PUBLIC REVIEW DRAFT DRAFT UGANDA STANDARD  
  DUS DEAS 887 
First  Edition  
2016-mm-dd 
 
 Reference number  
DUS DEAS 887 : 2016 
© UNBS 201 6 
  
Crude and semi refined palm oil — Specification 
 PUBLIC REVIEW DRAFTDUS DEAS 887: 2016 
ii                © UNBS  2016  - All rights reserved 
 Compliance with this standard does not, of itself confer immunity from legal obligations  
A Uganda Standard does not purport to include all necessary provisions of a contract. Users are 
responsible for its correct application  
© UNBS 2016 
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, no part of this publication may be reproduced or utilised in any 
form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and microfilm, without prior written 
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Requests for permission to reproduce this document should be addressed to 
The Executive Director 
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Uganda 
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 PUBLIC REVIEW DRAFTDUS DEAS 887 :2016 
© UNBS  2016 - All rights reserved                iii National foreword 
Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) is a parastatal under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and 
Cooperatives established under Cap 327, of the Laws of Uganda, as amended.  UNBS is mandated to co-
ordinate the elaboration of standards and is  
(a) a member of International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) and  
(b) a contact point for the WHO/FAO Codex Alimentarius Commission on Food Standards, and  
(c) the National Enquiry Point on TBT Agreement of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). 
The work of preparing Uganda Standards is carried out through Technical Committees. A Technical 
Committee is established to deliberate on standards in a given field or area and consists of representatives of 
consumers, traders, academicians, manufacturers, government and other stakeholders. 
Draft Uganda Standards adopted by the Technical Committee are widely circulated to stakeholders and the 
general public for comments. The committee reviews the comments before recommending the draft standards 
for approval and declaration as Uganda Standards by the National Standards Council.  
This Draft Uganda Standard, DUS DEAS 887: 2016, Crude and semi refined palm oil  — Specification,  is 
identical with  and has been reproduced from a Draft East African Standard , DEAS 887: 2016, Crude and semi 
refined palm oil — Specification,  and is being proposed for adoption as a Uganda Standard. 
This standard was developed by the Food and agriculture  Standards Technical Committee (UNBS/TC 2). 
Wher ever the words, “ East African Standard" appear, they should be replaced by "Uganda Standard." 
 
   DEAS 887: 2016 
ICS  
© EAC 2016                   First Edition 2016 
DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD 
Crude and semi refined palm oil — Specification 
EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY DEAS 887: 2016 
ii © EAC  2016 – All rights reserved  
 Copyright notice 
This EAC document is copyright-protected by EAC. While the reproduction 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 without 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 Community 2016 — All rights reserved 
East African Community 
P.O. Box 1096 
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       Web: www.eac-quality.net 
Reproduction for sales purposes may be subject to royalty payments or a licensing agreement. 
Violators may be p rosecuted. DEAS 887: 2016 
© EAC 2016 – All rights reserved  iii 
 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 standardization, trade barriers that are encountered when goods 
and services are exchanged within the Community will be removed.  
In order to achieve this objective, the Community established an East African Standards Committee 
mandated to develop and issue East African Standards.   
The Committee is composed of representatives of the National Standards Bodies in Partner States, 
together with the representatives from the private sectors and consumer organizations. 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 procedures of the Community. 
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 .  
DEAS 887 was prepared by Technical Committee EASC/TC/015 , Oil seeds, Edible fats and oils 
technical committee.  
 DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  DEAS 887: 2016  
 
© EAC 2016 – All rights reserved  1 
 Crude and semi refined palm oil — Specification 
1 Scope 
 
