DEAS 941 : 2018 
ICS 13.060.20  
 
© EAC 2018                                                                                                                              1st Edition 2018  
 EAST AFRICAN STANDARD 1 
Packaged flavoured drinking water — Specification  2 
EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY 3 DEAS 941 : 2018 
ii © EAC 2018 – All rights reserved
 Copyright notice 4 
This EAC document is copyright-protected by EAC. While the reproduction of this document by 5 
participants in the EAC standards development process is permitted without prior permission from EAC, 6 
neither this document nor any extract from it may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form for 7 
any other purpose without prior written permission from EAC. 8 
Requests for permission to reproduce this document for the purpose of selling it should be addressed 9 
as shown below or to EAC’s member body in the country of the requester: 10 
© East African Community 2018 — All rights reserved 11 
East African Community  12 
P.O. Box 1096, 13 
Arusha 14 
Tanzania 15 
Tel: + 255 27 2162100 16 
Fax: + 255 27 2162190 17 
E-mail: eac@eachq.org 18 
       Web: www.eac-quality.net 19 
Reproduction for sales purposes may be subject to royalty payments or a licensing agreement. 20 
Violators may be prosecuted. 21 DEAS 941 : 2018 
© EAC 2018 – All rights reserved  iii
 Contents Page 22 
1 Scope ...................................................................................................................................................... 1  23 
2 Field of application ................................................................................................................................ 1  24 
3 Normative references ............................................................................................................................ 1  25 
4 Terms and definitions ........................................................................................................................... 5  26 
5 Requirements ......................................................................................................................................... 6  27 
5.1  General requirements ........................................................................................................................... 6  28 
5.2  Hygienic conditions .............................................................................................................................. 6  29 
5.3  Preservatives ......................................................................................................................................... 7  30 
5.4 Purified water process .......................................................................................................................... 7  31 
5.6 Source of natural flavour concentrate or extract ............................................................................... 7  32 
5.7 Herbs, fruits or extracts parts of plant origin ..................................................................................... 7  33 
5.9 Specific requirements ........................................................................................................................... 8  34 
6 Hygiene ................................................................................................................................................. 10  35 
7 Packaging and labelling...................................................................................................................... 11  36 
7.1  Packaging ............................................................................................................................................. 11  37 
7.2 Weights and measures ....................................................................................................................... 11  38 
7.3  Labelling ............................................................................................................................................... 11  39 
7.4  Labelling prohibitions ......................................................................................................................... 12  40 
8 Parameters required for minimum monitoring ................................................................................. 12  41 
9 Sampling plan for Flavoured drinking water .................................................................................... 13  42 
 43 
 44 DEAS 941 : 2018 
iv © EAC 2018 – All rights reserved
 Foreword 45 
Development of the East African Standards has been necessitated by the need for harmonizing requirements 46 
governing quality of products and services in the East African Community. It is envisaged that through 47 
harmonized standardization, trade barriers that are encountered when goods and services are exchanged 48 
