DEAS 1006 : 2019  
ICS 67.200.10  
 
© EAC 2019                                                                                                                            First Edition 2019 
 FINAL DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  
Sesame  (simsim) — Specification  
EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY  DEAS 1006: 2019  
ii © EAC 2019  – All rights reserved  
 Copyright notice  
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Reproduction for sales purposes may be subject to royalty payments or a licensing agreement.  
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 DEAS 1006: 2019  
© EAC 2019  – All rights reserved  iii 
 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 exchang ed 
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 Committees that are representative of key 
stakeholders including government, academ ia, 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 finalizat ion 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 technological advances. Users of the East 
African Standards are therefore expecte d 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 015, Oil seeds, edible fats 
and oils .  
Attention 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.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 FINAL DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  DEAS 1006: 2019  
 
© EAC 2019 – All rights reserved  1 
 Sesame (simsim)  — Specification  
1 Scope   
This Draft East Africa Standard specifies the requirements , sampling and test methods for sesame ( Sesamun 
indicum .L.) intended for human consumption . 
2 Normative references  check again please  
The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their content constitutes 
requiremen ts of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references, 
the latest edition of the referenced document (in cluding any amendments) applies . 
EAS 39, Code of practice for hygiene in the food and drink manufacturing in dustry  
Codex Stan 193, General standard for contaminants and toxins in food and feed  
EAS 38 , Labelling of pre -packaged foods — General requirements   
ISO 542,  Oilseeds — Sampling  
ISO 605, Pulses — Determination of impurities, size, foreign odours, insects, and species and variety — Test 
methods  
ISO 659, Oilseeds — Determination of oil content (Reference method)  
ISO 665,  Oilseeds – Determination of moisture content   
ISO 5985, Animal feeding stuff — Determination of ash insoluble in hydrochloric acid  
ISO 6579 , Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuff — Horizontal method for the determination of 
Salmonella spp  
ISO 7251, Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal method for the detection and 
enumeration of presumptive Escherichia coli — Most  probable number technique  
ISO 16050, Food stuffs — 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 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  
3 Terms and definitions   
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:  DEAS 1006: 2019  
2 © EAC 2019  – All rights reserved  
 — ISO Online browsing platform: available at http://www.iso.org/obp  
3.1 
sesame  
edible se eds obtained from the sesame  plant (Sesamum indicum, Linnaeus)  
3.2  
foreign matter  
organic and inorganic materials other than sesame  
3.3  
damaged seed   
broken seed s of sesame  
3.4  
shrivelled/immature  
seeds which are underdeveloped, thin and papery in ap pearance  
4 Requirements  
4.1 General requirements  
Sesame shall : 
a) be free of off flavours and odours ;  
b) have a nutty flavour ;  
c) be clean ;  
d) be wholesome ; and  
e) have a colour characteristic of the variety . 
4.2 Specific requirements  
Sesame seeds shall comply wit h the specific requirements given in Table 1 when tested in accordance with 
the methods specified therein;  
Table 1 – specific requirements  for sesame  
S/No Characteristics  Requirements  Test method  
i Moisture   and volatile matter % (m/m), max.  7.0 ISO 665  
ii Free fatty acid, (as oleic acid)  %, (m/m), 
max 3 ISO 729  
iii Acid insoluble ash, % m/m, max.  0.3 ISO 5985  
iv Foreign matter, % m/m, max.  1  
ISO  658  
 v Damaged seed, % m/m, max  3 
vi Shrivelled and immature , % m/m, max  6 DEAS 1006: 2019  
© EAC 2019  – All rights reserved  3 
 5 Grading for oil extr action  
Grading  of sesame  for oil extraction  may be done. When done it shall be in accordance with Table 2   
Table 2 ― Grading of sesame for oil extraction  
Characteristic  Grade 1  Grade 2  Grade 3  Test method  
Oil content (on moisture free 
basis), % m/m, min.  52 48 45 ISO 659  
6 Contaminants  
6.1 Pesticide residues   
Sesame shall comply with  those maximum residue l imits for pesticides established by the Codex Alimentarius  
Commission for this commodity.   
6.2 Aflatoxin  
Total Aflatoxin shall not exceed 10 μg/kg while aflatoxin B 1 shall not exceed 5 μg/kg when tested in 
accordance with ISO 16050.  
6.3 Heavy metals  
Sesame shall conform to those maximum residue limits for heavy metals listed in Table 2, when tested in 
accordance with the methods specified therein.  DEAS 1006: 2019  
4 © EAC 2019  – All rights reserved  
 Table 2 — Heavy metal contaminants in sesame  
S/N Heavy metal  Limits,  max. 
mg/kg  Test method  
i.  Lead  0.1 ISO 6869  
ii.  Arsenic  0.1 
 
7 Hygiene  
7.1 Sesame shall be produced, prepared, handled and stored in accordance with EAS 39.   
7.2 Sesame shall comply with the microbiological limits given in Table 3 when tested in accordance with 
the method specified therein.  
Table 3 — Microbiological limits in sesame  
S/No  Heavy metal  Limits  Test method  
i Salmonella per 25 g  Shall be absent  ISO 6579 -1 
ii E. coli MPN/g  Shall be absent  ISO 7251  
8 Weights and measures  
Sesame shall be packaged in accordance with the weights and  measures regulations of the destination 
country.  
NOTE  EAC Partner States are signatory to the International Labour Organizations (ILO) for maximum package 
weight of 50 kg where human loading and offloading is involved  
9 Packaging  
Sesame shall be packaged  in containers made from food grade packaging material and sealed in a manner 
that will safeguard the hygienic, nutritional and organoleptic properties of the product  
10 Labelling  
In addition to the requirements of EAS 38, the following labelling requirem ents shall apply and shall be legibly 
and indelibly marked:  
a) name of the product  as “sesame ” or “simsim”  
b) grades  
11 Nutrition and health claims  
Sesame may have claims on nutrition and health. Such claims when declared shall comply with EAS 803, 
EAS 804 and  EAS 805  
12 Sampling  
Sampling shall be carried  out in accordance with ISO 542.  DEAS 1006 : 2019    
 
© EAC 2019  – All rights reserved  
  
 Bibliography  
[1] Product fact sheet – Sesame –Europe - Vegetable oils - oil seeds , 2013  
[2] IS 4429, Grading for sesame seeds for oil milling