ICS 67.060  
 
Reference number
DRS 78: 2023
© RSB 2023
  
 RWANDA 
STANDARD  DRS 
78 
 
Third edition  
yyy-mm-dd  
Cakes — Specification 
   
DRS 78: 2023 
©RSB 2023- All rights reserved                  ii 
 In order to match with technological development and to keep continuous progress in industries, 
standards are subject to periodic review. Users shall ascertain that they are in possession of the latest 
edition 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
© RSB 2023 
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, no part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized 
in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and microfilm, without 
prior written permission from RSB. 
Requests for permission to reproduce this document should be addressed to: 
Rwanda Standards Board 
P.O Box 7099 Kigali-Rwanda 
KK 15 Rd, 49 
Tel. +250 788303492 
Toll Free: 3250 
E-mail: info@rsb.gov.rw  
Website: www.rsb.gov.rw  
ePortal: www.portal.rsb.gov.rw  DRS 78: 2023 
iii                ©RSB 2023- All rights reserved 
 Contents Page 
Foreword ............................................................................................................................................................ iv 
1 Scope ................................................................................................................................................................ 1 
2 Normative references ...................................................................................................................................... 1 
3 Terms and definitions ..................................................................................................................................... 2 
4 Requirements ................................................................................................................................................... 3 
4.1 Ingredients .................................................................................................................................................... 3 
4.1.1 Essential ingredients ................................................................................................................................ 3 
4.1.2 Optional Ingredients.................................................................................................................................. 4 
4.2 General requirements .................................................................................................................................. 5 
4.3 Specific requirements .................................................................................................................................. 5 
4.4 Microbiological limits ................................................................................................................................... 6 
5 Hygiene ............................................................................................................................................................. 6 
6 Food additives ................................................................................................................................................. 6 
7 Contaminants ................................................................................................................................................... 6 
7.1 Pesticides and veterinary drugs residues ................................................................................................. 6 
7.2 Heavy metals ................................................................................................................................................. 6 
7.3 Mycotoxins .................................................................................................................................................... 7 
8 Packaging ......................................................................................................................................................... 7 
9 Labelling ........................................................................................................................................................... 7 
10 Sampling ........................................................................................................................................................ 8 
Annex A  (normative)  Determination of fruit content .................................................................................... 9 
A.1 General .......................................................................................................................................................... 9 
A.2 Equipment .................................................................................................................................................... 9 
A.3 Method .......................................................................................................................................................... 9 
Annex B  (normative)  Determination of acidity of extracted fat ................................................................. 10 
B.1 Apparatus ................................................................................................................................................... 10 
