DRAFT KENYA STANDARD  DKS 2998 :2024  
ICS 67.200.20  
First Edition  
  
 © KEBS 2024  
 Named nut or oilseed butters  — 
Specification  
 
  
 
 
DRAFT KENYA STANDARD  DKS 2998 :2024  
ICS 67.200.20  
First  Edition  
 
© KEBS 2024 – All rights reserved  ii 
  TECHNICAL COMMITTEE REPRESENTATION  
The following organizations were represented on the Technical Committee:  
University of Nairobi  
Egerton University  
Kapa Oil Refineries Ltd.  
Bidco Africa Ltd.  
Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI)  
Kenya Industrial Research and Development Institute (KIRDI)  
Government Chemists Department  
Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA) — Nuts and Oil Crops Directorate (NOCD)  
Kakuzi PLC Limited  
Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH)  
Upfield Kenya Limited  
Fairoils EPZ Limited  
 
Kenya Bureau of Standards — Secretariat  
 
 DRAFT KENYA STANDARD  DKS 2998 :2024  
ICS 67.200.20  
First  Edition  
 
© KEBS 2024 – All rights reserved  iii 
  REVISION OF KENYA STANDARDS  
In order to keep abreast of progress in industry, Kenya Standards shall be regularly reviewed.  Suggestions for 
improvements to published standards, addressed to the Managing Director, Kenya Bureau of Standards, are 
welcome.  
© Kenya Bureau of Standards, 2024  
Copyright. Users are reminded that by virtue of Section 25 of the Copyright Act, Cap. 130 of 2001 of the Laws of Kenya, copyr ight subsists 
in all Kenya Standards and except as provided under Section 25 of this Act, no Kenya Standard produced by Kenya Bureau of Standards 
may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system in any form or transmitted by any means without prior permission in writing f rom the 
Managing Director.   DRAFT KENYA STANDARD  DKS 2998 :2024  
ICS 67.200.20  
First  Edition  
 
© KEBS 2024 – All rights reserved  iv 
  Named nut or oilseed butters  — 
Specification    
 
 
Kenya Bureau of Standards,  Popo Road, Off Mombasa Road,  
P.O. Box 54974 - 00200,  Nairobi, Kenya  
 +254 020 6948000, + 254 722202137, + 254 734600471  
 info@kebs.org  
 @KEBS_ke  
 kenya bureau of standards (kebs)  
  
DRAFT KENYA STANDARD  DKS 2998 :2024  
ICS 67.200.20  
First  Edition  
 
© KEBS 2024 – All rights reserved  v 
  Foreword  
This Kenya Standard was prepared by the Edible fats and oils  Technical Committee under the guidance of the 
Standards Projects Committee, and it is in accordance with the procedures of the Kenya Bureau of Standards . 
Value  addition in the oilseeds and nuts value chain has led to innovations in production of butter from nuts or 
oilseeds other than t he commonly used peanut and cashew nuts. This standard was thus developed to cover 
butters obtained to these other nuts or oilseeds which may include but not limited to macadamia butter, almond 
butter, hazelnut butter, walnut butter. sesame seed butter, pistachio butter and  coconut butter. This standard 
addresses the quality and safety requirements necessary to produce a safe product for human consumption . 
During the preparation of this standard, reference was made to the following document s 
         KS EAS 60, Peanut butt er – Specification  
         KS EAS 1003 , Cashew butter – Specification  
Acknowledgement is hereby made or the assistance derived from  thesesource s 
 
I 
 
 
 
