KENYA STANDARD        KS 1284: 2018 
  ICS 67.220.20 
 
 
 
  
 
  
 
 
 
  
 
  
 
Substitute vinegar — Specification  
  
  
 
  
 
 
 
  
 
  
 
  
 
  
 
  
 
   
 
 
 
 
© KEBS 2018          F o u r t h   E d i t i o n  2018 
 
  
 KS 1284: 2018 
 
i i            ©  KEBS 2018 — All right s reserved TECHNICAL COMMITTEE REPRESENTATION 
 
The following organizations were represented on the Technical C ommittee: 
Jomo Kenyatta University o f Agriculture & Technology 
Technical University of Kenya— Department of Food and Beverage Production and Service 
Consumer Information Network (CIN) 
Ministry of Health — Depa rtment of Public Health 
Government Chemist’s Department  
K.I. R. D. I 
Unilever (K) Ltd. Jomu Spice Firm 
Tropical Heat Ltd. 
Top Foods  EA Ltd. 
Adamji Multi Supplies  
 
Kenya Bureau of Standards — Secretariat 
  
 
  
REVISION OF KENYA STANDARDS 
 In order to keep abreast of progress in industry, Kenya Standar ds shall be regularly reviewed.  Suggestions for 
improvements to published stand ards, addressed to the Managing Director, Kenya Bureau of Standards, are 
welcome. 
  
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
©Kenya Bureau of Standards, 2018 
 
Copyright. Users are reminded that by virtue of Section 25 of the Copyright Act, Cap. 12 of 2001  of the Laws of Kenya, copyrig ht subsists in 
all Kenya Standards and except as provi ded under Section 26 of this Act, no Kenya Standard produced by Kenya Bureau of Standard s may 
be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system in any form or trans mitted by any means without prior permission in writing from th e Managing 
Director. 
 
 
         
KENYA STANDARD                        KS 1284: 2018 
                ICS 67.220.20 
  
© KEBS 2018 — All right s reserved                    iii  
 
 
  
 
  
 
  
 
 
 
  
Substitute vinegar — Specification  
 
 
         
 
         
KENYA BUREAU OF S TANDARDS (KEBS) 
 
Head Office:  P.O. Box 54974, Nairobi-00200, T el.: (+254 020) 605490, 602350,  Fax: (+254 020)  604031 
E-Mail: info@kebs.org,  Web:http://www.kebs.org   
 
C o a s t  R e g i o n     L ake Region         R i f t  V a l l e y  R e g i o n  
P.O. Box 99376, Mombasa-80100  P .O. Box 2949, Kisumu-40100       P.O. Box 2138, Nakuru-20100 
Tel.: (+254  041) 229563, 230 939/40 Tel.: (+254 057) 23549, 223 96       Tel.: (+254 051) 210553, 210555 
Fax: (+254  041) 229448   Fax: (+254 057) 21814  
 
 
   KS 1284: 2018 
 
i v            ©  KEBS 2018 — All right s reserved  
 Foreword 
 
This Kenya Standard was prepared by the Technical Committee on Spices and Condiments under the guidance 
of the Standards Projects Committee and it is in accordance wit h the procedures of the Kenya Bureau of 
Standards  
Substitute vinegar is a dilute solution of glacial (food grade)  acetic acid with or without added colouring matter 
(caramel).  
 
It is largely confined to food flavouring and preservation. Sub stitute vinegar is a food which is designed to 
resemble vinegar in appearance, texture and flavour. It is inte nded to be used as a complete or partial 
replacement for the natur al  vinegar it resembles. 
 This standard emphasizes that t he quality of substitute vinegar  must be such that it is safe for human 
consumption as food. 
 Substitute non-brewed vinegars usually contain about 4.5 % m/v of synthetic acetic acid and are coloured with 
caramel.  The minimum of 4 % ace tic acid applie s to non-brewed condiment as well as to brewed vinegar. 
 This fourth  edition of the standard incorporates reviewed micr obiological limits, heavy metal contaminant limits 
and reviewed test methods and  incorporates an environmental ma nagement clause. This Edition also uses 
normative references that are Reviewed to current EAS and ISO t est method Standards. These will ensure 
better trade facilitation. 
 
