DRAFT EAST  AFRICAN  STANDARD  DEAS 1106: 2022  
 
ICS 67.160.20  
 
 
 
Banana flour  — Specification  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
EAST  AFRICAN  COMMUNITY  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
© EAC 2022  First Edition  2022 ii  Copyright  notice  
 
This EAC document  is copyright -protected  by EAC.  While  the repro duction  of this document  by 
participants in the EAC standards development process is permitted without prior permission from EAC,  
neither this document nor any extract from it may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form for  
any other  purpose  witho ut prior written  permission  from EAC.  
 
Requests  for permission  to reproduce  this document  for the purpose  of selling  it should  be addressed  
as shown  below  or to EAC’s  member  body  in the  country  of the requester:  
 
© East African Co mmunity 2022  — All rights reserved  
East African  Community  
P.O. Box 1096,  
Arusha  
Tanzania  
Tel: +  255 27 2162100  
Fax: + 255 27  2162190  
E-mail: eac@eachq.org  
Web:  www.eac -quality.net  
 
Reproduc tion for sales  purposes  may be subject  to royalty  payments  or a licensing  agreement.  
Violators may  be prosecuted.   
DEAS 1106:2022  
 
 
 © EAC 2022 – All rights  reserved  v  DEAS 1106:2022  
 
 
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 stand ardization, 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 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. The 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 document  is Technical  Committee  EASC/TC  025, Products for  fruits , 
vegetables  and tubers.    
             DRAFT EAST  AFRICAN  STANDARD      DEAS 1106:2022  
 
Banana flour  — Specification  
 
 
1 Scope  
 
This East Africa n Standard  specifies requirements, sampling and test methods for g reen/unripe 
banana and plantains  flour intended for human consumption or for other use in the food industry.  
 
 
2 Normative  references  
 
The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their content constitutes  
requirement s 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.  
 
Codex  Stan 192, General  standard  for food additives  
 
Codex Stan 193, Genera l Standard for contaminants in food   
 
EAS 12, Potable  water  — Specification  
 
EAS 38, Labelling  for pre-packaged  foods  — General  requirements  
 
EAS 39, Hygiene  in the food and drink  manufacturing  industry — Code of  practice  
 
EAS 803, Nutrition  labelling  — Requirements  
 
EAS 804, Claims  on food — Requirements  
 
EAS 805, Use of nutrition  and health  claims  — Requirements  
 
EAS 900 , Cereal and Pulses – Sampling  
 
EAS 901, Cereal and Pulses - Test methods  
 
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  
 
ISO 4833 -2, Microbiology  of the food chain  — Horizontal  method  for the enumeration  of microorganisms  — 
Part 2: Colony count at  30 degrees C  by the  surface  plating  technique  
 
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  
 
ISO 6579 -1, Microbiology  of the food chain  — Horizontal  methods  for detection,  enumeration  and serotyping  
of Salmonella — Part 1: Detection  of Salmonella  spp. 
 
ISO 7251,  Microbiology  of food and animal  feeding  stuffs  — Horizontal  method  for the detection  and 
enumeration of  presumptive  Esch erichia  coli — Most  probable number  technique  
 
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   
 
3 Terms  and definitions  
 
For the purposes  of this document,  the following  terms  and definitions  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  
 
3.1 
banana flour  
flour produced by grinding /milling  dried banana and /or plantain into powder  
 
3.2 
dried banana  or plantain  
product pre pared from mature, sound, clean, firm plantain or banana and processed by drying either b y natural or 
artificial methods  
 
 
3.3  
extra neous matters  
dirt, pieces  of skin, calyx,  leaf, peduncle,  twigs,  bits of wood,  soil or any other  foreign  matter  among  or on the   banana 
flour 
 
 
4 Requirements  
 
4.1 Raw materials  
  
Banan a flour shall be prepared from dried plantain and /or banana .  
 
 
4.2 General requirements  
 
4.2.1 Banana flour shall have characteristic colour, odour and taste of banana variety used.  
 
4.2.2  Banana flour shall be of good quality and  free from signs of spoil age 
 
4.3.3  Banana flour shall be free from insects, larvae, fungal infestation, rodent contaminations, dirt and other extraneous 
matter.  
 
4.2 Specific requirements  
 
Banana flour shall conform to the requirements given in Table 1 when tested in accordance with the test method 
specified therein . 
 
Table  1 — Specific r equirements  for banana flour  
SNo.  Characteristic  Requirement  Test method  
i.  Moisture  %, m/m,  max.   11  
EAS 901  ii.  Total ash  %, m/m, max.  4 
iii.  Acid insoluble  ash %, m/m,  max.  0.1 
iv.  Residues  through  1 000 micron  sieve %,  m/m,  
max.  0.5 
 
 
5 Food  additives  and processing  aids 
  Banana flour may contain  only permitted  additives  in accordance  with CODEX  STAN  192. 
 
 
6 Contaminants  
 
6.1 Pesticide  residues  
 
Banana flour  shall comply  with the pesticide  residue  limits  prescribed  by the Codex  Alimentarius  Commission  of the 
respective  commodity.  
 
6.2 Heavy  metal  contaminants  
 
Banana flour  shall not contain  heavy  metal  contaminants  in excess of the levels established in Codex Stan 
193. 
 
6.3 Aflatoxins  
 
The maximum content of aflatoxi ns in banana flour when determined in accordance with ISO 16050 shall not exceed 5 
µg/kg (ppb) for aflatoxin β1 and 10 µg/kg for total aflatoxins.  
 
7 Hygiene  
 
7.1 Banana flour  shall be produced and handled  under  hygienic  conditions  in accordance  with  EAS 39. 
 
7.2 Banana flour  shall comply  with microbiological  limits  given  in Table  2 when  tested  in accordance with  
the methods specified  therein.  
 
Table  2 ─ Microbiological  limits  in banana flour  
 
Microorganism  Maximum limit  Test method  
Total plate count, CFU/g  105 ISO 4833 -1 
Escherichia coli , CFU/g  Absent  ISO 16649 -2 
Yeasts and moulds, CFU/g  103 ISO 21527 -2 
Salmonella Spp in 25 g  Absent  ISO 6579 -1 
Staphylococcus aureus  102 ISO 6888 -1 
 
8 Packaging  
 
Banana flour  shall be packaged  in food grade  material  that ensures  the integrity  and safety  of the product.  
 
9 Labelling  
 
In addition to the labelling requirements of EAS 38, the following information shall be legibly and indelibly marked or 
labeled:  
 
a) the common name, as ‘Banana flour’;  
b) type of banana used;  
c) name and address o f the manufacturer  
d) batch or code number;  
e) date of manufacture/packaging;  
f) net weight;  
g) country of origin;  
h) storage  conditions  
i) best before date, and   j) nutritional information, if any.  Shall be labelled in accordance with EAS 803, EAS 804 and EAS 805.  
 
 
10 Sampling  
 
Sampling  shall be done  in accordance  with EAS 900 . 
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
© EAC 2022  – All rights reserved