within the Community will be removed.  49 
The Community has established an East African Standards Committee (EASC) mandated to develop and 50 
issue East African Standards (EAS).  The Committee is composed of representatives of the National 51 
Standards Bodies in Partner States, together with the representatives from the public and private sector 52 
organizations in the community.  53 
East African Standards are developed through Technical Committees that are representative of key 54 
stakeholders including government, academia, consumer groups, private sector and other interested parties. 55 
Draft East African Standards are circulated to stakeholders through the National Standards Bodies in the 56 
Partner States. The comments received are discussed and incorporated before finalization of standards, in 57 
accordance with the Principles and procedures for development of East African Standards. 58 
East African Standards are subject to review, to keep pace with technological advances. Users of the East 59 
African Standards are therefore expected to ensure that they always have the latest versions of the standards 60 
they are implementing .  61 
The committee responsible  for this document is Technical Committee EASC/TC 081 Drinking water. 62 
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be subject of patent 63 
rights. EAC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights. 64 DEAS 941 : 2018 
© EAC 2018 – All rights reserved  v
 Introduction 65 
This standard has been developed because the importation, local production and consumption of flavoured 66 
drinking water by EAC Partner States is high and continues to rise, and thus there is need to regulate the 67 
industry and ensure quality and safety of the product so as to guarantee health and safety of the consumers 68 
This standard covers requirements for sweetened flavoured drinking water, unsweetened flavoured drinking 69 
water, sparkled sweetened flavoured drinking water and sparkled unsweetened flavoured drinking water 70 
meant for drinking 71 
This standard covers requirements for sweetened flavoured drinking water, unsweetened flavoured drinking 72 
water, sparkled sweetened flavoured drinking water and sparkled unsweetened flavoured drinking water 73 
meant for drinking 74 
This standard lays down the minimum requirements which should be complied with in order to render the 75 
flavoured drinking water fit for drinking. Definitions and labelling requirements for flavoured drinking water 76 
have been incorporated in this standard. It is important that the consumer be protected from substandard 77 
products. 78 
 79 EAST AFRICAN STANDARD DEAS 941 : 2018
 
© EAC 2018 – All rights reserved 1 
 Packaged flavoured drinking water — Specification 80 
1 Scope 81 
This East Africa Standards specifies requirements, test methods and sampling methods for ready-to-drink 82 
flavoured drinking water.  83 
2 Field of application 84 
This standard applies to flavoured drinking water with extracts of herbs, fruits or extracts parts of plant origin 85 
and permitted flavours as per codex STAN 192.  86 
3 Normative references 87 
The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their content constitutes 88 
requirements of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references, 89 
the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies. 90 
EAS 13, Packaged natural mineral waters — Specification 91 
EAS 153, Packaged drinking water — Specification 92 
EAS 803, Nutrition labelling — Requirements 93 
EAS 804, Claims on food — General requirements 94 
EAS 805, Use of nutrition and health claims — Requirements  95 
EAS 38, Labelling of prepackaged foods — Specification 96 
EAS 39, Hygiene in the food and drink manufacturing industry — Code of practice 97 
ISO 4832, Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal method for the enumeration of 98 
coliforms ━ Colony-count technique 99 
ISO 5961, Water quality — Determination of cadmium by atomic absorption spectrometry 100 
ISO 6222, Water quality — Enumeration of culturable microorganisms ━ Colony count by inoculation in 101 
nutrient agar culture media 102 
ISO 6332, Water quality — Determination of iron - Spectrometric method using 1,10-phenanthroline 103 
ISO 6333, Water quality — Determination of manganese — Formaldoxime spectrometric method 104 
ISO 6461-2, Water quality — Detection ad enumeration of the spores of sulphite-reducing anaerobes 105 
(clostridia) — Part 2: Method by membrane filtration 106 
ISO 6703-1, Water quality — Determination of cyanide: total cyanide   107  
2 © EAC 2018 – All rights reserved
 ISO 6777, Water quality -- Determination of nitrite -- Molecular absorption spectrometric method 108 
ISO 19250, Water quality — Determination of salmonella  . 109 
ISO 6888-1, Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal method for the enumeration of 110 