During the preparation of this sta ndard reference s were made to  the following documents: 
The Food, Drugs and Chemical S ubstances Act, Cap. 254 of the La ws of Kenya 
 
The Public Health  Act, Cap. 242  of the Laws of Kenya.  
 
Codex Stan 192 - Codex General Standard for food additives . 
Codex Stan 193 - Codex General St andard for contaminants in Foo ds  and feeds 
. Srilanka Standard 625 VDC 661. 731  Specification for artificial  vinegar 
 
 KS 400- Specification for Acetic Acid 
 
Acknowledgement is hereby made fo r the assistance derived from these sources. 
  
 
.KENYA STANDARD           K S  1284: 2018  
© KEBS 2018 — All rights reserved  1 
 
Substitute vinegar — Specification  
 
1 Scope 
 
This Kenya Standard specifies the quality  requirements and methods of sampling and test for substitute 
vinegar  
 
2 Normative references 
 
The following referenced documents are indispensable for the ap plication of this document. For dated 
references, only the edition cited applies. For undated referen ces, the latest edition of the referenced 
document (including any a mendments) applies. 
 KS EAS 38, Labelling of pre-packaged foods  
 KS ISO 7954:1 Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — General guidance for enumeration 
of yeasts and moulds — Part 8: C olony count technique at 25 deg rees C 
 
KS ISO 21527-1:2008  Kenya Standard — Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuff s — 
Horizontal method for the enumer ation of yeasts and moulds Part  1: Colony count technique in products with 
water activity greater than 0.95,  First Edition.  
 
KS ISO 6579, Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — P art 6: Horizontal method for the 
detection of Salmonella spp.  KS ISO 6888-1, Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs H orizontal method for the 
enumeration of coagulase-positiv e staphylococci (Staphylococcus  aureus and other species)  Part 1: 
Technique using Baird-P arker agar medium. 
 
KS ISO 21528-2,  Microbiology of the food chain—Method for the detection f 
enterobacterium aerogenes. 
 
KS ISO 793, Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs -- H orizontal method for the 
enumeration of Clostri dium perfrigens -- Colony-count technique . 
 KS ISO 6633, Fruits ,Vegetables and derived products- Determina tion of lead content- 
Flameless atomic absorpti on Spectrometric Method. 
  KS ISO 6634, Fruits ,Vegetables  and derived products- Determin ation of Arsenic Content - 
Silver diethlydithiocarbamat e spectrophotometric Method. 
 
ISO 6636- Pt ,2 – Fruits & Vegeta bles and derived  Products-  D etermination of Zinc. 
 EAS 35,  fortified Edible salt — Specification.  
 
 KS EAS 39--- Code of hygienic practice for f ood and drink manufacturing companies  
 KS 1284: 2018 
 
2           ©  KEBS 2018 — All right s reserved KS ISO 948 – Spices and condiments -- Sampling 
 KS ISO 16050, Foodstuffs — Determination of Aflatoxin B 
1,and the total contents of Aflatoxins B 1, B2, 
G1 and G 2 in cereals, nuts and derived products — High performance liquid chromatographic method  
 
Codex Stan 193 --Codex Standard f or Contaminants in food and fe eds. 
 
Codex Stan 192- Codex Standard for Food Additives.  
 KS EAS 147-1 EAS -Standard for Vi negar Pt.1-  Vinegar From Nat ural Sources  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
3 Definitions 
 
For the purposes of this standar d, the following definitions sh all apply: 
 
3.1 
substitute vinegar 
is a product prepared from food grade glacial acetic acid complying with KS 03-400 by diluting it with potable 
drinking water complying with KS 05-459  and may contain caramel. 
 
