DEAS 800:2022  
ICS 67.060 
© EAC 2022                                                                                                                         Second  Edition 2022   
 
DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  
Soya m ilk — Specification  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY  DEAS 800:2022  
ii © EAC  2022  – All rights reserved  
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 DEAS 800:2022  
© EAC 2022  – All rights reserved  iii 
 Foreword  
Development of the East African Standards has been necessit ated 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 Standard s Bodies in Partner States, together 
with the representatives 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 
receive d 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 800 was prepared by Technical Committee EASC/TC 014, Cereals, pulses and related products . DEAS 800:2022  
iv © EAC  2022  – All rights reserved  
 Introduction  
Soya products are becoming a mainstream p art of regional dietary items. The benefit associated with the 
products includes among others t he richness in protein supply. This is of great benefit especially as an 
alternative protein source. However, it is important to note that soya has naturally high l evel of anti -nutritional 
properties related to trypsin inhibitor and tannins. The manufacturers are advised to apply appropriate 
processing technologies to reduce these anti -nutrient properties to acceptable safe levels for human 
consumption . 
Soya milk  (also referred to as soy milk) is a heat-treated  beverage made from soya beans  as a stable 
emul sion of oil, water, and protein  produced by  boiling or  soaking dry soya beans and grindi ng them with 
water or adding enough water to full -fat soy a flour to give the  desired solids content to the final product . 
This standard has been  developed  to ensure the safety and quality of soya milk  for human consumption . 
 DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  DEAS 800:2022  
 
© EAC 2022  – All rights reserved  1 
 Soya m ilk — Specification  
1 Scope  
This draft East African Standard specifies requirements, sampling and test methods for soya milk intended for 
human consumption.  
2 Normative references  
The following referenced documents are indispensabl e 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.  
AOAC  972.25, Lead in Food, atomic absorption spectrophot ometric method  
CODEXSTAN 193 , General standards for contaminants and toxins in food and fee d 
EAS 38 , Labelling of pre -packaged foods — Specification  
EAS 39 , Hygiene in the food and drink manufacturing industry  — Code of practice ; 
EAS 762 , Dry s oybeans — Specification  
EAS 799 , Edible full fat soya flour — Specification  
ISO 6731 , Milk, cream and evaporated milk — Determination of total solids content (Reference 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 5538, Milk and milk products — Sampling —Inspection by attributes  
ISO 6579 -1:2017  Microbiology of the food chain — Horizontal method for the detection, enumeration and 
serotyp ing of Salmonella — Part 1: Detection 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 11085, Cereals, ce reals -based products and animal feeding stuffs — Determination of crude fat and total  
fat content by the Randall extraction method   
ISO 20483 , Cereals and pulses — Determination of the nitrogen content and calculation of the crude protein 
content — Kjeldah l method  
ISO 21527 -1, Microbiology of food and animal feedstuffs — Horizontal method for the enumeration of yeasts 
and moulds — Part 1: Colony count technique in products with water activity greater than or equal to 0.95  
ISO 16050 Foodstuffs - Determinatio n 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 16050:2003)  
ISO 16649 -2 Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal method for the enumeration of beta -
glucuronidase -positive Escherichia coli — Part 2: Colony -count technique at 44 degrees C using 5 -bromo -4-
chloro -3-indolyl beta -D-glucuronide   
2 © EAC  2022  – All rights reserved  
 3 Terms and definitions  
For the purposes of this standard, the following terms and de finitions shall apply .  
3.1  
soya be an  
whole mature dry bean of Glycine  max (L) Merr . varieties  
3.2  
soya milk  
stable emulsion of oil, water, and protein produced from  processed  soya beans or edible full fat soya flour  
3.3  
food grade packaging 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 Requirements  
4.1 Ingredients  
The following essential ingre dients shall be used in the soya milk making  complying to relevant East African 
standards  
 
4.1.1  Essential ingredients  
a) dry soya bean or 
b) edible full fat  soya flour . 
4.1.2  Optional i ngredients  
In the preparation of soya milk, the following ingredients, complying with relevant East African and CODEX 
standard s, may be used:  
a) salt; 
b) carbohydrate , including sugars ; 
c) edible oils ; 
d) minerals and vitamins ; or 
e) herbs and spices . 
4.2 General  require ments  
Soya milk shall : 
a) have taste and odour characteristic of soya bean and any approved food additives used ; 
b) be free from rancidity and mustiness ;  
c) be free from sourness ;  
d) be free from extraneous and foreign matter;   
© EAC 2022  – All rights reserved  3 
 4.3 Specific quality  requirements  
Soya milk shall comply with  the requirements specified in Table 1.  
Table 1 — Specific quality r equirement s for soya milk  
S/N Characteristic  Requirement  Test method  
i.  Protein  (N x 6.25) , % m/m, min . 3.0 ISO 20483  
ii.  Soya oil (fats) , % m/m, min . 0.5 ISO 11085  
iii.  Total solids , % m/m, min . 7.0 ISO 6731  
5 Food additives  
If used, food addi tives shall comply with CXS 192  
6 Hygiene  
Soya milk  shall be prepared and handled in a hygienic manner in accordance with EAS 39 and shall conform 
to the microbiological limits stipul ated in Table 2.  
Table 2 — Microbiological limits for soya m ilk 
S/N Micro -organism  limit Test method  
i.  Total plate count, cfu/ml , max   103 ISO 4833 -1 
ii.  Escherichia coli,  cfu/ml   
Absent   ISO 1664 9-2 
 
iii.  Salmone lla sppin 25 mL Absent  ISO 6579 -1 
iv.  Yeast and moulds , cfu/ml  102 ISO 21527 -1 
7 Contaminants  
7.1 Pesticide residues  
Soya milk shall comply with those maximum pesticide residue limits established by C odex  Alimentarius 
Commission for similar commodities.  
7.2 Other contaminants  
When tested in accordance with AOAC 972.25 , the level of Lead (Pb) in soya milk shall not exceed 0.1 ppm. 
The product shall not con tain other heavy metal contaminants in amounts which may represent a hazard to 
health.  
7.3 Aflatoxins  
The maximum content of aflatoxins in soya milk  shall not ex ceed 5 µg/kg (ppb) for aflatoxin B 1 and 10 µg/kg 
for total aflatoxins when tested  in accordance with ISO 16050 .  
4 © EAC  2022  – All rights reserved  
 8 Packaging  
Soya milk shal l be packaged in food grade packaging material  which will safeguard the hygienic, nutritional, 
technological and organoleptic qualities of the products.  
9 Labelling  
In addition to the requirements given in EAS 38, each package of soya milk shall be legibly and indelibly  
labelled  with the following information:  
a) name of the product shall be “ Soya milk” ; 
b) brand name/trade name;  
c) name and physical address of the manufacturer/packers/importer  
d) lot identification/ batch  number ; 
e) net volume in m etric units;  
f) list of ingredients in descending order ; 
g) list of any additives used;  
h) date of manufacture;  
i) country of origin;  
j) storage conditions;  
k) expiry date; and  
10 Method  of sampling  
Sampling shall be done in accordance with ISO 5538 . DEAS 800:2022    
 
© EAC 2022  – All rights reserved