DEAS 1031 : 2020  
ICS 67.140.30  
 
© EA C 2020                                                                                                                              1ST Edition 2020  
 EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  
Cocoa powder and cocoa  powder mixture  — Specification  
EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY  DEAS 1031 : 2020  
ii © EAC 2020  – All rights reserved  
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© EAC  2020  – All rights reserved  iii 
 Contents  Page 
Foreword  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................  iv 
1 Scope  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ......................  1 
2 Normative references  ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................  1 
3 Terms and definitions  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........................  2 
4 Ingredients  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .............  3 
4.2 Raw material for cocoa powder mixture s ................................ ................................ ...........................  3 
4.3 Optional ingredients for cocoa powder mixtures  ................................ ................................ ..............  3 
5 Requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .........  3 
5.1 General requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........................  3 
5.2 Specific requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........................  3 
5.3 Particle size requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ ....................  4 
6 Food additives  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ....... 4 
7 Hygiene  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...................  4 
8 Contaminants  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .........  5 
8.1 Pesticides residues  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...............................  5 
8.2 Heavy metals  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ..........  5 
8.3 Mycotoxins  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .............  5 
9 Packag ing ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...............  5 
10 Labelling  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .................  6 
11 Sampling  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ................  6 
 DEAS 1031 : 2020  
iv © EAC 2020  – All rights reserved  
 Foreword  
Development of the East African Standards has been neces sitated 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.  
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 Partn er 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, academia, c onsumer 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 o f standards, in 
accordance with the Principles and procedures for development of East African Standards. XXXXXX.  
East African Standards are subject to review, to keep pace with technological advances. Users of the East 
African Standards are therefore expec ted 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 002, Coffee , Cocoa , Tea and 
related products .  
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.  
 
 DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  DEAS 1031 :2020  
 
© EAC 2020  – All rights reserved  1 
 Cocoa powder and cocoa powder mixtures  — Specification  
1 Scope   
This Draft East African Standar d specifies the requirements , sampling and test methods for  cocoa powder and 
cocoa po wder mixtures 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 c onstitutes 
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.  
DEAS 1030,  Cocoa beans  — Specification  
EAS 38, Labelli ng of pre -packaged foods — General requirements  
EAS 39, Hygiene in the food and drink manufacturing industry — Code of practice   
Codex Stan  192, General standard for food additive  
ISO 1577 , Determination of acid -insoluble ash  
ISO 2171 , Cereals, pulses and by -products — Determination of ash yield by incineration  
ISO 2292,  Cocoa beans  — Sampling  
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 5498,  Agricultural food products — Determination of crude fibre content — General method  
ISO 6579 -1, Microbiology of the food chain — Horizontal method for the detection, enumeration and 
serotyping of Salmonella — Part 1: Detection of Salmonella spp. — Amendment 1: Broa der range of 
incubation temperatures, amendment to the status of Annex D, and correction of the composition of MSRV 
and SC  
ISO 7305,  Milled cereal products — Determination of fat acidity  
ISO 11085, Cereals, cereals -based products and animal feeding stuffs  — Determination of crude fat and total 
fat content by the Randall extraction method   
ISO 15141 , Cereals and cereal products — Determination of ochratoxin A — High performance liquid 
chromatographic method with immunoaffinity column cleanup and fluorescenc e detection  
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  DEAS 1031 : 2020  
2 © EAC 2020  – All rights reserved  
 ISO 16649 -2, Microbiology of food and animal fee ding 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  
ISO 17239 , Fruits, vegetables and derived products — Determination of arsenic content — Method using 
hydride generation atomic absorption spectrometry  
ISO 21527 -2, microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — horizontal method for the enumeration of 
yeasts and mould s — part 2: colony count technique in products with water activity less than or equal to 0,95  
AOAC 931.04 , Loss on drying  (moisture) in cacao products  — Gravimetric method  
AOAC 970.21, PH of cacao products. Potentiometric method  
AOAC 999.11, Determination  of Lead, Cadmium, Copper, Iron, and Zinc in Foods, Atomic Absorption 
Spectrophotometry after Dry Ashing  
3 Terms and definitions   
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.  
ISO and IEC maintain terminological databases fo r use in standardization at the following addresses:  
— ISO Online browsing platform: available at http://www.iso.org/obp  
3.1 
cocoa powder  
product obtained by finely grinding cocoa cakes which remains after the remova l or reduction of the cocoa 
butter.  
3.2 
cocoa powder mixture  
cocoa powder which has been mixed with  other  optional ingredients  given in sub -clause 4. 3  
3.5 
cocoa beans  
whole seeds of the cocoa tree ( Theobroma c acao L.). which has been fermented and dried  
 
