a 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ICS 67.160.1 0                          DMS 178 :2016  
       Second  edition  
 
 
 
 
 
 
DRAFT MALAWI STANDARD  
 
 
 
 
 
 
Country  wine s – Specification  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
NOTE – This is a draft proposal and shall neither be used nor regarded as a Malawi standard  
 
 
  
  ICS 67.160.1 0           DMS 178:2016  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Country  wine s – Specification  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Obtainable from the  
Malawi Bureau of Standards  
Moirs Road  
P O Box 946  
BLANTYRE  
 
                                                                               Tel:  +265 1 870 488  
                                                                              Fax:  +265 1 870 756  
                                                                          E-mail:  mbs@mbsm w.org  
                                                                      Web -site:  www.mbsmw.org  
 
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 i TABLE OF CONTENTS  
  
Contents                                                                                                                                                     page  
Foreword …………………………………………………………………..………………………………………………  i 
Technical  committee ……………………………………………………………………………………………………..  i 
Notice ……………………………..……………………………………………………………………………… …….... i 
Scope ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..  1 
Normative references ……………………………………………………………………………………………………  1 
Terms and definitions ..…………………………………… …………………………………………………………….  1 
Types…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….............. 2 
Essential composition and quality factors …………………………………………………………………………….. 2 
Food additives………………………………………………………………………………………………………….... 3 
Contaminants …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….  3 
Hygiene ………………..………………………………………………………………………………….. ................... ..4 
Packaging and l abelling ……………………..……………………………………………… ………………………….  4 
Sampling and m ethods of test ……………………………………………………………………………… ……….. ...4 
 
FOREWORD  
 
This draft Malawi standa rd is a second edition of MS 1 78:1988 , Country wines – Specification .  The revision 
of this Malawi standard has been prepared after consideration of several issues that need to be amended 
and re -addressed in order to incorporate technological advances.  This draft Malawi standard has b een 
prepared by MBS/TC 11,  the Technical Committee on Beverages  to provide requirements for country wines .  
 
In preparing this draft Malawi standard reference was made to  the following standard s: 
 
East African  Standard,  EAS 138 :2014 , Still table  wine – Specification . 
 
Indian  Standard,  IS 7058:2005 , Table wines  – Specification . 
 
Acknowledgement is made for the use of the above standard s. 
 
 
TECHNICAL COMMITTEE  
 
This draft Malawi s tandard was prepared by MBS/TC 11 , the Technical Committee on Beverages , and the  
following companies, organizations and institutions were represented:  
 
Blantyre Hotels Limited;  
 
Blantyre Water Board;  
 
Carlsberg (Malawi) Limited;  
 
Chibuku Products Limited;  
 
Consumers Association of Malawi;  
 
Dairibord Malawi Limited;  
 
Linga Fine Foods a nd Winery ; 
 
Malawi Bureau of Standards;  
 
Mkombezi Wine Cooperatives;  
 
Peoples Trading Centre;  and 
 
The Malawi Polytechnic (University of Malawi ). 
 
 
NOTICE  
 
This draft standard shall be reviewed every five years, or earlier when ever it is necessary, in orde r to keep 
abreast of progress. Comments are welcome and shall be considered when the standard is being reviewed .1 
 DMS 178:2016 
DRAFT MALAWI STANDARD  
 
Country  wine s – Specification  
 
 
1 SCOPE  
 
This draft Malawi  standard specifies requirements and meth ods of  sampling and test for country  wines 
prepared from fruits .  
 
 
2 NORMATIVE REFERENCES  
 
The following standards contain provisions, which through reference in this text, constitute provisions of this 
Malawi standard. All standards are subject to revision and , since any reference to a standard is deemed to 
be a reference to the latest edition of that standard, parties to agreements based on this standard are 
encouraged to take steps to ensure the use of the most recent edition of the standard indicated below. 
Information on current valid national and international standards can be obtained from the Malawi Bureau of 
Standards.  
 
