EAS 352: 2019  
ICS 67 .180.10 
 
© EAC 201 9                                                                                                                              Third  Edition 2019  
 EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  
Chewing gum — Specification  
EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY  EAS 352: 201 9 
ii © EAC 2019  – All rights reserved  
 Copyright notice  
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© East African Community  2019 — All rights reserved  
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Reproduction for sales purposes may be subject to royalty payments or a licensing agreement.  
Violators may be prosecuted . EAS 352 : 2019  
© EAC 2019  – All rights reser ved 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, trad e 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 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, academia, 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. Th e comments received are discussed and incorporated before finalization 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 expected to ensure that they always have the latest versions of the standards 
they are implementing .  
The committee responsible for this do cument is Technical Committee EA SC/TC 019, Sugar and suga r 
products . 
This third edition cancels and replaces the second  edition (EA S 352: 2014 ), which has been technically 
revised.  
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be subject of patent 
rights. EAC shall not be h eld responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.  
 EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  EAS 352 : 201 9 
 
© EAC 2019  – All rights reserved  1 
 Chewing gum — Specification  
1 Scope   
This E ast African Stand ard specifies  the requ irements, sampling a nd test metho ds for ch ewing gum.  
This standard also applies to bubblegum.  
2 Normative ref erences   
The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their content constitutes 
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.  
AOAC 971.21 , Official Method Mercury in Food Flameless Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometric Method  
AOAC 986.15 , Official Method for determination of Arsenic, Cadmium, Lead, Selenium and Zinc in Human 
and Pet Foods  
CAC/GL 50 , General guidelines for sampling  
CAC/GL 66, Guidelines for the use of flavourings  
CAC/GL 75; Guidelines on substances used as processing aids  
CODEX STAN 192 , General standard for food additives  
EAS 12, Potable water  — Specification   
EAS 38 , Labelling of pre -packaged foods — Specification  
EAS 39 , Hygiene for food and drink manufacturing industry — Code of practice  
ICUMSA GS 4/7/8/5 -2, Determination of sucrose by gas chromatography in molasses and factory products - 
official; and can e juice — Tentative  
ISO 4832, Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal method for the enumeration of 
coliforms — Colony count technique  
ISO 5377, Starch hydrolysis products — Determination of reducing power and dextrose equivalent — Lane  
and Eynon constant titre method  
ISO 5379 , Starches and derived product s — Determination of sulphur dioxide content — Acidimetric method 
and nephelometric method  
ISO 5809 , Starches and derived products — Determination of sulphated ash  
ISO 6579 -1, Microbiol ogy of the food chain — Horizontal method for the detection, enumeration and 
serotyping of Salmonella  — Part 1: Detection of  Salmonella  spp.  
2 © EAC 2019  – All rights reserved  
 ISO 21527 -2, Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal method for the enumeration of 
yeasts and m oulds — 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 terms and definitions given in EAS 348  and the following apply.  
3.1 
chewing gum  
confection ery product made from natural or synthetic gum  base, other ingredients and/or food additives  
3.2 
bubblegum  
type of  chewing gum that can form a bubble when filled with air  
3.3 
foreign matter  
any matter which is not part of the product formulation  
3.4 
gum base  
food grade, non-nutritive, non -digestible, inert and masticatory substance used to carry sweeteners, 
flavourings and any other substances in chewing gum  
4 Requirements  
4.1 Ingredients  
4.1.1 Essential ingredients  
The following ingredients  shall be food grad e complying with the requirements of the relevant East African 
standards:  
a) Gum base, and  
b) Sweetening agents  
4.1.2 Other  ingredients  
Any other ingredient  shall be food grade and comply with the relevant East African standards.  
4.2 General requirements  
Chewing  gum shall  be: 
a) safe and suit able for hum an consumption , 
b) of a characteristic taste , flavour and chewy , and  
c) free from forei gn matter . 
4.3 Specific requirements  
Chewing gum shall comply with the specific requirements given  in Table 1  when tested in accordanc e with the 
methods specified therein .  
© EAC 2019  – All rights reser ved 3 
 Table 1 — Specific r equirements for chewing gum and bubble gum  
S/N Characterist ic Requi rement  Test method  
Chewing gum Bubblegum  
i Moisture, %, m/m, max.  4 4 AOAC 977.10  
ii Sulphated ash , a %, m/m, max.  9.5 15 ISO 5809  
iii Acid insoluble ash, %, m/m, max.   7 7 AOAC 975.12  
iv Reducing sugars , a %, m/m, min.  4.5 5.5 ISO 5377  
v Sucrose , a %, m/m, max.  70 60 ICUMSA GS 4/7/8/5 - 2 
vi Gum base, %, m/m, min.  12.5 14.0 Annex A  
a If sugar based  
  
