DEAS 1028 : 2020  
ICS nn.nnn.nn  
© EAS 2020                                                                                                                               First Edition 2020   
 
DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  
Ham  — Specification  
EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY  DEAS 1028 : 2020  
ii © EAC  2020  – All rights reserved  
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Reproduction for sales purposes may be subject to royalty payments or a licensing agreement.  
Violators may be p rosecuted  DEAS 1028 : 2020  
© EAC 2020  – All rights reserved  iii 
 Contents  Page 
Foreword  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................  iv 
1 Scope  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ......................  1 
2 Conformance  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .........  1 
3 Normative references  ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................  1 
4 Terms and definitions  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........................  2 
5 Symbols (and abbreviated terms)  ................................ ................................ ................................ ........  2 
6 Clause  ................................ ................................ ................................ ......... Error! Bookmark not defined.  
6.1 Subclause (level  1) ................................ ................................ .................... Error! Bookmark not defined.  
6.1.1 Subclause (level  2) ................................ ................................ .................... Error! Bookmark not defined.  
6.1.2 Subclause (level  2) ................................ ................................ .................... Error! Bookmark not defined.  
6.2 Subclause (level  1) ................................ ................................ .................... Error! Bookmark not defined.  
7 Clause  ................................ ................................ ................................ ......... Error! Bookmark not defined.  
8 Special  ................................ ................................ ................................ ........ Error! Bookmark not defined.  
Annex  A (normative)  Annex title  ................................ ................................ .......... Error! Bookmark not defined.  
A.1 General  ................................ ................................ ................................ .......Error! Bookmark not defined.  
A.2 Clause  ................................ ................................ ................................ ......... Error! Bookmark not defined.  
A.2.1  Subclause (level  1) ................................ ................................ .................... Error! Bookmark not defined.  
A.2.2  Subclause (level  1) ................................ ................................ .................... Error! Bookmark not defined.  
A.3 Clause  ................................ ................................ ................................ ......... Error! Bookmark not defined.  
Annex  B (informative)  Which styles correspond to which element  — Quick reference guide Error! Bookmark not defined.  
Bibliography  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ........................  6 
 
 DEAS 1028 : 2020  
iv © EAC  2020  – 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 Africa n 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 Afr ican Standards Committee mandated 
to develop and issue East African Standards.   
The Committee is composed of representatives of the National Standards Bodies in Partner States, together 
with the representatives from the private sectors and consumer organiz ations. 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 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 nnn-n was prepared by Technical Committee EAS/TC 004, Meat, poultry, game, eggs and their products . 
 
 
 DRAFT EAST AFRICA N STANDARD                                            DEAS 1028 :2020  
 
© EAC  – All rights reserved  1 
 Ham  — Specification  
1 Scope  
This Draft East African standard specifies requirements, sampling and test methods  for ham. The 
standard applies to the prod uct that is cured and may be smoked or cooked, spiced and/or flavored . 
2 Normative references  
The following referenced documents are indispensable for the application of this document. For dated 
references, only the edition cited applies. For undated refer ences, the latest edition of the referenced 
document (including any amendments) applies.  
CAC/MRL 2 , Maximum residue limits for veterinary drugs in food  
CAC/RCP 68 -2009, Code of practice for the reduction of contamination of food with Polycyclic Aromatic 
Hydrocarbons (PAH) from smoking and direct drying processes  
CAC/RCP 58 , Code of hygienic practice for meat  
CODEX STAN 192, General st andard for food additives  
EAS 38, Labelling of pre -packaged foods — General requirements  
EAS 35, Edible table salt — Specifi cation  
EAS 39, Hygiene in the food and drink manufacturing industry — Code of practice  
EAS 12, Potable water — Specification   
ISO 5961,  Water quality — Determination of cadmium by atomic absorption spectrometry  
ISO 6633 , Fruits, vegetables and derived prod ucts — Determination of lead content — Flameless atomic 
absorption spectrometric method  
ISO 6637,  Fruits, vegetables and derived products — Determination of mercury content — Flameless atomic 
absorption method  
ISO 6888 -1, Microbiology of food and animal fe eding stuffs — Horizontal method for the enumeration of 
coagulase -positive staphylococci (Staphylococcus aureus and other species) — Part 1: Technique using 
Baird -Parker agar medium  
ISO 6579, Microbiology of the food chain — Horizontal method for the detec tion, enumeration and serotyping 
of Salmonella — Part 1: Detection of Salmonella spp.  
ISO 16654:2001/Amd.1:2017, Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal method for the 
detection of Escherichia coli O157 AMENDMENT 1: Annex B: Result of i nterlaboratory studies  DEAS 1028 : 2020  
2 © EAC  2020  – All rights reserved  
 ISO 11290 -1, Microbiology of the food chain — Horizontal method for the detection and enumeration of 
Listeria monocytogenes and of Listeria spp. — Part 1: Detection method  
ISO 17294 -2, Water quality — Application of inductively coupl ed plasma mass spectrometry (ICP -MS) — Part 
2: Determination of 62 elements  
3 Terms and definitions  
For the purposes of this standard, the following terms and definitions shall apply . 
ISO and IEC maintain terminological databases for use in standardization  at the following addresses:  
— ISO Online browsing platform: available at http://www.iso.org/obp  
— IEC Electropedia: available at http://www.electropedia.org/  
3.1 
meat  
is all parts of an animal that are intended for, and have been judged as safe and suitable for human 
consumption  
3.2 
ham 
is traditionally a cured hind pork leg.  
NOTE  If meat from other portions of the carcass or other food animal is used, the product name will be qualified to 
identify the portions. Ham can be smoked, uncured, sugar cured, honey cured and lean or extra lean.  
3.3 
ready -to-eat 
products that are intended to be consumed without any further biocidal steps.  
4 General requirements  
4.1 General requi rements  
4.1.1  The food animal from which ham is derived shall be slaughtered  in a hygienically managed 
slaughter-house  and subjected to ante-mortem and post-mortem examination  according  to the procedure 
specified  in CAC/RCP 58 . 
4.1.2  The meat from which t he product is prepared shall be of a quality suitable for human consumption and 
free from objectionable odours.  
4.1.3  The product shall be prepared, handled and delivered under hygienic conditions.  
4.1.4  The product shall be prepared in a faci lity which is complying with EAS 39.  
4.1.5  The ha m shall be of good colour, firm with  excellent conformation and good  finish.  
4.1.6  The ham  shall be free from f o r e i g n  m a t t e r  and discoloration 
 