MS 19:  Labelling of prepacked foods – General standard;  
 
MS 21:  Food and food processing unit s – Code of hygienic conditions;  
 
MS 107 : Alcoholic beverages   ̶  Methods of test ;  
 
MS 237: Food additives – General standard;  
 
MS 302: Contaminants and toxins in foods – General standard;  
 
AOAC Official Method 925.3 5: Determination of sucrose in fruits and fruit products ; 
 
ISO 4832: Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs – Horizontal method for the enumeration of 
coliforms – Colony -count technique ;  
 
ISO 4833 -1: Microbiology of the food chain – Horizontal method for the enumeration of micro -organisms – 
Part 1: Colony -count at 30 °C – Pour plate technique;  and 
 
ISO 5519 : Fruits, vegetables and derived products – Determination of sorbic acid content . 
 
 
3 TERMS AND DEFINITIONS  
 
For the purposes of this draft standard , the following te rms and definitions shall apply;  
 
3.1 
country wine s 
wines ob tained  by alcoholic fermentation of fresh or processed fruits or fruit juice or sugar mixed with fruits,  
vege tables, flowers and herbs. These wine s are also known as home wines.  
 
3.2 
dry wine  
wine in which practically all the sugar has been converted by fe rmentation into alcohol  to a maximum sugar 
content of 4  g/l as sucrose  
 
3.3 
extraneous matter  
includes inorganic matter such as sand, glass, metal, gravel, dirt, pebbles, s tones, lumps of earth, clay and 
mud and organic matter such as chaff, straw, weed se eds and fruit matter , insects or insects fragments, 
rodent hairs or any other foreign matter   
2 
 3.4 
medium sweet wine  
wine which contains unfermented sugar in a range of 4 to 45 g/l as sucrose  
 
3.5 
red wine  
wine obtained from fruit juice, usually grapes in wh ich the skins, and stems are  present during fermentation 
in order to impart the red colouration arising from anthocyanin pigments extracted by the alcohol being 
produced  
 
3.6 
rose wine  
wine produced by the normal alcoholic fermentation of fruits juice, us ually grapes , in which the colouring 
matter of skins and stems are removed before fermentation, yet retaining the pink colouration  
 
3.7 
sweet wine  
wine which contains some unfermented sugar  to a minimum level of 45  g/l as sucrose  
 
3.8 
white wine  
wine produ ced by the normal alcoholic fermentation of fruit juice, usu ally grapes without the pigment 
extraction  
 
3.9 
wine  
alcoholic beverage obtained by fermentation of fresh or processed fruits or fruit juice (usually grape fruits or 
grape juice)  
 
 
4 TYPES  
 
This s tandard covers th e following types of country  wines: 
 
a) dry; 
 
b) medium ; and  
 
c) sweet.  
 
 
5 ESSENTIAL COMPOSITION AND QUALITY FACTORS  
 
5.1 General requirements  
 
Country  wine shall:  
 
5.1.1  possess  the characteristic taste and aroma associated with the type of wine ; 
 
5.1.2 be free from cloudiness and suspended/particulate matter ; 
5.1.3 be so produced as to prevent spoilage under normal storage conditions ; 
 
5.1.4 have typical organoleptic characteristics of their raw material ; 
 
5.1.5 have no artificial colour added t o give or amplify colour ; and  
 
5.1.6 be fre e from any extraneous matter . 
 
5.2 Red wine shall derive the red colour from natural pigments; mainly anthocyanins present in fruits. No 
colour shall be added to give or amplify the red colour. The wine shall deri ve its colour solely from the 
grapes. The wine having pink colour shall be marked as rose wine and not red wine.   
3 
 5.3 Specific quality requirements  
 
Country  wines shall comply with the quality requirements of Table 1 . 
 