B.2 Reagents ..................................................................................................................................................... 10 
B.3 Procedures ................................................................................................................................................. 10 
B.4 Calculations and expression of result ..................................................................................................... 10 
 DRS 78: 2023 
©RSB 2023- All rights reserved                  iv 
 Foreword 
Rwanda Standards are prepared by Technical Committees and approved by Rwanda Standards Board (RSB) 
Board of Directors in accordance with the procedures of RSB, in compliance with Annex 3 of the WTO/TBT 
agreement on the preparation, adoption and application of standards. 
The main task of technical committees is to prepare national standards. Final Draft Rwanda Standards 
adopted by Technical committees are ratified by members of RSB Board of Directors for publication and 
gazettment as Rwanda Standards. 
RS 78 was prepared by Technical Committee RSB/TC 003, Cereals, pulses, legumes and cereal products.  
In the preparation of this standard, reference was made to the following standard (s): 
1) KS 05-1042:1994, Cakes — Specification 
The assistance derived from the above source is hereby acknowledged with thanks. 
This thirdedition cancels and replaces the second edition (RS 78: 2018 ),  which has  been technically revised.  
Committee membership  
The following organizations were represented on the Technical Committee on Cereals, pulses, legumes and 
cereal products.  (RSB/TC 003) in the preparation of this standard. 
Enterprise URWIBUTSO/SINA GERARD 
MANOSALIWA Food Industries Ltd  
MINIMEX Ltd  
National Agricultural Export Development Board (NAEB) 
National Industrial Research and Development Agency (NIRDA) 
Nyarutarama Business Incubation Center 
One Acre Fund-Tubura 
Rwanda Food and Drugs Authority 
Zamura Feeds Ltd 
 DRS 78: 2023 
v                ©RSB 2023- All rights reserved 
 Rwanda Standards Board (RSB) – Secretariat 
  DRS 78: 2023 
1                ©RSB 2023- All rights reserved 
 Cakes — Specification 
1 Scope 
This Draft Rwanda Standard specifies the requirements, sampling and test methods for cakes intended for 
human consumption. 
This standard applies to plain cake, fruit cake, sponge cake andspeciality cake. 
2 Normative references 
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. 
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 
RS CAC/RCP 1, General principles of food hygiene  
RS CODEX STAN  192, General standard for food additives 
RS EAS 1, Wheat flour — Specification 
RS EAS 12, Potable water — Specification 
RS EAS 36, Honey — Specification  
RS EAS 38, Labelling of pre-packaged and prepared foods—General requirements  
RS EAS 5, Refined white sugar — Specification 
RS ISO 21527-2, Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal method for the enumeration of 
yeasts and moulds — Part 2: Colony count technique in products with water activity less than or equal to 0,95 
RS ISO 24333, Cereals and cereal products — Sampling 
RS ISO 4833-1, Microbiology of the food chain — Horizontal method for the enumeration of microorganisms 
─ Part 1: Colony count at 30 degrees C by the pour plate technique  
RS ISO 5985 , Animal feeding stuffs — Determination of ash insoluble in hydrochloric acid  
©RSB 2023- All rights reserved                  2 
 RS ISO 6579-1, Microbiology of the food chain — Horizontal method for the detection, enumeration and 
serotyping of Salmonella — Part 1: Detection of Salmonella spp 
RS ISO 6888-1 , Microbiology of the food chain — Horizontal method for the enumeration of coagulase-
positive staphylococci (Staphylococcus aureus and other species) — Part 1: Method using Baird-Parker agar 
medium 
RS ISO 712 , Cereals and cereal products — Determination of moisture content — Reference method 
3 Terms and definitions 
For the purposes of this standard, the following terms and definitions apply. 
3.1 
cake 
soft baked flour confectionery product made from wheat flour, baking agents or leaveners, eggs, shortenings, 
sugar and other food ingredients . 
3.2 
plain cake 
cake baked from basic ingredients with or without the addition of the permitted food additives 
3.3 
fruit cake 
plain cake to which fruits in either dry or preserved form have been added. 
3.4 
sponge cake 
plain cake in which more eggs have been used as an ingredient 
3.5 
speciality cake 
decorated cake, which has been baked for a special function, or purpose into which other ingredients are 
added such as, cake fillings. Examples include birthday cakes, wedding cakes and others. 
3.6 
baking  agents/leaveners 
product  that causes dough to expand  DRS 78: 2023 
3                ©RSB 2023- All rights reserved 
 3.7 
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 
4.1.1 Essential ingredients 
In making cakes, the essential ingredients to be used depend on the type of the cake and shall be as follows: 
a) Plain cakes 
1) wheat flour complying with RS EAS 1; 
2) sugar complying with RS EAS 5 or RS EAS 16 or RS EAS 749; 
3) baking agents/leaveners as  raising agents 
4) shortening; and 
5) eggs. 
b) Sponge cakes 
1) wheat flour complying with RS EAS 1; 
2) sugar complying with RS EAS 5 or RS EAS 16 or RS EAS 749; 
3) baking  agents/leaveners as  raising agents; and 
4) eggs. 
