DEAS 922: 2018  
ICS 67.160.10 
 
© EAC 2018                                                                                                                               First Edition 2018  
 DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  
Flavoured black tea — Specification  
EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY  DEAS 922: 2018  
ii © EAC  2018 – All rights reserved  
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Violators may be  prosecuted . DEAS 922: 2018  
© EAC 2018 – 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.  
The Community has established an East African Standards Committee  (EASC)  mandated to develop and 
issue East African Standards  (EAS) . The Comm ittee 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 Stat es. The comments received are discussed and incorporated before finalization of standards, in 
accordance with the Principles and procedures for develop ment of East African Standards.  
East African Standards are subject to review, to keep pace with technolog ical 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 002, Coffee, Tea, Coco a and Related 
products . 
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be subject of patent 
rights. EAC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.  
 DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  DEAS 922: 2018  
 
© EAC 2018 – All rights reserved  1 
 Flavoured black tea — Specification  
1 Scope  
This Draft East African Standard specifies requirements, sampling and test methods for flavoured black tea.  
2 Normative references  
EAS 28, Black tea — Specification  
EAS 38,  Labelling of pre -packaged foods  — General requirements  
EAS 39,  Hygiene in the food and drink industry  — Code of practice  
ISO 1572, Tea — Preparation of ground sample of known dry matter content  
ISO 1573 , Tea — Determination of loss in mass at 103 °C  
ISO 1575,  Tea — Determination of total ash  
ISO 1576, Tea — Determination of wate r soluble ash and water insoluble ash  
ISO 1577, Tea — Determination of acid insoluble ash  
ISO 1578, Tea — Determination of alkalinity of water -soluble ash  
ISO 1839, Tea — Sampling  
ISO 3103, Tea — Preparation of liquor for use in sensory tests  
ISO 5498,  Agricultural food products — Deter mination of crude fibre content  — General method  
ISO 6078, Black tea — Vocabulary  
ISO 6579, Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal method for the detection of Salmonella 
spp 
ISO 6888 -1, Microbiology of fo od and animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal method for the enumeration of 
coagulase -positive staphylococci (Staphylococcus aureus and other species)   
ISO 7251, Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal method for the detection and 
enumerati on of presumptive Escherichia coli — Most probable number technique  
ISO 9768, Tea — Determination of water extract  
ISO 14502 -1, Determination of substances characteristic of green and black tea — Part 1: Content of total 
polyphenols in tea — Colorimetric m ethod using Folin -Ciocalteu reagent  
ISO 15598, Tea — Determination of crude fibre content   
2 © EAC  2018 – All rights reserved  
 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  
ISO 16649 -2, Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal method for the enumeration of 
glucuronidase -positive Escherichia coli — Part 2: Colony -count technique at 44 °C using 5 -bromo -4-chloro -3-
indolyl -D-glucuronide  
3 Terms and definitions  
For the purpose of this standard the terms and definitions  in ISO 6078  and the following terms  shall apply  
3.1 
black tea  
tea derived solely and exclusively, and produced by acceptable processes, notably withe ring, leaf maceration, 
aeration and drying  from leaves, buds and/or tender stems  of varieties of the species Camel lia sinensis  (L) O. 
Kuntze , known to be suitable for making tea for consumption as a beverage  
3.2 
flavoured black tea  
black tea to which flav ouring agent has been added  
3.3 
foreign matter  
any material which is not of tea origin  e.g. sand , stones, metallic chips and any organic matter  
3.4 
extraneous matter  
any material which is not tea leaf/flavouring agent, but of tea/flavouring origin  
3.5 
adulterant  
any material intentionally added that changes the original composition and compromises the quality and safety 
of black tea  
3.6 
filth 
any material of animal origin such as, but not limited to dead insects, rodents and their derivatives.  