coagulass-positive staphylococci (Staphylococcus aureus and other species) — Part 1: Technique using 111 
Baird-Parker agar medium 112 
ISO 7027-1, Water quality — Determination of turbidity —Part 1: Quantitative methods  113 
ISO 7393-1, Water quality — Determination of free chlorine and total chlorine — Part 1: Titrimetric method 114 
using N,N-diethyl-1,4phenylenediamine  115 
ISO 7393-2, Water quality — Determination of free chlorine and total chlorine — Part 2: Colorimetric method 116 
using N,N-dialkyl-1,4phenylenediamine, for routine control purposes  117 
ISO 7393-3, Water quality — Determination of free chlorine and total chlorine — Part 3: Iodometric titration 118 
method for the determination of total chlorine   119 
ISO 7887, Water quality — Examination and determination of colour 120 
ISO 7890-3, Water quality – Determination of nitrate – Part 3: Spectrometric method using sulfosalicylic acid 121 
ISO 7899-2, Water quality — Detection and enumeration of intestinal enterococci ━ Part 2: Membrane 122 
filtration method 123 
ISO 7980, Water quality — Determination of calcium and magnesium — Atomic absorption spectrometric 124 
method 125 
 126 
ISO 8165-1, Water quality – Determination of selected monovalent phenols - Part 1: Gaschromatographic 127 
method after enrichment by extraction  128 
ISO 8165-2, Water quality – Determination of selected monovalent phenols - Part 2: Method by derivatization 129 
and gas chromatography 130 
ISO 8288, Water quality — Determination of cobalt, nickel, copper, zinc, cadmium and lead — Flame atomic 131 
absorption spectrometric methods 132 
ISO 9174, Water quality — Determination of chromium — Atomic absorption spectrometric methods 133 
ISO 9297, Water quality — Determination of chloride — Silver nitrate titration with chromate indicator (Mohr’s 134 
method) 135 
ISO 9308-12014/Amd1:2016, Water quality – Enumeration of Escherichia coli and coliform bacteria - Part 1: 136 
Membrane filtration method for waters with low bacterial background flora  137 
ISO 9377-2, Water quality — Determination of hydrocarbon oil index — Part 2: Method using solvent 138 
extraction and gas chromatography 139 
ISO 9696, Water quality – Gross alpha activity - Test method using thick source 140 
ISO 9697, Water quality – Gross beta activity in non-saline water – Test method using thick source 141 
ISO 9964-1, Water quality — Determination of sodium and potassium — Part 1: Determination of sodium by 142 
atomic absorption spectrometry 143 
ISO 9964-2, Water quality – Determination of sodium and potassium – Part 2: Determination of potassium by 144 
atomic absorption spectrometry 145  
© EAC 2018 – All rights reserved  3
 ISO 10304, Water quality — Determination of dissolved anions by liquid chromatography of ions  146 
ISO 10359, Water quality — Determination of fluoride  147 
ISO 10523, Water quality — Determination of pH 148 
ISO 10530, Water quality — Determination of dissolved sulfide — Photometric method using methylene blue 149 
ISO 10566, Water quality — Determination of aluminium — Spectrometric method using pyrocatechol violet 150 
ISO 11423, Water quality — Determination of benzene and some derivatives 151 
ISO 11732, Water quality — Determination of ammonium nitrogen — Method by flow analysis (CFA and FIA) 152 
and spectrometric detection 153 
ISO 11885, Water quality — Determination of selected elements by inductively coupled plasma optical 154 
emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) 155 
ISO 12846, Water quality — Determination of mercury — Method using atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) 156 
with and without enrichment 157 
ISO 15061, Water quality — Determination of dissolved bromate — Method by liquid chromatography of ions 158 
ISO 15089, Water quality — Guidelines for selective immunoassays for the determination of plant treatment 159 
and pesticide agents 160 
ISO 16265, Water quality — Determination of the methylene blue active substances (MBAS) index -- Method 161 
using continuous flow analysis (CFA) 162 
ISO 16266, Water quality — Detection and enumeration of Pseudomonas aeruginosa ━ Method by 163 
membrane filtration 164 
ISO 21567, Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal method for the detection of Shigella 165 
spp 166 
ISO 14402, Water quality — Determination of phenol index by flow analysis (FIA and CFA) 167 
ISO/TS 21872-1, Microbiology of food and animal stuffs — Horizontal method for the detection of potentially 168 
enteropathogenic vibrio spp. — Part 1: Detection of vibrio parahaemolyticus and vibrio cholera 169 
ISO 9963-2, Water quality — Determination of alkalinity — Part 2: Determination of carbonate alkalinity 170 
ISO 9965, Water quality — Determination of selenium — Atomic absorption spectrometric method (hydride 171 
technique) 172 
ISO 11969, Water quality — Determination of arsenic — Atomic absorption spectrometric method (hydride 173 
