UAE.S 1791/ 2021 
   
 اﻟ اﻟﻘ ذات اﻟ  اﻟ اﻟﻌﻠب   
اﻟﻐذاﺋ اﻟ ﺗﻌ ﻓﻲ اﻟ   
Three piece steel round cans used  
for canning food stuffs  
 
   
 
      
 
 
ICS:  55.120 
  
  
  
    
      
  
Three piece steel round cans used  
for canning food stuffs  
 
  
                
Date of Approval :
Issuin g Status :Technical Re gulation
  
  
  
    UAE.S GSO 1791/2021 UAE STANDARD  
  
  1 THREE PIECE ROUND STEEL CANS  
USED FOR CANNING FOOD STUFFS 
 
1. SCOPE AND FIELD OF APPLICATION 
 This standard is concerned with the single & double reduced th ree piece round 
steel cans (tin coated or tin free steel) used for canning food  stuffs. 
2.  COMPLIMENTARY REFERENCE 
2.1 GSO 1797/2007 “Round Metal Cans Used for Canning Food stuff s Definitions, 
Construciton, Dimensions and Capacities”. 
2.2 GSO 1795/2007 “Methods of Test for the Three Piece Round St eel Cans Used for 
Canning Food stuffs”. 
2.3.           UAE.S GSO ISO 11949: Cold-reduced tinmill produc ts -Electrolytic tinplate 
 
3. DEFINITIONS 
 For the purpose of this standard, all definitions mentioned in  the Gulf Standard 
specified in items (2.1 & 2.3) shall apply. 
4. REQUIREMENTS 
 The hermetically sealed round steel cans used for canning food  stuffs shall have 
the following: 
4.1 Plate 
4.1.1 Tin Plates 4.1.1.1 Tin plates used in the manufacturing tin cans shall be made from steel sheets with 
0.12 maximum carbon percent and galvanized either by hot tin di pping or 
electrolytic process with or without a coating layer. Appendix (1) gives the 
analysis of some types of steel used in food can manufacture an d the class of food 
according to corrosivity.   
4.1.1.2 Plate thickness should not be less than 0.10 mm for dou ble reduced and less than 
0.15 mm for single reduced. 
4.1.1.3 The tin layer weight grams per meter square shall be as  shown in Appendix (2). 
4.1.2 Tin Free Steel (Chrome Coated and Oxide Chrome Electrolit ically)  
4.1.2.1 The chemical analysis of some type of steel in cans man ufacture shall be as shown 
in Appendix (1).  
4.1.2.2 Plate thickness shall not be less than 0.10 mm for doub le reduced and less than 
0.15 mm for single reduced. 
4.1.2.3 The chrome weight should not be less than 50 milligram per meter square and 
chrome weight in oxide chrome as 7 milligram per meter square. 
4.1.3 Plate shall neither alter the taste, odour or properties of the canned food nor form 
harmful compounds with it. 
4.2 Lacquer (interior coating ) UAE.S GSO 1791/2021 UAE STANDARD  
  