4 Requirements 
 
4.1 Composition 
 4.1.1  Substitute vinegar shall consist of a dilute solution of food grade acetic acid with or without added 
colouring matter (caramel) 
  
4.1.2 Substitute vinegar shall have t he characteristic taste and odou r of dilute acetic acid. 
 4.1.3 Substitute vinegar shall be free from added colouring matter ot her than caramel . 
 
4.1.4  Substitute vinegar shall contain  total acidity not less than 4  % (m/v) and not more than 13 % (m/v) when 
tested as per KS  400. 
 
4.1.5 Substitute vinegar shall be free  from any harmful ingredient, i njurious to health. 
 
4.1.6  Substitute vinegar shall be free from sedimentation such as vi negar eel, mycordermal suspensions and  
  suspended matter.   
4.1.7 Substitute vinegar shall have  10.5 g/L. max total soluble solids. 
 
 
4.2 Heavy metal contaminant limits 
 KS 1284: 2018 
 
© KEBS 2018 — All ri ghts reserved 3Substitute vinegar shall comply w ith the heavy metal contaminan t limits stipulated in Table 1. 
 
 
Table 1 — Heavy metal contaminant limits 
 
Sl No. 
 Contaminants Contaminant s limits, max. Test methods 
i) Arsenic (As) 1mg/kg (0.5 ) KS ISO 6634  
ii) 
 Lead (Pb) 1 mg/kg ( 2 ) .  KS ISO 6633  
  
 
4.3 Microbiological limits 
 
The substitute vinegar shall comp ly with the microbiological li mits stipulated in Table 2. 
 
 
Table 3 — Microbiological limits for substitute vinegar 
 
i) Yeast and mould counts, cfu/g < 10  KS ISO 7954:1
ii) Enterobacter aero genes cfu/g  Absent ? KS ISO 21528-2  
iii) Proteus mirabilis cfu/g 
 absent? KS ISO 21528-2  
****iv 
) Clostridium perfrigens < 10 KS ISO 793?  
v ) Salmonella , cfu /25 g Absent KS ISO 6579 
vi) Staphylococcus aureus cfu/ g < 10  KS ISO 6888 
 
***  -- unless canned  
 
5 Hygiene 
 
Substitute vinegar shall be produced, processed and handled in premises complying with KS EAS 39  , Public 
Health Act,  Cap. 242;  Food, Dru gs and Chemical Substances Act , Cap. 254; and Factories and Other Places of 
Work Act, Cap. 514 o f the Laws of Kenya. 
 
6 Environmental management 
 The disposal of used package and condemned substitute vinegar s hall be done in compliance with the 
Environmental Management and Co-ordination (EMCA) Act No.8 of 1 999 of the Laws of Kenya on disposal of 
solid and liquid wastes. 
 
7 Packaging 
 
7.1 The minimum fill of the container shall comply with the weights  and measures Act, Cap. 513 Laws of 
Kenya.  
 KS 1284: 2018 
 
4           ©  KEBS 2018 — All right s reserved 7.2 Substitute vinegar shall occupy not less than 90 % v/v of the w ater capacity of the container. The water 
capacity of the container is the volume of distilled water at 2 0 oC which the sealed container will hold when 
completely filled. 
 
7.3 Substitute vinegar shall be packed in food grade materials tha t secure the integrity and safety of the 
product. 
 
8 Labelling 
 
Substitute vinegar shall be  labelled in accordance with the requirements of KS EAS 38 , and shall include the 
following information legibly and indelibly marked: 
 i) name of the product as substitute vinegar; 
 
ii) name and physical address o f the manufacturer /importer; 
 
iii) the total acid content shall be declared; 
 iv) the net content shall be declared in metric units; 
 
v) batch code/lot number;  
vi) date of manufacture; 
 vii) expiry date; 
 
viii) instructions for use;  
ix) storage instructions, 
 
x) instructions for di sposal of used package; 
 xi) where caramel has been added, it shall be declared; 
 
xii) country of origin.