technique) 174 
ISO 13877, Soil quality — Determination of polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons — Method using high -175 
performance liquid chromatography 176 
ISO 15553 Water quality — Isolation and identification of Cryptosporidium oocysts and Giardia cysts from 177 
water 178 
ASTM D 1246-55, Standard Test Method for Bromide Ion in Water 179 
ASTM D 1976-12, Standard Test Method for Elements in Water by Inductively-Coupled Argon Plasma Atomic 180 
Emission Spectroscopy 181  
4 © EAC 2018 – All rights reserved
 ASTM D 4128-06, Standard Guide for Identification and Quantitation of Organic Compounds in Water by 182 
Combined Gas Chromatography and Electron Impact Mass Spectrometry  183 
ASTM D 4129-05, Standard Test Method for Total and Organic Carbon in Water by High Temperature 184 
Oxidation and by Coulometric Detection 185 
ASTM D 5907, Standard test methods for filterable matter (total dissolved solids) and non-filterable matter 186 
(total suspended solids) in water 187 
ASTM D5907-13, Standard test methods for filterable matter (total dissolved solids) and non-filterable matter 188 
(total suspended solids) in water  189 
190  
© EAC 2018 – All rights reserved  5
 4 Terms and definitions  191 
For the purposes of this standard, the following terms and definitions shall apply. 192 
4.1 193 
flavoured drinking water 194 
purified water containing extracts of herbs, fruits or parts of plant origin, permitted flavor /concentrates in 195 
minute traces, singly or in combination, intended for sale as a ready to drink for human consumption 196 
4.2 197 
sweetened flavoured drinking water 198 
purified water containing extracts of herbs, fruits or extracts parts of plant origin, flavour /concentrate in minute 199 
traces with added permitted artificial nonnutritive sweeteners or sugars, singly or in combination, intended for 200 
sale as a ready to drink for human consumption 201 
4.3 202 
artificial nonnutritive sweeteners 203 
substances that are used instead of sugars (i.e. sucrose, corn syrup, honey, agave nectar) to sweeten foods, 204 
beverages and other products, such as oral care products and certain medications and are having very low or 205 
zero calories or nutrients 206 
 207 
4.4 208 
carbonated flavoured drinking water 209 
 210 
4.4.1  211 
naturally carbonated flavoured drinking water 212 
is a flavoured drinking water, which is naturally carbonated from source of the raw water without artificial 213 
carbonation  214 
4.4.2 215 
non-carbonated flavoured drinking water 216 
is flavoured drinking water, which by nature; and after possible treatment as provided for in this standard, and 217 
after packaging, does not contain free carbon dioxide in excess of the amount necessary to keep the 218 
hydrogen carbonate salts present in the water dissolved 219 
 220 
4.4.3 221 
artificially carbonated flavored drinking water 222 
is flavoured drinking water, and after possible treatment as provided for in this standard and before packaging 223 
has been made more effervescent by addition of carbon dioxide. This includes sparkling, carbon dioxide 224 
fortified and fizzling flavoured drinking water 225 
 226 
4.5 227 
purified water 228 
water which conforms to standards prescribed for any drinking water standard  229 
 230 
4.6  231 
flavour / concentrate/ extract 232 
any permitted extracts of herbs, fruits or extracts parts of plant origin  233 
 234 
4.7   235 
natural flavours  236 
are flavour preparations and single substance respectively, acceptable for human consumption, obtained 237 
exclusively by physical processes from essential oil, oleoresin, essence or extractive, protein hydrolysate, 238 
distillate, or any product of roasting, heating or enzymolysis, which contains the flavouring constituents 239 
derived from a spice, fruit or fruit juice, vegetable or vegetable juice, edible yeast, herb, bark, bud, root, leaf or 240 
similar plant material, meat, seafood, poultry, eggs, dairy products, or fermentation products thereof, whose 241 
significant function in food is flavouring rather than nutritional and fit for human consumption.  242  
6 © EAC 2018 – All rights reserved
  243 
4.8  244 
nature-identical flavouring substances 245 
are substances chemically isolated from aromatic raw materials or obtained synthetically; they are chemically 246 
identical to substances present in natural products intended for human consumption, either processed or not 247 
 248 
4.9  249 
packaging material  250 
any food grade containers such as cans, bottles, cartons, boxes, cases or wrapping and covering material 251 
such as foil, film, metal paper and wax paper 252 
4.10 253 
Food grade material 254 
a material made of substances which are safe and suitable for their intended use and which will not impart any 255 
toxic substance or undesirable odour or flavour to the food product 256 