c) Fruit cakes 
1) wheat flour complying with RS EAS 1; 
2) sugar complying with RS EAS 5 or RS EAS 16 or RS EAS 749; 
3) baking agents/leaveners as raising agents  
©RSB 2023- All rights reserved                  4 
 4) shortening; 
5) eggs; and 
6) fruits (dry or preserved). 
d) Speciality cakes 
1) wheat flour complying with RS EAS 1; 
2) sugar complying with RS EAS 5 or RS EAS 16 or RS EAS 749; 
3) baking agents/leaveners as  raising agents; 
4) shortening; 
5) eggs; and 
6) icing sugar, Spices and food colour; and cake filings. 
4.1.2 Optional Ingredients 
Optional ingredients including but not limited to the following may be added during the preparation of cakes 
and shall comply with relevant standards : 
a) Potable water complying with RS EAS 12 
b) candied peel (orange, lemon and grape fruits); 
c) glazed cherries; 
d) crystallized ginger; 
e) dry fruits and nuts such as sultana, black sultana, raising, currants dates, walnuts, cashew nuts, almonds; 
and peanuts; 
f) desiccated coconut; 
g) flavouring agents; 
h) edible oilseeds, oilseeds flours or oilseed concentrates; 
i) honey complying with RS EAS 36; 
j) liquid glucose; DRS 78: 2023 
5                ©RSB 2023- All rights reserved 
 k) milk and milk products; 
l) spices and herbs; 
m) edible starches; 
n) glycerine; 
o) semolina; 
p) defatted or lecithinated soya flour;and 
q) sorbitol liquid or sorbitol powder. 
4.2 General requirements 
Cakes shall: 
a) be of characteristic appearance, taste and odour; 
b) be suitably baked with due allowance for heat penetration of the edges; 
c) not show signs of under baking or overbaking; 
d) be moist, uniform in texture and with even distribution of added ingredients; 
e) have the colour, texture, flavour and aroma characteristics of typical well-baked cake;  
f) be free from any rancidity;  
g) be free  from off flavours and odours; and 
h) be free from insect or fungus and mould infestation. 
4.3 Specific requirements 
Cakes shall comply with the specific requirements stipulated in Table 1 when tested in accordance with test 
method specified therein. 
Table 1 — Specific requirements for cakes 
S/N Characteristics Requirements Test method 
Plain cake Fruit cake Sponge cake Specialty 
cake 
i.  Fruit content, %, by Not applicable 7.0 Not Not Annex A  
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 mass, min. applicable applicable 
ii.  Moisture, %, by mass 15 - 25 15 - 25 20 - 27 15 - 25 RS ISO 712 
iii.  Acid insoluble ash (on 
dry matter basis), % by 
mass, max. 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 RS ISO 5985 
iv.  Acidity of extracted fat 
(as oleic acid), % by 
mass, max. 1.0 0.5 1.0 1.0 Annex B 
4.4 Microbiological limits 
Cakes shall comply with the microbiological limits indicated in Table 2 when tested in accordance with test 
method specified therein. 
Table 2 — Microbiological limits for cakes 
S/N Microorganism Maximum limit Test method 
i.  Total viable count, CFU/g 103 RS ISO 4833-1 
ii.  Yeasts and moulds, CFU/g 102 RS ISO 21527-2 
iii.  Salmonella, spp in 25g absent RS ISO 6579-1 
iv.  Escherichia coli,  CFU/g Absent RS ISO 16649-2 
v.  Staphylococcus aureus, CFU/ g Absent RS ISO 6888-1 
5 Hygiene 
Cake shall be prepared and handled  in accordance with RS CAC/RCP 1. 
6 Food additives 
Food additives which may be used in the manufacture of cake shall comply with RS CODEX STAN 192. 
7 Contaminants 
7.1 Pesticides and veterinary drugs residues 
Cakes shall comply to maximum residue limits for pesticides, antibiotics and other veterinary drugs limits set 
by Codex Alimentarius Commission. 
7.2 Heavy metals 
Cakes shall not exceed the maximum limits of Heavy metals specified in Table 3 when tested in accordance 
with test methods specified therein. 
Table 3— Limits of heavy metals in Cakes 
S/N Heavy metal Maximum limits(mg/kg) Test method DRS 78: 2023 
7                ©RSB 2023- All rights reserved 
 i.  Lead (Pb)  0.2 AOAC 999.11 
ii.  Cadmium  0.1 
iii.  Arsenic(Ar)  0.1 AOAC 942.17 
7.3 Mycotoxins 
Cakes shall not exceed the maximum limits of mycotoxins specified in Table 4 when tested in accordance with 
test methods specified therein. 
Table 4— Limits of mycotoxins in Cakes 
S/N Mycotoxins  Maximum limit (μg/kg) Test method  
i.  Total aflatoxin  10  RS ISO 16050, 
ii.  Aflatoxin B1 5   
iii.  Deoxynivalenol (DON) 2000  
8 Packaging 
Cakes shall be packaged in food grade packaging material that ensures the integrity and safety of the product 
9 Labelling 
In addition to the requirements specified in RS EAS 38, the following specific labelling requirements shall 
apply and shall be legibly and indelibly marked: 
a) name of product as “cake” by type; 
b) name and address of the manufacturer/packer/distributor/importer/exporter/vendor; 
c) list of ingredients in descending order; 
d) net contentshall be declared in the metric system; 
e) batch number; 
f) date of manufacture; 
g) expiry date; 
h) country of origin;  
i) storage instructions; 
j) declaration of allergens;  
©RSB 2023- All rights reserved                  8 
 k) food additives used; 
l) instructions for use; 
m) the statement ‘Human Food’ shall appear on the package; and  
n) instructions on disposal of used package. 
10 Sampling 
Sampling shall be done in accordance with RS ISO 24333. DRS 78: 2023 
9                ©RSB 2023- All rights reserved 
 Annex A 
(normative)  
 