  24.2.1 It shall neither affect the taste , odour of food nor for m harmful  compounds with 
it. 
4.2.2 The lacquer shall be smooth and uniformly distributed on sheet surfaces, and it 
shall withstand the thermal treat ment degree and/or pasteurizat ion for the food 
material, and also filling and storing condition. 
4.2.3 The interior coating shall be one of these specified for use in food industry 
according to the nature of the food, as shown for example in Ap pendix 3. 
4.3 Elastic matter 
4.3.1 The elastic matter used in the double seaming shall be re sistant to chemical 
changes and free from poisonous compounds, i.e. Sulphur & Antim ony. 
4.3.2 It shall not cause change in the taste or oder or propert ies of food, and shall 
withstand the temperature and pressure during filling, storing and handling. 
4.4 Double seaming 
4.4.1 The can shall be hermetically sealed by double seaming so  as to prevent leakage 
into or from it. 
4.4.2 It shall be regular in shape all around the can diameter.  
4.4.3 It shall be free from sharp edges. 4.4.4 It shall be uniform in thickness. 
4.5 The side seam for three pieces cans be formed by electric w elding or any other 
regular method shall be free from defects causing leakage into or from it and side 
stripe varnish applied. 
4.6 Covers   
4.6.1 Covers used for bottom and top of three piece cans.  It s hall be suitable for double 
seaming with sealing compound on cover. 
4.6.2 Common covers standards or easy open ends can be made of tin plates or tin free 
steel or aluminium.  It shall be lacquered depending on the can ned food stuffs and 
shall be resistant to internal pressure or vacuum and shall not  impair food nor 
affect odour, taste, colour. 
4.7 The can shall be internally and externally clean and free f rom swells or 
deformation or other defects.  
4.8 Permitted wrinkle number in the cover hook shall be from 1 to 2. 
4.9 The can shall be easily opened by any of the widely used ca n openers. 
4.10 Dimensions and capacities 4.10.1 The preferred nominal internal diameters of cans and the ir tolerance in mm 
according to Gulf Standard mentioned in item 2.1 
4.10.2 The preferred nominal capacities and their tolerance acc ording to Gulf standard 
mentioned in item 2.1. 
4.11 Performance Requirements  
4.11.1 Pressure Test 
4.11.1.1 It shall be capable of withstanding  air pressure as b elow : UAE.S GSO 1791/2021 UAE STANDARD  
  
  3   
Common Food Can with Common Lid 0.1 N/mm2 (Mega Pascal) 
Common Food Can with Easy Open End 0.05 N/mm2 (Mega Pascal ) 
Carbonated Drink Can 0.655 N/mm2 (Mega Pascal) 
 
4.11.2 The average enamel rater level shall be less than 5 mA a nd not more than  15 mA. 
5. LABELLING 
5.1 The following information shall be declared on each pallet containing cans: 
5.1.1 Manufacture’s name and/or his trade mark. 5.1.2 Country of origin 
5.1.3 Can nominal capacity in ml 
5.1.4 Production date 
5.1.5 Number of cans 
5.2 Each can shall be marked with the following: 5.2.1 Trade mark of the manufacturer. 
5.2.2 Code number (this code shall trace the information needed  about the can such as 
year, month and day of manufacture ....... from the records of manufacturer)  or the 
date of manufacture (year, month and day). 
6. TESTING 
 All necessary tests shall be carried out on samples taken acco rding to item (7) to 
ensure their conformity to the requirements of this standard. 
7. SAMPLING 
7.1 Samples necessary for visual inspection and air pressure te sts shall be taken at 
random as shown in Table 1. 
Table 1 
No of cans in 
the consignment Sample 
number Sample 
size Visual inspection Air pressure test
Acceptance 
No.Rejection 
No.Acceptance 
No. Rejection 
No.
Up to 3000 First 50 3  7 0 3 
 Second 50 8 9 3 4
From 3001 First 80 5 9 1 4 
up to 10000 Second 80 12 13 4 5
From 10001 First 125 7 11 2 5 
up to 35000 Second 125 18 19 6 7
Over 35000 First 200 11 16 3 7 
 Second 200 26 27 8 9
 UAE.S GSO 1791/2021 UAE STANDARD  
  