5 Requirements  257 
5.1  General requirements 258 
5.1.1 Types of flavoured drinking water 259 
 Carbonated sweetened, carbonated non sweetened 260 
 Non-carbonated Sweetened, Non-carbonated non sweetened 261 
5.2  Hygienic conditions 262 
Flavoured drinking water shall be processed in premises maintained in accordance with the requirements in 263 
Annex A of EAS 153 or Annex A of EAS 13.  264 
5.2.1 Source of water  265 
Source of water shall be free from any contamination, approved by the relevant water regulatory authorities 266 
and shall conform to the specific requirements of Annex A of EAS 153 or Annex A of EAS 13.  267 
5.2.2  Flavour s/concentrates/ extracts  268 
5.2.2.1 Flavours /extracts shall be processed under the Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) conditions   269 
5.2.2.2  Flavours /extracts shall be procured with Certificate of Analysis. 270 
5.2.2.3 Flavour /extracts shall be with batch number, date of manufacture, expiry and storage conditions. 271 
5.2.2.4 Flavour/extracts shall comply with the requirements of CAC/GL 66   272 
5.2.3 Flavoured drinking water 273 
5.2.3.1 Contents shall be safe for human consumption and health.  274 
5.2.3.2 The product shall be free from abnormal odour, foreign matters, insects and part of them.  275 
5.2.3.3 Preservatives used for concentrates, extracts shall be of food grade. 276  
© EAC 2018 – All rights reserved  7
 5.3  Preservatives  277 
Preservatives may be added for one or more of the following purposes: 278 
5.3.1  Carry over food additives (preservative) approved by Joint Expert Committee for Food Additives  279 
(JEFCA) and or Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC). 280 
5.3.2  To retain the flavour, concentrate and extract properties in good condition.  281 
5.3.4  To retain quality, stability and to enhance shelf life.  282 
5.3.5  To add or enhance taste to flavoured drinking water.  283 
5.3.6  To process flavoured drinking water, to retain properties during manufacture, packaging and 284 
transport.  285 
5.3.7  To provide essential constituents of flavoured drinking water; which complies with applicable 286 
standards of purity or quality in respect of flavour used.  287 
5.3.8  Preservative shall not be directly added to flavoured drinking water  288 
5.4 Purified water process 289 
Water used for flavoured drinking water may be produced by one or more of following process, reverse 290 
osmosis; activated alumina, multigranular sand filtration;  activated carbon filtration; nano filtration; micron 291 
filtration; ozonator; and ultraviolet processing; source protection and monitoring, advanced water purifying 292 
technology may be used conforming to EAS 13 or EAS 153 or any drinking water standard.  293 
5.5  Carry over food additives   294 
For the purpose of this standard the "Carry Over" principle applies to the presence of additives such as 295 
colours, flavouring agents, anti-oxidants, emulsifying and stabilizing agents and preservatives in food, as a 296 
result of the use of raw material or other ingredients in which these additives were used. The presence of 297 
contaminants is not covered by this purpose.  298 
The presence of an additive in food through the application of the carry over principle is admissible in general 299 
unless otherwise specifically prohibited in the rules or in Table 1, provided the total additive including the carry 300 
over through the raw material or other ingredients does not exceed the maximum amount so permitted.  301 
5.6 Source of natural flavour concentrate or extract 302 
Flavours may be obtained from botanical plants fruits which are internationally acceptable and are in 303 
conformity with CAC/GL 66, Guidelines for the use of flavourings .  304 
5.7 Herbs, fruits or extracts parts of plant origin 305 
Shall be of botanical name conforming to the glossary of Kenyan medicinal plant, or similar publication of 306 
Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) and Registered for use in food processing by Drugs and Poisons 307 
Board or certified by Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS) if the plant is imported as a whole or 308 
part of plant for use in food processing. 309 
5.8  Basic characteristics 310 
Basic ingredients for flavoured drinking water shall be as given in Table 1.  311 
Table 1 — Basic ingredients for flavoured drinking water 312 
S/No Substance Types of flavored drinking water 
limits Test method  
8 © EAC 2018 – All rights reserved
 Carbonated 
sweetened carbonated 
non sweetened Non 
carbonated 
sweetened Non-carbonated 
non sweetened 
i) Colour, max. 15 true colour 
units 15 true colour 
units 15 true colour 
units 15 true colour 
units ISO 7887 
ii) Turbidity, max. 2 NTU. 2 NTU. 2 NTU. 2 NTU. ISO 7027 
iii) Flavors, 
sweeteners, 
concentrates, 
extracts, 
essential oils 
%,preservatives 
max. 1.0 max. 1.0 max. 1.0 max. 1.0 max.  