Table 1 ─ Quality requirements for country  wine  
 
S/N Characteristic  Requirement  Test method  
1 Ethyl alcohol content, %  7 –16.5  
 
 
MS 107  2 Total solids, g/l  40 – 150 
3 Total acids, as tartaric acid, g/l  4.0 – 10 
4 Volatile acids, as acetic acid, g/l , max.  1.0 
5 Total sugar, as sucrose , g/l 
 
Dry wine  
 
Medium s weet wine  
 
Sweet wine  
  
 
<4 
 
4 – 45 
 
>45  
 
 
AOAC 
925.35  
6 pH 3.0 – 4.0 MS 107  
7 Sorbic acid, mg/kg, max.  1000  ISO 5519  
8 Free sulfur dioxide, mg/kg, max.  50  
MS 107  9 Total sulfur dioxide, mg/kg, m ax. 250 
 
5.4 Microbiological limits  
 
Country  wine shall comply with limits for micro -organisms specified in Table 2 . 
 
Table 2  ─ Microbiological limits for  country  wine  
 
1 2 3 4 
S/N Organism  Limit  Test method  
1 Coliforms, cfu/ml  Nil ISO 4832  
2 Total plate count, cfu/ml , max.  100 ISO 4833 -1 
 
 
6 FOOD ADDITIVES  
 
The food additives complying with MS 237  shall be use d in the produc tion of country  wines . 
 
 
7 CONTAMINANTS  
 
7.1 Heavy metals  
 
The products covered by this standard shall comply with the maximum levels of heavy metals and toxic 
substances prescribed in MS 302.  
 
7.2 Pesticide residues  
 
All the raw material s used in the prod uction of malt drink  shall comply with the maximum residue limits for  
pesticides as established by the  Codex Alimentarius Commission.  
 
 
 
 
  
4 
 8 HYGIENE  
 
The product  covered by the provisions of this draft standard shall be prepared and handled in accordance 
with the requirements set out in MS 21.   
 
 
9 PACKAGING AND LABELLING  
 
9.1 Packaging  requirements  
 
Country  wine shall be packaged in suitable food grade containers. Country  wine shall be packaged for bulk 
delivery and storage in containers that sh all preven t contamination of the product and preserve its safety and 
quality.  
 
9.2 Labelling  requirements  
 
In addition to the requirements of MS 19, the following specific provisions shall apply:  
 
a) Common name as ‘ wine’ preceded by the fruit name where the wine is pr oduced from  other fruit other 
than grape;  
 
b) Name, physical locat ion and address of manufacturer ; 
 
c) Ethyl alcohol content, % by volume,;  
 
d) The net contents shall be declared by volume in millilitres or litres;  
 
e) List of ingredients in descending order of propor tion by mass;  
 
f) Date of manufacture ; 
 
g) Batch identification number/code;  
 
h) Country of origin; and  
 
i) Statutory warnings . 
 
 
10 SAMPLING AND METHODS OF TEST  
 
10.1 The products covered by the provisions of this draft standard shall be sampled as prescribed in  
MS 107.  
 
10.2 The product shall  be tested using appropriate standard methods declared in this draft standard . 
 
  
 
ICS 67.160.1 0           DMS 178:2016 
 
 
 
 
 
 
THE MALAWI B UREAU OF STANDARDS                CERTIFICATION MARK SCHEME  
The Malawi Bureau of Standa rds is the 
standardizing body in Malawi under the aegis 
of the Ministry of Industry and Trade.  Set up 
in 1972 by the Malawi Bureau of Standards 
Act (Cap: 51:02), the Bureau is a parastatal 
body whose activities aim at formulating and 
promoting the general  adoption of standards 
relating to structures, commodities, materials, 
practices, operations and from time to time 
revise, alter and amend the same to 
incorporate advanced technology.  To bring the advantages of standardization 
within the reach of the commo n consumer, the 
Bureau operates a Certification Mark Scheme. 
Under th is scheme, manufacturers who 
produce goods that conform to national 
standards are granted permits to use the 
Bureau’s “Mark of Quality” depicted below on 
their products.  This Mark gives confidence to 
the consumer of the commodity’s reliability.