4.2 Raw material requirements  
4.2.1  Meat shall be derived from animals slaughte red in a hygienically managed slaughter house complying 
with relevant Partner states regulations . DEAS 1028 : 2020  
© EAC 2020  – All rights reserved  3 
 4.2.2  The curing agent used shall comply with CODEX 192.  
4.2.3  Portable water used shall comply with EAS 12 . 
4.3 Optional Ingredients   
4.3.1  All optional ing redients used shall be of fo od grade quality and conform to  applicable EAS Standards .  
4.3.2  Sucrose, invert sugar, honey, dextrose (glucose), lactose, maltose, glucose syrup (including corn 
syrup).  
4.3.3  Spices, seasonings and condiments complying with re spective EAS Standards.  
4.3.4  Salt complying with EAS 35  
4.3.5  Smoking shall be done according to the Code of Practice for The Reduction of Contamination of Food 
with Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH) From Smoking and Direct Drying Processes CAC/RCP 68-2009  
5 Food additives  
Food additives used in ham  shall be complying with CODEX STAN 192 . 
6 Hygiene requirements 
6.1 Ham  shall be produced and handled in accordance with CAC/RCP 58 and EAS 39 . 
6.2 Ham  shall comply with microbiological limits given in Tab le 1 when tested in accordance with the test 
methods specified therein.  
Table 1 — Microbiological limits for Ham  
 
S/No. Type of organisms  Max Test method  
Raw Ready -To-
Eat 
i)  E. coli 0157:H7  cfu/25g  Absent  Absent  ISO 166 54 
ii)  Salmonella spp cfu/25g Absen t Absent  ISO 6579  
iii)  Listeria monocytogenes cfu/25g 102 Absent  ISO 11290 -1 
iv)  Coagulase  positive  Staphylococcus  
aureus  cfu/g  103 Absent  ISO 6888 -1 
v)  Yeast  and Moulds  cfu/g  Not Applicable 102 ISO 21527 -2 
vi)  Clostridium  Perfringens   Absent  Absent  ISO 7937  
 
7 Meat Identification  
The identification /isolation of meat used in ham  shall be done according to the Polymerase Chain Reaction 
test or any other validated test method  to determine the species of origin.  DEAS 1028 : 2020  
4 © EAC  2020  – All rights reserved  
 8 Contaminants  
Veterinary drug residues Ham  shall comply with the maximum residue limits specified in CAC/MRL 2.  
8.2 Pesticide r esidues   
Ham when tested shall comply with the maximum residue limits set by Codex Alimentarius Commission  
 
8.3 Heavy metal  
Ham shall comply with maximum limits for heavy meta ls as specified in Table  3 when tested by methods 
mentioned therein.  
Table 3 — Limits for  heavy metal  in Ham  
 
S/No.  Heavy metals  Maximum limits  
ppm  Test method  
i)  Arsenic (Ar)  0.1 ISO 17294 -2 
ii)  Lead (Pb)  0.1 ISO 6633  
iii)  Cadmium (Cd)  0.05 ISO 5961  
iv)  Mercury ( Hg) 0.03 ISO 6637  
 
9 Packaging  and labelling  
 
9.1 Packagin gPackaging shall be done in food grade packaging materials that protect the product from 
any physical, microbiological, chemical or any other type of contamination during handling, storage and 
distribution.  
The packages shall be able to withstand the rigors of handling and transportation and shall not be exposed to 
direct sun or rain.  
9.2 Labelling  
Labelling of packages shall be done in accordance with the requirements stipulated in EAS 38.  In ad dition, the 
following particulars shall be legibly and indelibly labelled on the container :” 
 
a) description /Name of the product as appropriate , including part of the carcass and the species of 
origin ; 
b) list of ingredients in descending order ; 
c) allergens decla ration; 
d) name, location and address of manufacturer ; 
e) net weight  in metric units ; 
f) declaration as “raw” or “cooked”  product  ; 
g) date of manufacture ; DEAS 1028 : 2020  
© EAC 2020  – All rights reserved  5 
 h) expiry date ; 
i) batch number ; 
j) instructions for use ;  
k) storage conditions and temperature of storage ; and  
l) country of origin  
 
 DEAS 1028 : 2020  
6 © EAC  2020  – All rights reserved  
 Bibliography  
[1]  
[2]  
[3]  
[4]  
[5] 
. DEAS 1028 : 2020    
 
© EAC 2020  – All rights reserved