iv) pH 3.0 – 5.4 3.0 – 5.0 6.0 – 8.5 6.0 – 8.5 ISO 10523 
v) Protein ND ND ND ND  
vi) Sugars, max. 12 mg/L ND 12 mg/L ND AOAC 932.15 
and AOAC 
950.31 and 
AOAC 950.29 
vii) Total dissolved 
solids, max. 1000 mg/L 1000 mg/L 1000 mg/L 1000 mg/L ASTM D 5907 
viii) Total suspended 
solids Not detectable Not detectable Not 
detectable Not detectable ASTM D 
5907-13  
Note 1 pH of alkaline flavoured drinking water shall be 8.6-10  
Note 2 For natural carbonated flavored drinking water, the pH range shall be 5.5 – 6.0 
5.9 Specific requirements 313 
5.9.1 Physical requirements 314 
Flavoured drinking water shall not have objectionable taste or odour to the consumers and shall be free from 315 
any foreign matter as stipulated in Table 1. 316 
5.9.2 Chemical requirements 317 
Packaged flavored water shall comply with the pysico-chemical requirements as stipulated in Table 2 when 318 
tested in accordance to the test methods prescribed therein. 319 
Table 2 — General physico-chemical requirements of flavoured drinking water 320 
S/N Substance 
 Limit Test method 
i) Aluminium as Al3+, max. 0.2 mg/L ISO 10566 
ii) Calcium as Ca2+, max. 150 mg/L ISO 5961 
iii) Chloride as Cl-, max. 250 mg/L ISO 9297 
iv) Fluoride as F-, max. 1.5 mg/L (See Note 1 and 2) ISO 10359 
v) Iron as Fe2+, max. 0.3 mg/L ISO 6332 
vi) Magnesium as Mg2+, max. 100 mg/L ISO 7980 
vii) Nitrate as NO 3- max. 45 mg/L ISO 7890 
viii) Potassium as K+, max. 50 mg/L ISO 9964-1 
ix) Sodium as Na+, max. 200 mg/L  ISO 9964-1 
x) Sulphate as SO 42-max. 400 (See Note 3) ISO 10304 
xi) Sulphide as H 2S max. 0.05 mg/L ISO 10530 
xii) Total dissolved solids max 1000 mg/L ASTM D 5907 
xiii) Total Alkalinity (as HCO 3) 250 mg/L ISO 9963-2 
NOTE 1 Packaged flavoured drinking water containing between 1.5 mg/L and 4 mg/L fluoride shall have 
a labelling declaration flavoured drinking water contains Fluoride included. 
NOTE 2 If the product contains more than 1.5 mg/L “the product not suitable for infants and children  
© EAC 2018 – All rights reserved  9
 under the age of seven years” shall be declared on the label.  
NOTE 3 Flavoured drinking water containing between 200 mg/L and 400 mg/L sulphate shall have a 
labelling declaration “flavoured drinking water contains Sulphate” included. 
5.9.3 Limits for contaminants 321 
Flavoured drinking water shall not contain inorganic contaminants in excess of limits given in Table 2 when 322 
tested in accordance to the test methods prescribed therein. 323 
Table 3 — Requirements for limits of inorganic contaminants in flavoured drinking water 324 
S/N Substance Limit, mg/L, 
max. Test method 
i) Ammonia as NH 3, 0.5 ISO 11732 
ii) Arsenic as As, 0.01 ISO 11969 
iii) Barium as Ba++, 0.7 ISO 11885 
iv) Borate as B, 5.0 ISO11885 
v) Cadmium as Cd, 0.003 ISO 5961 
vi) Chromium as total  Cr, 0.005 ISO 9174 
vii) Copper as Cu++, 1 ISO 8288 
viii) Cyanide as CN-, 0,01 ISO 6703 
ix) Free residual chlorine as Cl 2, Nil ISO 7393 
x) Iodine as I-, 1.0 ASTM D 1246-55 
xi) Lead as Pb, 0.01 ISO 8288 
xii) Manganese as Mn++, 0.4 ISO 6333 
xiii) Mercury as Hg, 0.001 ISO 12846 
xiv) Nitrite as NO 2-, 0.1 ISO 6777 
xv) Selenium as Se, 0.01 ISO 9965 
xvi) Silver as Ag, 0.5 ASTM D 1976-12 
xvii) Zinc as Zn++, 5 ISO 8288 
xviii) Bromate as BrO3 0.01 ISO 15061 
xviii) Antimony as Sb, 0.005 ISO 11885 
xix) Nickel as Ni,  0.02 ISO 8288 
 Uranium 0.03 ASTM D 6239-9 
