  
B.4.2 Approximate fructose, per cent by mass (g fructose per 100 g honey):  
Total reducing sugars (c) - approximate glucose content (w)  
 X =   
0.925  
  
B.4.3 Actual glucose content (g per 100 g honey), percent (y) = w - 0.012 x , and  
  
Total reducing sugars – y actual  DEAS 1147: 202 3 
8 © EAC  2023 – All rights reserved  
 Fructose content (g per 100 g honey), per cent (z) =                
                           0.925  
  
 
Actual fructose content (z)  
B.4.4  Fructose -glucose ratio  =    
Actual glucose content (y)  
 
 
 DEAS 1147: 2023  
© EAC 2023 – All rights reserved  9 
 Annex  C 
(normat ive) 
 
Fiehe's test  
C.1 Reagent  
Resorcinol solution  
Dissolve 1 g of resublimed resorcinol in 100 ml of hydrochloric acid (sp. gr. 1.18 to 1.19).  
C.2 Procedure  
Dissolve 2 g of honey in 10 ml of water and extract with 30 ml ether. A continuous extractor i s preferable. 
Remove ether in a separating funnel and concentrate the layer at 5 ml. Add 2 ml of freshly prepared resorcinol 
solution, shake and note the colour.  
C.3 Expression of results  
A cherry red colour appearing in a minute indicates the presence of  commercial invert sugar . 
 DEAS 1147: 202 3 
10 © EAC  2023 – All rights reserved  
 Annex  D 
(normative)  
 
Determination of sugars by HPLC  
D.1 Principle of the method   
The method determines fructose, glucose, sucrose, turanose and maltose in honey . This method is based on 
the originally published method by Bogdano v and Baumann (1). After  filtration of the solution, the sugar 
content is determined by HPLC (High Pressure Liquid  Chromatography) with RI -detection. Peaks are 
identified on the basis of their retention times.  Quantitation is performed according to the ext ernal standard 
method on peak areas or peak  heights.  
D.2 Reagents  
- If not stated otherwise, chemicals of analytical purity grade should be used.  
- The water must be distilled or should be of at least equivalent purity.  
- Methanol for HPLC  
- Acetonitrile for HPLC  
Warning: Acetonitrile is a dangerous substance. Laboratory safety guidelines on dangerous  substances at 
work should be consulted.  
- Eluent solution for the HPLC. Mix 80 volumes of acetonitrile with 20 volumes of water. Degass  prior to use.  
- The s tandard substances, fructose, glucose, sucrose, turanose and maltose  
- Pipette 25  ml methanol into a 100 ml calibrated flask. Depending on the sugars to be analysed,  dissolve the 
amounts detailed below in approximately 40ml water and transfer quantitativel y to the  flask and fill to the mark 
with water.  
fructose: 2.000 g  
glucose: 1.500 g  
sucrose: 0.250 g  
turanose: 0.150 g  
maltose: 0.150 g  
-Use a syringe and a pre -mounted membrane filter to transfer the solution to sample vials.  
-The standard solutions are st able for 4 weeks in the refrigerator at 40 C and for six months at -180C 
D.3 Apparatus  
- Sample vials.  DEAS 1147: 2023  
© EAC 2023 – All rights reserved  11 
 - Ultrasonic bath.  
- Calibrated flasks, volume 100 ml.  
- 25-ml-pipette.  
- Membrane filter for aqueous solutions, pore size 0.45 μm.  
- Filter holder for membrane filters with suitable syringe.  
- High Performance Liquid Chromatograph consisting of pump, sample applicator, temperature - 
regulated RI -detector thermostated at 30o C*, temperature regulated column oven at 300 C, integrator.  
-Analytical stainless -steel column, e.g. 4.6 mm in diameter, 250 mm length, containing amine -modified silica 
gel with 5 -7 μm particle size. Before use, carry out a system suitability test to ensure all the sugars can be 
separated.  
* Note: the chromatography can be carried out a t room temperature without influence on the  results of the 
sugars, determined by the present method. However, under these conditions no  separation of erlose and 
melezitose is possible  
D.4 Preparation of the sample solution  
Weigh 5g of honey into a beaker a nd dissolve in 40 ml water. Pipette 25ml of methanol into a  100ml 
volumetric flask and transfer the honey solution quantitatively to the flask. Fill to the mark  with water. Pour 
through a membrane filter and collect in sample vials. Store as for the standa rd solution.  
- High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC)  If a column of the type described above is used, the 
following conditions have been found to give  satisfactory separation.  Flow rate: 1.3 ml/min  mobile phase: 
Acetonitrile:water (80:20, v/v)  column and detector temperature : 300 C sample volume: 10 μl  
Note:  If it is not possible to carry out the analysis at 30 0 C and if the detector cannot be thermostated at 30o 
C, carry out the analysis at ambient temperature. In this case it is not possible to separate  melezitose and 
erlose.  
Note : Identical volumes of sample and standard solution should be injected.  
D.5 Calculation and expression of results  
The honey sugars are identified and quantified by comparison of the retention times and the peak area of the 
honey sugars with those of the st andard sugars.  
The mass percentage of the sugars, W, to be determined of fructose, glucose, etc. and maltose in  g/100g is 
calculated according to the following formula (external standard procedure):  W = A 1 x V1 x m1 x 100/ A2 x V2 
x m0  
Where  
A 1 = Peak ar eas or peak heights of the given sugar compound in the sample solution, expressed  
as units of area, length or integration.   
A 2 = Peak heights of the given sugar compound in the standard solution, expressed as units of  
area, length or integration.  
V 1 = To tal volume of the sample solution in ml  DEAS 1147: 202 3 
12 © EAC  2023 – All rights reserved  
 V 2 = Total volume of the standard solution in ml  
m1 = Mass amount of the sugar in grams in the total volume of the standard (V2)  
m0 = sample weight in g  
The result is rounded to one decimal place.  
. DEAS nnnn-n: 2023   
 
© EAC 2023 – All rights reserved