3.6 
cocoa nibs  
cocoa beans, roasted or unroasted, cleaned, shelled and have undergone germ separation.  
3.7 
cocoa liquor  
cocoa nib reduced to a fine paste by a mechanical process without losing any of its natural fat content.  
3.8 
cocoa press cake  
cocoa mass converted into a cake, which removes a proportion of cocoa butter.  
3.9 
cocoa butter  
fat obtained from cocoa nib and its derivatives.  DEAS 1031 : 2020  
© EAC  2020  – All rights reserved  3 
 4 Ingredients   
4.1 Raw material for cocoa powder  
Cocoa cakes derived from cocoa beans complying with DEAS 1030   
4.2 Raw material  for cocoa powder mixtures  
Cocoa powders  
4.3 Optional ingredient s for cocoa powder  mixtures  
The following ingredients may be used and shall comply with relevant East African standards  
a) sugar  
b) milk powder   
c) salts, and   
d) spices  
5 Requirements  
5.1 General requirements   
Cocoa powder  and cocoa powder mixture  shall: 
a) be in the form of free -flowing powder ; 
b) have colour, taste , odour  and flavour characteristic of the product ; 
c) be free from fungal infestation ;  
d) be free from foreign matter ; and 
e)  free from any adulterants  
5.2 Specific requirements   
Cocoa powder  and cocoa powder mixture shall comply with the specific requirements specified in Table 1, 
Table  2 and Table 3 when tested according to the respective methods of test indicated  therein  
Table 1  — Specific requirements for cocoa powder and cocoa powder mixture  
S/N Parameter  Limits  Test method  
i Moisture content, m/m, %, max  7 AOAC 931.04  
ii Total ash, m/m, max,  % on dry basis  14 (for alkalised 
powder);  
10 (for natural 
powder)  ISO 2171  DEAS 1031 : 2020  
4 © EAC 2020  – All rights reserved  
  
iii Acid in soluble ash m/m, max,  % on dry basis  1 AOAC 971.33  
ISO 1577  
iv pH 5-8 AOAC 970.21  
V Crude fibre m/m, max,  % on dry basis  7 ISO 5498  
vi Fat acidity, mg KOH/100g, max  50 ISO 7305  
 
 
Table 2  — Cocoa butter  limits for cocoa powder and cocoa powder mixtur e   
S/N Product  Cocoa butter 
limits  Test method  
i Cocoa powder/cocoa powder mixture, %, m/m ≥ 20 ISO 11085  
ii Fat reduced cocoa powder/cocoa powder mixture , %, 
m/m ≥ 10 and < 20  
iii High fat reduced cocoa powder/cocoa powder mixture, 
%, m/m  < 10 
Table 3  — Cocoa powder limits  for sweetened cocoa powder mixture  
S/N Product  Cocoa 
powder 
cont ent, %, 
m/m Test method  
i Sweetened Cocoa Powder, or Drinking 
Chocolate  ≥25 GMP  
ii Sweetened Cocoa  powder  Mix, or Sweetened 
Mixture with Cocoa  powder  ≥20 
iii Sweetened Cocoa  flavoured Mix  < 20  
 
5.3 Particle size requirements  
99.8%  of cocoa powder shall pass through 75µm micro sieve  
6 Food  additives  
The use of f ood additives in cocoa powder or cocoa powder mixtures shall comply with Codex Stan  192  
7 Hygiene  
7.1 Cocoa powder  and cocoa powder mixture s shall be processed and handled in accordance wit h the 
appropriate provisions stipulated in EAS 39 . 
 
 DEAS 1031 : 2020  
© EAC  2020  – All rights reserved  5 
 7.2 Cocoa powder and cocoa powder mixture shall not exceed microbiological limits in Table 4 when tested 
in accordance with test method s specified therein . 
Table  4 — Microbiological maximum limits for co coa powder and cocoa powder mixtures  
S/N Microorganism  Maximum 
limits  Test method  
i Total Plate Count , cfu/g  104 ISO 4833 -1 
 Yeasts and moulds cfu/g  102 ISO 21527 -2 
iv Escheric hia coli, cfu/g Absent  ISO 16649 -2 
v Salmonella  spp, /25g  Absent  ISO 6579 -1 
 
8 Contaminants  
8.1 Pesticides residues  
Cocoa powder and cocoa powder mixture shall comply with those maximum pesticide  residue limits 
established by th e Codex Alimentarius Commission online database . 
8.2 Heavy metals  
Cocoa powder and cocoa powder mixt ures shall not exceed maximum heavy metal limits  established by the 
Codex Alimentarius Commission   
8.3 Mycotoxins  
Cocoa powder  and cocoa powder mixtures shall not exceed maximum limits for mycotoxins specified 5 when 
tested in accordance with method of te st specified therein.  
Table 5 — Maximum limits for mycotoxins     
 
S/N mycotoxin  Maximum 
limits, µg/kg,  Test method  
i Total aflatoxin  10 ISO 16050  
ii Aflatoxin B1  5 
iii Orchratoxin  A 10 ISO 15141  
9 Packaging  
Cocoa powder and cocoa powder mixture sha ll 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 throughout the shelf life of the product . DEAS 1031 : 2020  
6 © EAC 2020  – All rights reserved  
 10 Labelling  
In addition to the labelling requirements specified in EAS 38, packages of cocoa powder  and cocoa powder 
mixtures product shall be labelled legibly and indelibly with the following information.  
a) name of the products as “cocoa powder ” or “cocoa powder mixture ”; 
b) where an artif icial sweetener  to replace sugar, partially or totally, the words “artificially 
sweetened” shall be declared immediately before the name ; 
c) cocoa butter content ; and 
d) cocoa powder content  for cocoa powder mixture . 
11 Sampling  
Sampling shall be done in accord ance with ISO 2292  DEAS 1031 : 2020  
   
 
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