5.9.4 Flavoured drinking water shall comply with the requirements for organic contaminants 325 
indicated in Table 4 when tested in accordance to the test methods prescribed therein. 326 
Table 4 — Limits of organic contaminants in Flavoured drinking water  327 
S/N Substance  
(arrange in alphabetical order) Limit µg/l 
max. Test method  
i) Aromatics  
Benzene 10 ISO 11423 
 Toluene 700 
Xylene 500 
Polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbon 0.7 ISO 13877 
ii) Chlorinated alkanes and alkenes  
Carbon tetrachloride 2 ASTM D 4128- 06  1,2-Dichloroethane 30 
 1,1-Dichloroethylene 0.3 
 1,1-Dichloroethene 30 
 Tetrachloroethene 40 
iii) Phenolic substances  
 Phenols 2 ISO 8165  
10 © EAC 2018 – All rights reserved
 S/N Substance  
(arrange in alphabetical order) Limit µg/l 
max. Test method  
 2,4,6-Trichlorophenol 200 ISO 14402 
iv) Trihalomethanes  
 Chloroform 30 ASTM D4128- 06 
v) Pesticides 
 Aldrin/Dieldrin 0.03 ISO 15089 
 Chlordane (total) 0.3 
 2,4- Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid 30  
 DDT (total) 1 
 Heptachlor and Heptachlor Epoxide  0.03 
 Hexachlorobenzene 1 
 Lindane BHC 2 
 Methoxychlor 20 
vi) Surfactants (reacting with methylene 
blue) 200 ISO 16265 
vii) Mineral oil 0.01 ISO 9377-2 
viii) Organic matter 3 ASTM D 4129-05 
5.9.5 Flavoured drinking water shall comply with the requirements of radioactive matter indicated in 328 
Table 5. 329 
Table 5 — Requirements of radioactive matter in flavoured drinking water 330 
S/N Radioactive 
material Limit in 
Bq/L Test method 
i) Gross alpha activity 0.5 ISO 9696 
ii) Gross beta activity 1.0 ISO 9697 
5.9.6 Flavoured drinking water shall not have any sediment or suspended matter during its shelf life. 331 
5.9.8 Flavoured drinking water shall not contain any organic or inorganic substances at a level injurious to 332 
health. 333 
6 Hygiene 334 
6.1 Packaged flavoured drinking water shall be collected, processed, packaged, and marketed under 335 
hygienic conditions complying with Annex A of EAS 13 or EAS 153  336 
6.2 Flavoured drinking water shall comply with the microbiological requirements given in Table 6 when 337 
tested in accordance to the test methods prescribed therein. 338 
Table 6 — Microbiological requirements for Flavoured drinking water 339 
S/N Type of micro-organism 
 Limit Test method 
i) Total viable counts at 22 ºC, in ml max. a 100 ISO 6222 
Total viable counts at 37 ºC, in ml, max. a 50 
ii) Total Coliforms, in 100 ml Absent ISO 4832 
iii) E. Coli, in 100 mL Absent ISO 9308-1 
iv) Staphylococcus aureus, in 100 ml Absent ISO 6888-1 
v) Sulphite reducing anaerobes, in100 ml Absent ISO 6461-2 
vi) Pseudomonas aeruginos a fluorescence, in 100 ml Absent ISO 16266  
© EAC 2018 – All rights reserved  11
 vii) Streptococcus faecalis,  in 100 ml Absent ISO 7899-2 
viii) Shigella,  in 100 ml Absent ISO 21567 
ix) Salmonella,  in 100 ml Absent ISO 6785 
x) Vibrio cholera,  in 100 ml  Absent ISO/TS 21872-1 
xi) V. parahaemolyticus,  in 100 ml  Absent ISO/TS 21872-1 
xii) Giardia, per 100ml Not detectable ISO 15553 xiii) Cryptosporidium, per 100ml Not detectable 
a This parameter is for monitoring the system at source. Total time before analysis should be not more 
than 6 h at 4ºC. Determination of total viable counts shall start within 12 h after collection of the packaged 
drinking water sample. 