This Final East African standard specifies the requirements and methods of sampling and test for 
crude and semi refined oils (neutralized and/or bleached) derived from the fleshy mesocarp of the fruit 
of palm (Elaeis guineensis ) intended for further industrial processing. 
2 Normative references 
The following referenced documents are indispensable for the application 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  
EAS 38, Labelling of pre-packaged foods — Specification  
EAS 39, Code of practice for hygiene for food and drink manufacturing industries 
ISO 660, Animal and vegetable fats and oils — Determination of acid value and acidity 
ISO 661, Animal and vegetable fats and oils — Preparation of test sample 
ISO 662, Animal and vegetable fats and oils — Determination of moisture and volatile matter content  
ISO 663, Animal and vegetable fats and oils — Determination of insoluble impurities content 
ISO 5555, Animal and vegetable fats and oils — Sampling 
ISO 3657, Animal and vegetable fats and oils — Determination of saponification value 
ISO 3596, Animal and vegetable fats and oils — Determination of unsaponifiable matter — Method 
using diethyl ether extraction 
ISO 3960, Animal and vegetable fats and oils — Determination of peroxide value — Iodometric 
(visual) endpoint determination 
ISO 3961, Animal and vegetable fats and oils — Determination of iodine value 
ISO 6683, Animal and vegetable fats and oils — Determination of conventional mass per volume (litre 
weight in air)   
2 © EAC  2016 – All rights reserved  
 ISO 6320, Animal and vegetable fats and oils — Determination of refractive index  
ISO 6321 , Animal and vegetable fats and oils — Determination of melting point in open capillary tubes 
(slip point)  
ISO 12193 , Animal and vegetable fats and oils — Determination of lead by direct graphite furnace 
atomic absorption spectroscopy  
ISO 2590 , General method for the determination of arsenic — Silver diethyldithiocarbamate 
photometric method  
ISO 8294, Animal and vegetable fats and oils — Determination of copper, iron and nickel contents -- 
Graphite furnace atomic absorption method 
ISO 10539, Animal and vegetable fats and oils — Determination of alkalinity 
ISO 15305, Animal and vegetable fats and oils — Determination of Lovibond colour  
3 Terms and definitions 
For the purposes of this standard, the following term and definition shall apply. 
3.1 
Crude palm oil 
foodstuff composed primarily of glycerides of fatty acids obtained from fleshy mesocarp of the fruit of 
the oil palm  (Elaels gulneensis).  It may contain other lipids such as phosphatides, unsaponifiable 
constituents and free fatty acids naturally present in the oil  
NOTE  Edible virgin palm oil is excluded from this definition 
3.2  
Semi refined (intermediate) palm oil product 
is a degummed oil which is presented as either neutralized, bleached or neutralized and bleached 
palm oils intended for further processing  
3.3  
neutralized palm oil 
is a degummed oil  treated with an alkali to reduce the level of free fatty acid. 
3.4  
bleached palm oil 
oil which has been treated with food grade bleaching agents for the purpose of removing colouring 
pigments and impurities 
3.5 
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  
© EAC 2016 – All rights reserved  3 
 4 Quality and compositional requirements 
4.1 General requirements 
4.1.1  Crude and semi refined palm oil products shall be; 
a) characteristic of palm oil for the designated product 
b) free from   foreign odour   
c) free from adulterants, separated water and added colouring substances 
4.1.2  Crude and semi refined palm oil products shall comply with the general compositional 
requirements specified in Table 1.  
4 © EAC  2016 – All rights reserved  
 Table 1 — General compositional requirements for crude palm oil and semi refined palm oil 
products. 
S. No  Characteristics  Require ments  Method of test  
i) Relative density (50 oC/ water at 
20 oC ) 0.891 – 0.899  ISO 6883  
ii) Refractive index, (ND 50 ºC)  1.454 – 1.456  ISO 6320  
iii) Saponification value (mg KOH/g , 
oil) 190 – 209 ISO 3657  
iv) Unsaponifiable matter, g/kg, 
max.  12 ISO 3 596 
v) Iodine value (Wijs)  g/100g,  min. 48 - 55  ISO 3961  
vi) Slip point, ºC, max.  33.0 - 39.0 ISO 6321  
vii) Copper (Cu)  0.4 ISO 8294  
 viii) Iron(Fe)  5.0 
4.2 Specific compositional requirements 
Crude and semi refined palm oil products shall comply with requirements specified in Table 2.  
Table 2   Specific compositional requirements for crude palm oils and semi refined products 
S. 
No Parameter  Product requirements  Test method  
Crude 
Palm Oil  Semi refined palm oils products  
N1 & B2 N B 
i) Free fatty acid (as 
palmitic), %, m/m   ≥ 2.53 0.3 < 2.54 
 0.3 < 2.54 
 ≥ 2.53 ISO 660  
ii) Moisture and volatile 
matter at 105 ˚C, % 
m/m max.  0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 ISO 662  
iii) Colour, 133.35 mm 
(5¼ in.) Lovibond,  ≥ 20 R5 6 < 20 R6 
 ≥ 20 R5 6 < 20 R6 
 ISO 15305  
1  ‘N’ means Neutralised ; 
 2 ‘B’ means Bleached  
3FFA shall be greater than or equal to 2.5  
4FFA shall be greater than 0.3 but less than 2.5  
5Colour shall be greater than or equal to 20R 
6Colour shall be greater than 6 but less than 20R  
  
© EAC 2016 – All rights reserved  5 
 5 Food additives 
Food Additives shall not be used in crude palm oil. In case of semi refined palm oils products only 
additives used for purposes of refining crude oil shall be used. In both cases added colour shall not be 
used. 
6 Contaminants 
6.1 Pesticide residues  
Crude and semi refined palm oil products shall comply with those maximum pesticide residue limits 
established by the Codex Alimentarius Commission for this commodity.  
6.2 Other contaminants  
Crude and semi refined palm oil products shall comply with those maximum limits specified in Table 3. 
Table 3 — Heavy metal contaminants limits in crude palm oils and semi refined products 
SL No  Contaminant (mg/kg)  Max. Limit  Method of test  
i) Lead (Pb)  0.1  ISO 12193  
ii) Arsenic (As)  0.1 ISO 2590  
7 Hygiene 
Crude and semi refined palm oil products shall be produced, prepared and handled in accordance with 
EAS 39. 
8 Packaging  
Crude and semi refined palm oil products shall be packaged in food grade containers and sealed in 
manner to ensure the safety and quality requirements specified in this standard are maintained 
throughout the shelf life of the product. 
9 Labelling 
Labelling of Crude palm oil and semi refined palm oils products shall be done in accordance with EAS 
38.  
10 Sampling 
Sampling shall be carried in accordance with ISO 5555 and samples prepared for testing according to 
ISO 661. 
 CDEAS ….: 2016    
 
© EAC 2016 – All rights reserved