Note: The maximum a cid insoluble ash for fruit flavoured gums  to be 8 %  
5 Food additives  
5.1 Food additives used in chewing gum  shall comply with CODEX STAN 192 . 
5.2 Flavourings shall be used in accordance with CAC/GL 66.  
6 Processing aids  
6.1 Processing aids shall be used in accordance with CAC/GL 75.  
6.2 When water is used, it shall comply with EAS 12 . 
7 Contaminants  
7.1 Heavy metal s 
Chewing gum shall not contain heavy metals in amounts which may represent a hazard to human health and 
shall comply with the limits in Table 2  when tested in accordance with the methods specified therein . 
Table 2 — Limits for heavy metal  contaminants in chewing gum  
S/N Heavy metal  Maximum limit 
mg/kg  Test method  
i.  Lead (Pb)  0.5  
AOAC 986 -15 ii.  Arsenic (As)  1.0 
iii.  Cadmium (Cd)  0.6 
iv.  Mercury (Hg)  0.3 AOAC 971.21  
  
4 © EAC 2019  – All rights reserved  
 7.2 Asbestos  
When tested in accordance with Annex B, chewing gum shall not contain asbestos.  
8 Hygiene  
8.1 Chewing gum shall be prepared and handled in a hygienic manner in accordance with EAS 39 . 
8.2 Chewing gum shall comply with the m icrobiological limits given  in Table 3 when tested in accordance 
with the methods specified therein.  
Table 3 — Microbiological limits for chewing gum  
S/N Characteristic  Limit  Test method  
i.  Coliforms, cfu/g  < 10 ISO 4832  
ii.  Salmonella, spp  /25 g  Not detected  ISO 6579 -1 
iii.  Staphylococcus aureus , /g Not detected  ISO 6888 -3 
iv.  Yeast and moulds, cfu/g  < 10 ISO 21527 -2 
 
9 Packaging  
Chewing gum shall be packaged in food grade materials that ensures the integrity and the safety of the  
product  
10 Labelling  
The packages s hall be labelled in accordance with the requirements of EAS 38.  
Exemptions specified in 4.7.1 c) of EAS 38 for expiry date do not apply and expir y date shall be given.  
11 Weights and measures  
The weight and fill of chewing gum shall comply with the weights  and measures regulations of Partner States 
or equivalent legislation.  
12 Sampling  
Sampling shall be done  in accordance with CAC/GL 50 . 
  
© EAC 2019  – All rights reser ved 5 
 Annex  A 
(normative)  
 
Determination of gum base content  
A.1 Preparation of the sample  
Take  four tablets of chewing gum or bubblegum  and clean with  a fine hair brush  to remove  the talc and sug ar 
dust. Cut the s ample into s mall pieces.  
A.2 Method  
Weigh accurately  the entire samp le and quantitatively transf er the sample into an  extracti on cartri dge. Take 
200 ml of chlorof orm in a tared  250-ml capacity round-bottom flask.  Extract the  samp le for eight  hours in a 
Soxh let extraction  assembly.  Subseq uently  distil off the chloroform in a drying chamber at 105 °C ± 1 °C. 
Weigh the flask. Continue the process till a constant mass is ob tained. 
A.3 Calcul ation 
Gum base content , expressed as a percentage by mass, shall be calculated as follows:  
MMM 2 1
x 100  
where 
M1 is the mass, in grams, of the flask with extracted gum sample,  
M2 is the mass, in grams, of the empty flask, a nd 
M is the mass, in grams, of the sample taken for test.   
6 © EAC 2019  – All rights reserved  
 Annex B  
(normative)  
 
Determination of asbestos  
The presence of amphiboles and of serpentines is revealed by infrared  absorption or by X -ray diffraction (see 
A and B). If detected, the  presence of as bestos is confirmed by optical microscopy.  
A. An absorption band at 758 cm-1 ± 1 cm-1 in the infrared spectrum of  a potassium bromide dispersion 
of the material remaining after  ignition of the substance at 850 °C for at least 30 min, indicates  the 
presence of  tremolite, an amphibole. Absorption bands or  shoulders between 600 cm-1 and 650 cm-1 
may indicate  serpentines.  
B. An X -ray powder diffraction pattern exhibiting diffraction peaks  at 10.5 ± 0.1o 2θ indicates 
amphiboles. Peaks at 24.3 ± 0.1o 2θ and 12.1 ± 0.1o 2θ indicate  serpentines.  
If amphiboles or serpentines are indicated, examine the sample using  optical microscopy to confirm the 
presence of asbestos. Asbestos is  confirmed if the following cri teria are met:  
a) a range of length to width ratios of 20:1 to 100:1, or higher for fibres longer than 5 m ; 
b) capability of splitting into very thin fibrils,  and if two or more of the following four criteria are met:  
(i) paral lel fibres occurring in bundles;  
(ii) fibre bundles displaying frayed ends;  
(iii) fibres in the form of thin needles; and  
(iv) matted masses of individual fibres and/or fibres showing curvature . 
 EAS 352: 2019    
 
© EAC 2019  – All rights reserved