4 Requirement s 
4.1 Ingredients  
The ingredients shall be:  
a) black tea complying with EAS 28 ; and  
b) flavouring agent complying with their specific standards  and shall be used in accordance with CAC/GL 
66. 
4.2 General requirements  
Flavoured black tea shall:  
a) be of uniform colo ur; 
b) be of flavour characteristic of flavouring agent used;   
© EAC 2018 – All rights reserved  3 
 c) be free from living insects, moulds,  filth and adulterants ; 
d) be free from added colour other than that of flavouring agent;  
e) be free from foreign and extraneous matter; and  
f) have black tea as the basi c ingredient  
4.3 Specific  requirements  
The flavoured black tea shall comply with the specific requirements specified in Table 1 when tested in 
accordance with test methods specified therein.  
Table 1 ▬ Specific requirement for flavoured black tea  
S/N Characteristic  Requirement  Test method  
i.  Moisture  content , %, (m/m), max.  8 ISO 1573  
ii.  Water extract, %, (m/m) , min. 32 ISO 9768  
iii.  Total ash, %, (m/m)  4-8 ISO 1575  
iv.  Water soluble ash, as percentag e of total ash, min.  45 ISO 1576  
v.  Alkalinity of water -soluble ash (as KOH), %, (m/m)  1.0a- 3.0a ISO 1578  
vi.  Acid-insoluble ash, %, (m/m),  max.  1.0 ISO 1577  
vii.  Crude fibre, %, (m/m), max.  16.5 ISO 5498 or ISO 15598b 
viii.  Total polyphenols , (m/m), min.  9.0 ISO 1 4502 -1 
Apart from moisture content, other parameters are calculated on dry basis  
a When the alkalinity of water -soluble ash is expressed in terms of millimoles of KOH per 100 g of ground sample, the limits shall 
be 17.8 - 53.6 
b The specific method for t he determination of crude fibre in tea is specified in ISO 15598, however for the purpose of routine 
estimation, the general method specified in ISO 5498 is adequate. In cases of dispute, the method of determination should alw ays be 
that specified in ISO 1 5598. The requirement of 16.5 % mass fraction remains unchanged regardless of the method used.  
5 Hygiene  
5.1 Flavoured black tea shall be processed and handled in a hygienic manner in accordance with EAS 39.  
5.2 Flavoured black tea shall comply with micro biological requirements specified in Table 2 when tested in 
accordance with test method stated therein.  
Table 2 — Microbiological limits for black tea  
S/N micro -organism  Maximum limits  Test method  
i.  Yeasts and Moulds CFU/ g 104 ISO 21527 -2 
ii.  E. Coli , CFU/ g Absent  ISO16649 -2  
4 © EAC  2018 – All rights reserved  
 6 Contaminants  
6.1 Iron fillings  
When tested in accordance with Annex A, the amount of iron filings in black tea shall not exceed 50 mg/kg . 
6.2 Heavy metals  
Heavy metals in flavoured black tea shall comply with those maximum limits estab lished by Codex 
Alimentarius Commission for this commodity.  
7 Pesticide residues  
Flavoured black tea shall comply with the maximum residue limits established by the Codex Alimentarius 
Commission.  
8 Sampling  
Sampling shall be done in accordance with ISO 183 9. 
Liquor for the sensory assessment shall be prepared in accordance with ISO 3103.  
9 Packaging  
The product shall be packaged in closed, clean and dry materials which do not compromise the quality and safety of 
black tea.  
11 Labelling  
In addition to the re quirements specified in EAS 38, each package of the black tea shall be legibly and indelibly 
marked with the following:  
a) name of the product as “Flavoured black tea’’; with the main flavouring agent used ; 
b) name and physical address of the manufacturer/packer / importer/exporter;  
c) list of ingredients ; 
d) date of manufacture;  
e) best before;  
f) identification number ; 
g) net weight in g or kg;  
h) country of origin ; and  
i) instruction for use and storage .  
© EAC 2018 – All rights reserved  5 
 Annex  A 
(normative)  
 
Determination of iron fillings  
A.1 Apparatus  
A.1.1  Magnet  (at least 4  000 gauss)  
A.1.2  Polythene sheet  
A.1.3  Petridish  
A.2 Procedure  
A.2.1  A known amount of ( 25 g) tea is spread evenly on petridish  
A.2.2  A powerful magnet wrapped in polythene sheet is run over the sample repeatedly till no more iron 
filings clin g to the magnet  
A.2.3  Collect the iron filings in a clean, dry and previously weighed petridish  
A.2.4  Note down and express the mass of iron filings as mg/kg  
A.3 Calculation  
 
Where;  
M1=Mass, in g, of iron filings, and  
M2=mass, in g, of sample taken for th e test. 
 DEAS 922: 2018    
 
© EAC 2018  – All rights  reserved