  47.2 The dimensions measurement test shall be carried out on 20 of the samples which 
have passed both the visual inspection and air pressure tests. 
7.3 The capacity test shall be carried out on 10 of the samples  which have passed the 
dimensions measurement test. 
7.4 The lacquer test shall be carried out on 5 cans which passe d the dimensions and 
capacity test. 
7.5 The wrinkling number test shall be carried out on 5 of the samples which have 
passed the capacity test. 
7.6 To carry out the chemical analysis test, a number of sample s shall be taken at 
random according to the equation. 
             N 
               ——                2 
 W h e r e :  
n =  number of cans in sample 
N =  number of cans in consignment 
 An area 1250 mm
2 shall be taken from cans at a distance from edges and side 
seaming. Pieces of the same area shall be taken from covers and  bottoms in case of 
large size cans. An area of 625 mm2  taken from covers and bottoms in case of 
small size cans, and a suitable quantity of elastic matter shal l be taken from double 
seam. 
8. METHODS OF TESTS 
 The tests shall be carried out in accordance with Gulf standar d mentioned in item 
2.2.  
9. RULES OF ACCEPTANCE AND REJECTION 
9.1 Each consignment shall be accompanied with a certificate in dicating the 
conformity of the consignment to all the requirement of this st andard. 
9.2 The consignment is deemed to be complying with the visual t est, if the defectives 
are equal to or less than the acceptance number as shown in Tab le 1.  If the 
defectives are more than or equal to rejection number as shown in Table 1, the 
consignment is deemed to be non-complying. If defectives are mo re than the 
acceptance number and less than the rejection number, a second sample shall be 
taken and retested.  If the combined number of defectives of th e first and the 
second samples is less than or equal to the corresponding accep tance number, the 
consignment shall be considered complying as regards to visual test, otherwise it 
shall be considered non-complying. 
9.3 The consignment is deemed to be acceptable as regards other  test (dimension –air 
pressure –......etc.) if the sample passes the tests mentioned in the standard 
mentioned in item 2.2.  If the sample does not pass any of the tests a second 
sample double the number of the first sample shall be taken.  T he consignment 
shall be considered complying if the second sample passes the r epeated tests, 
otherwise it shall be considered non complying. n =UAE.S GSO 1791/2021 UAE STANDARD  
  
  5 UAE.S GSO 1791/2021 UAE STANDARD  
  
  6Appendix 1 
Chemical analysis of some types of steel used in cans manufactu re  
and class of food according to corrosivity. 
 
Class of food 
according to 
corrosivity  
Type 
of  
steel  
Food 
characteristics  
Chemical analysis of steel elements in percent 
(maximum) 
   C P Cu Si Mn S Ni Cr Mo As 
Most strongly 
corrosive  
L High acidic fruit 
products. Acidic, 
salty foods & 
dark coloured 
fruits 0.12 0.015 0.06 0.01 0.25 to 
0.60 0.05 0.04 0.06 0.05 0.02 
Moderately 
corrosive  
MR Acidic vegetables 
and mildly acidic 
fruits 0.12 0.015 0.1 0.01 0.25 to 
0.60 0.05 0.04 0.06 0.05 0.02 
   0.12 0.02 0.2 0.01 0.25 to 
0.60 0.05 – – – – 
Mildly or non 
- corrosive  
D Low acidity 
products, dry and 
non processed 
products 0.12 0.07 0.2 0.01 0.25 to 
0.60 0.05 – – – – 
 
 UAE.S GSO 1791/2021 UAE STANDARD  
  
  7Appendix 2 
Tin layer weight 
Class of food 
according to 
corrosively Food characteristics Tin layer weight 
internal g/m2 Tin layer weight 
external g/m2 
Most strongly corrosive High acidic fruit 
products. Acidic, 
salty foods & dark 
coloured fruits 
               + 0 
      8.4    – 0.65           
        2.8  + 0 
               – 0.35 
Moderately corrosive Acidic vegetables 
and mildly acidic 
fruits  
      5.6    + 0 
              – 0.50    
        2.8   + 0 
               – 0.35 
Mildly or non-corrosive Low acidity 
products, dry and non processed 
products  
      2.8    + 0                – 0.35  
        2.8   + 0                 – 0.35 
 UAE.S GSO 1791/2021 UAE STANDARD  
  
  8Appendix  3 
Examples of interior coating types used in cans 
Type Product resistance Fabricability 
  
Epoxy amino Excellent Good 
Epoxy phenolics Good  Good 
Epoxy acrylates Excellent Good 
Epoxy acrylates/phenolics Excellen t Good 
Solution vinyls Good to excellent Excellent 
Dispersion vinyls Excellent Excellen t 
Polyesters Excellent Excellen t