 
 DKS 2998 : 2024  
© KEBS 2024 – All rights reserved  vi 
  Named nut or oilseed butters  — Specification  
1 Scope  
This draft Kenya standard specifies requirements, sampling and test methods for nut or oilseed butters intended 
for human consumption.  
This draft Kenya standard does not apply to  peanut and cashew butter.  
2 Normative references  
The following referenced documents 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 re ferenced document (including any amendments) applies.  
CXG 66, Guidelines for the Use of Flavourings  
CXS 192, General Standard for Food Additives  
KS EAS 35, Fortified edible salt — Specification  
KS EAS 36, Honey — Specification  
KS EAS 38, Labelling of prepackaged foods  — Specification  
KS EAS 3 9, Hygiene in the food and drink manufacturing industry  — Code of Practice  
KS EAS 803, Nutrition Labelling — Requirements  
KS EAS 804,  Claims — General requirements  
KS EAS 805, Use of  Nutrition and health claims — Requirement s 
KS ISO 662, Animal and Vegetable fats and oils — Determination of moisture and volatile matter content  
KS ISO 729, Oilseeds — Determination of acidity of oils  
KS ISO 735, Oilseed residues ― Determination of ash insoluble in hydrochloric acid  
KS ISO 5555, Animal and vegetable fats and oils — Sampling  
KS ISO 6579 -1, Microbiology of the food chain — Horizontal method for the detection, enumeration and 
serotyping of Salmonella — Part 1: Detection of Salmonella spp.  
KS 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  
KS ISO 12193, Animal and vegetable fats and oils — Determination of lead by direct graphite furnace atomic 
absorption spectroscopy  
KS ISO 13547 -2, Copper, lead, zinc and nickel sulfide concentrates — Determination of arsenic Part 2 : Acid 
digestion and by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission and spectrometric method  
 DKS 2998 :2024  
© KEBS 2024 – All rights reserved  2 
 KS 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  
KS ISO16649 -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  
KS 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.   
3.1  
nut or oilseed butters  
cohesive,  comminuted food product prepared from clean, sound shelled nuts  or oilseeds  by grinding 
roasted /fried  mature kernels  or oilseeds.  This may apply but not limited to: macadamia  butter, almond butter, 
hazelnut butter, walnut butter. sesame seed butter, pistachio butter and coconut butter  
3.2  
foreign matter  
any unde sirable material visible with naked eye in a packaged nut or oilseed butter  
3.3  
food grade packaging material  
packaging material, made of substances which are safe and suitable for the 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  
4.1.1.1  Named nut or oilseed butters  shall comprise at least 90 % of the specific nut or oilseed from which it is 
derived from . 
4.1.1. 2 Nuts or oilseeds used shall comply with the relevant Kenya standards.  
4.1.2  Optional ingredients  
In addition to the essential ingredients, optional food grade ingredients may be used. These may include but 
not limited to:  
a) edible salt (sodium chloride) complying with KS EAS 35;  
b) sugars complying with relevant Kenya sugar standards;  DKS 2998 :2024  
© KEBS 2024 – All rights reserved  3 
 c) honey complying with KS EAS 36; and.  
d) edible oils or fats complying with relevant Kenya standards  
4.2 General requirements  
Nut or oilseed butter s shall:  
a) be free from shells;  
b) be free from any foreign matter; and  
c) have an aroma and flavour typical of roasted/fried nut or oilseed . 
4.3 Specific requirements  
Nut or oilseed butters shall comply with the specific requirements given in Table 1, when tested in accordance 
with the test methods specified therein.  
Table 1 — Specific requirements for nut or oilseed butters  
S/No.  Characteristic  Requirement  Test method  
i) Moisture and volatile matter 
content, %  max 3.0 KS ISO 662  
ii) Acid value, mg KOH/g  max 4.0 KS ISO 729  
iii) Acid insoluble ash, % m/m  
max 1 KS ISO 735  
 
5  Food additives  
Food additives when used in nut or oilseed butters shall comply with CXS 192  
6  Flavouring agents  
Flavouring agents when used in nut or oilseed butters shall comply with CXG 66.  
7 Contaminants  
7.1 Aflatoxin  
Aflatoxin levels in nut or oilseed butters  shall not exceed the limits given in Table 2 when tested in accordance 
with the test method specified therein.  
Table 2 — Aflatoxin limits for nut or oilseed butters  
S/No.  Characteristic  Maximum limit  
µg/kg  Test method  
i) Total aflatoxin  10 KS ISO 16050  DKS 2998 :2024  
© KEBS 2024 – All rights reserved  4 
 ii) Aflatoxin B1  5 
 
7.2 Pesticide residues  
Nut or oilseed  butter s shall comply with those maximum residue limits established by the Codex Alimentarius 
Commission.  
7.3 Heavy metal contaminants  
Nut or oilseed butters  shall comply with the maximum limits of heavy metals as specified in Table 2 when tested 
in accordance with the test methods therein.  
                            Table 3  Heavy metal contaminants limits in nut or oilseed butters  
S/N Contaminant (mg/kg)  Max. limit  Test method  
i) Lead (Pb)  0.08 KS ISO 12193  
ii) Arsenic (As  0.1 KS ISO 13547 -2 
 
8  Hygiene  
8.1 Nut or oilseed  butter s shall be produced, prepared and handled in accordance with KS EAS 39.  
8.2 Nut or oilseed  butter s shall comply with the microbiological requirements given in Table 4 when tested 
in accordance with the test methods specified therein 4 
Table 4 — Microbiological requirement for nut or oilseed butters  
S/No
. Characteristic  Requirement  Test method  
i) Escherichia coli,  CFU/g  Absent  KS ISO 16649 -2 
ii) Salmonella spp. in 25 g  Absent  KS ISO 6579 -1 
ii) Staphylococcus aureus, 
CFU/g  Absent  KS ISO 6888 -1 
iv) Yeast and moulds  103 KS ISO 21527 -2 
 
9  Packaging  
Nut or oilseed butters shall be packaged in food grade packaging material that will safeguard the hygienic, 
nutritional, technological and organoleptic qualities of the product.  DKS 2998 :2024  
© KEBS 2024 – All rights reserved  5 
 10  Labelling  
10.1  In addition to the requirements given in KS EAS 38, the name of the product shall be legibly and 
indelibly labelled as “ XXX Nut butter or XXX oilseed butter ” where XXX stands for the nut or oilseed from which  
the butter is obtained from  
11  Nutrition al and health claims  
Named nut or oilseed  butter may have claims on nutrition and health. Such claims when declared shall comply 
with KS EAS 803, KS EAS 804 and KS EAS 805  
12 Sampling  
Sampling shall be done in accordance with KS 1SO 5555.  
 DKS 2998 : 2024    
 
© KEBS 2024 – All rights reserved