7 Packaging and labelling 340 
7.1  Packaging 341 
7.1.1  Containers 342 
7.1.1.1 The flavoured drinking water shall be properly packed in food grade material that shall preserve 343 
the quality of the product and preclude contamination from the external environment.  344 
7.1.2 Inspection of empty and filled containers  345 
Containers shall be inspected thoroughly before and after filling. Bright light can be used in back ground to 346 
check containers and product. Magnification boxes may be used if necessary. Defective containers and 347 
product contained shall be rejected.  348 
7.2 Weights and measures 349 
Standard of weights and measures (packaged commodities) shall be as prescribed by the relevant Weights 350 
and Measures Regulations of the Partner States.  351 
7.3  Labelling 352 
The labels shall be legible and indelible marked. In addition to the requirements of EAS 38, 803,804, 805 and, 353 
the following provisions shall apply: 354 
a) name of the product: Flavoured Drinking Water  355 
Carbonated and/or sweetened products shall have the words carbonated and/or sweetened declared 356 
on the label; 357 
b) Brand Name; 358 
c) Ingredients; (purified water; Herbs; Fruits or parts of Plant origin extracts; Flavour name shall be 359 
declared);  360 
d) Name and address of manufacturer; 361 
e) Physical location of the manufacturer;  362 
f) Date of manufacture;  363 
g) Batch number;  364 
h) Net volume of content;  365 
i) Condition for storage;  366  
12 © EAC 2018 – All rights reserved
 j) Expiry date;  367 
k) Processing method (optional);  368 
l) Country of origin;  369 
m) Crush the bottle after use; (if its one time use container);  370 
n) Preservatives; carry over food additives added;  371 
o) Any other markings required under the Standards of Weights and Measures; and 372 
p) If non-nutritive artificial sweetener is used, the following words: ‘’Contains Artificial Sweetener for 373 
Special Dietary use only’’ shall be declared on the label. 374 
7.4  Labelling prohibitions 375 
7.4.1 No claims concerning medical (preventative, alleviative or curative) or other beneficial effects relating 376 
to the health of the consumer shall be made in respect of the properties of the product covered in this 377 
standard. 378 
7.4.2 The name of the locality, hamlet, or specified place shall not form part of the trade name unless it 379 
refers to flavoured drinking water collected at the place designated by that trade name. 380 
7.4.3 The use of any statement or of any pictorial device which may create confusion in the mind of the 381 
public or in any way mislead the public about the nature, origin composition and properties of a containerized 382 
flavoured drinking water offered for sale shall be prohibited. 383 
7.4.4 The use of more than one brand name for similar products exploited from the same water source shall 384 
be prohibited. 385 
7.4.5 The use of one brand name for products exploited from different water source shall be prohibited. 386 
8 Parameters required for minimum monitoring 387 
It is recognized that, in many instances, the cost of performing a full analysis against Table 1, Table 2, Table 388 
3, Table 4, Table 5 and Table 6 can be prohibitive. 389 
Analysis of the parameters in Table 8 may be deemed acceptable for the purpose of indicating on going levels 390 
of operational efficiency in a water treatment plant. However, a relevant authority may require additional tests. 391 
392  
© EAC 2018 – All rights reserved  13
 Table 8 — Physico-chemical and microbiological parameters required for minimum monitoring 393 
If abnormal results are encountered in any of these analyses, sampling frequency shall be increased and/or 394 
additional analyses carried out. 395 
NOTE A consumer complaints register for the aesthetic qualities of the flavoured drinking water should be maintained. 396 
9 Sampling plan for Flavoured drinking water 397 
9.1 In drawing, preparing, storing and handling samples, the following precautions and directions shall be 398 
observed as far as possible: 399 
a) Sample shall be drawn in original sealed bottle/container and kept in protected place not exposed to 400 
damp air, dust or soot. 401 
b) Each bottle/container in original shall be sealed and marked with full details of sampling. 402 
9.2 The quantity of packed water of the same type belonging to the same batch of manufacture and packed 403 
in a day shall constitute a lot. 404 
9.3 For ascertaining the conformity of the material to the requirements of the specification, samples shall be 405 
tested from each lot separately. 406 
9.4 The number of containers to be selected from a lot shall depend on the size of the lot and shall be 407 
according to the sampling plan in Table 9. 408 Property Test method 
Physicochemical: 
Conductivity, or dissolved solids 
Colour 
Turbidity 
Taste 
Odour 
Flavors, sweeteners, concentrates, extracts, 
essential oils %, max. See Table 1 
 
 
 
Microbiological: 
Faecal coliform bacteria or E. coli; 
Shigella spp 
Salmonella spp  See Table 6 
 
Chemical: 
Fluoride as F- 
Nitrate 
Nitrite 
pH value 
Aluminum 
Iron (total) 
Ammonia 
Residual chlorine See Table 3  
14 © EAC 2018 – All rights reserved
 Table 9 — Sampling plan for Flavoured drinking water 409 
No. of containers in the lot (L) Sample size (number of containers) 
L ≤ 5 000 3 
5 000 < L ≤ 10 000 5 
10 000 < L ≤ 15 000 7 
L > 15 000 9 DEAS 941 : 2018 
 
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