Determination of fruit content 
A.1 General 
This method determines the contents of both dry fruits and preserved fruits in fruit cake. 
A.2 Equipment 
A.2.1 Bread or cake knife 
A.2.2 Brush 
A.2.3 Filter paper or clean cloth 
A.2.4 weighing balance 
A.3 Method 
Weigh four cake slices (approximately 100 g) accurately. Pick the pieces of preserved fruit and dry fruit. Pick 
each piece of preserved fruit and dry fruit and wipe them with a hair brush or a filter paper or clean cloth. 
Weigh the fruits so collected and calculate the percentage of fruits from the mass of fruits picked out 
separately for preserved fruit and dry fruits. 
   
©RSB 2023- All rights reserved                  10 Annex B 
(normative) 
 
Determination of acidity of extracted fat 
B.1 Apparatus 
Soxhlet Apparatus, with a 250-ml flat bottom flask. 
B.2 Reagents 
D.2.1 Petroleum Ether, boiling point 40 °C - 80 °C. 
D.2.2 Benzene-Alcohol-Phenolphthalein Stock Solution, to one litre of distilled benzene add one litre of 
alcohol or rectified spirit and 0.4 g of phenolphthalein. Mix the contents well. 
D.2.3 Standard Potassium Hydroxide Solutions, 0.05 N. 
B.3 Procedures 
Weigh accurately about 10 g of sample and transfer it to the thimble and plug it from the top with extracted 
cotton and filter paper. Dry the thimble with the contents for 15 min - 30 min; at 100 °C in an oven. Take the 
weight of the empty dry Soxhlet flask. Extract the fat in the Soxhlet apparatus for 3 h - 4 h and evaporate off 
the solvent in the flask on a water-bath. 
Remove the traces of the residual solvent by keeping the flask in the hot air oven for about half an hour and 
weigh. Cool the flask and add 50 ml of mixed benzene-alcohol-phenolphthein reagent (see C.1.2) and titrate 
the contents to a distinct pink colour with the potassium hydroxide solution taken in a10-ml micro burette. If 
the contents of the flask become cloudy, during titration, add another 50 ml of the reagent (see C.1.2) and 
continue the titration. Make a blank titration of the 50 ml reagent. Subtract from the titre of the fat, the blank 
titre. 
B.4 Calculations and expression of result 
Acidity of extracted fat, (as oleic acid) per cent by mass=ଵ.ସଵ ×௏
௠ଵି௠ଶ 
 
 
 
DRS 78: 2023 
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 Where 
V = volume of 0.05 N potassium hydroxide solution used in the titration after subtracting the blank, 
m1 = mass, in g, of the Soxhlet flask containing fat, and 
m2 = mass, in g, of the empty Soxhlet flask. 
  
©RSB 2023- All rights reserved                  12 
 Bibliography 
[1] RS 78: 2018 Cakes—Specification (Second edition) 
 DRS 78: 2023 
 
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