DEAS 22: 2018  
ICS 67.100.20  
HS 0405.10.00   
 
© EAC 2018                                                                                                                              Third  Edition 2018   
 DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  
Butter — Specification  
EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY  DEAS 22: 2018  
ii © EAC  2018 – All rights reserved  
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 DEAS 22: 2018  
© EAC 2018 – All rights reserved  iii 
 Foreword  
Development of the East African Standards has been necessitated by the n eed 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 Communi ty will be removed.  
The Community has established an East African Standards Committee  (EASC)  mandated to develop and 
issue East African Standards  (EAS) . The Committee is composed of representatives of the National 
Standards Bodies in Partner States, toget her 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 States. 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 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 .  
The committee responsible  for this document is Technical Committee EASC /TC 017, Milk and milk products . 
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this documen t may be subject of patent 
rights. EAC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.  
This thir d edition cancels and replaces the secon d edition ( EAS 22: 2007), which has been technically revised.  
 DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  DEAS 22: 2018  
 
© EAC 2018 – All rights reserved  1 
 Butter — Specification  
1 Scope 
This Draft East African Standard specifies requirements, sampling and test methods for butter intended for 
human consumption or for further processing   
2 Normative references  
The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some o r all of their content constitutes 
requirements 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.  
AOAC 999.10, Official method f or lead, cadmium, zinc, copper, and iron in foods Atomic absorption 
Spectrophotometry after microwave Digestion  
CAC /RCP 1 , Code of practice — General principle for food hygiene  
CAC /RCP 57 , Code of hygienic practice for milk and milk products  
CODEX STAN 192 , Codex general standard for food additives  
EAS 35 , Fortified food grade Salt — Specification  
EAS 38 , Label ling of pre - packaged foods — General requirements  
EAS 803, Nutrition labelling — Requirements  
ISO 660, Animal and vegetable fats and oils — Determin ation of acid value and acidity  
ISO 707 , Milk and milk products — Guidance on sampling  
ISO 1740, Milkfat products and butter — Determination of fat acidity (Reference method)  
ISO 2446,  Milk — Determination of fat content  
ISO 3727 -1, Butter — Determination of moisture, non -fat solids and fat contents — Part 1: Determination of 
moisture content (Reference method)  
ISO 3727 -2, Butter  — Determination of moisture, non -fat solids and fat contents  — Part 2: Determination of 
non-fat solids content (Reference method)  
ISO 3727 -3, Butter  — Determination of moisture, non -fat solids and fat contents  — Part 3: Calculation of fat 
content  
ISO 3961, Animal and vegetable fats and oils — Determination of iodine value  
ISO 4832 , Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal method for the enumeration of 
coliforms  — Colony count technique   
2 © EAC  2018 – All rights reserved  
 ISO 4833 -1, Microbiology of the food chain — Horizontal method for the enumeration of microorganisms — 
Part 1: Colony count at 30 degrees C by the pour plate technique  
ISO 5764 , Milk — determination of freezing point — Thermistor cryoscope method (Reference method)  
ISO 6320, Animal and vegetable fats and oils — Determination of refractive index  
ISO 6579 -1, Microbiology of the food chain — Horizontal method for the detection, enumerati on and 
serotyping of Salmonella — Part 1: Detection of Salmonella spp  
ISO 6611,  Milk and milk products — Enumeration of colony -forming units of yeasts and/or moulds — Colony -
count technique at 25 degrees C  
ISO 6888 -3, Microbiology of food and animal feedin g stuffs — Horizontal method for the enumeration of 
coagulase -positive staphylococci (Staphylococcus aureus and other species) — Part 3: Detection and MPN 
technique for low numbers  
ISO 7238, Butter — Determination of pH of the serum — Potentiometric method  
ISO 8968 -4, Milk and milk products — Determination of nitrogen content — Part 4: Determination of protein and 
non-protein nitrogen content and true protein content calculation (Reference method)  
ISO 11866 -1, Milk and milk products — Enumeration of presump tive Escherichia coli — Part 1: Most probable 
number technique using 4 -methylumbelliferyl -beta-D-glucuronide (MUG)  
ISO 14501, Milk and milk powder — Determination of aflatoxin M1 content — Clean -up by immunoaffinity 
chromatography and determination by high -performance liquid chromatography  
3 Terms and definitions  
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.  
3.1 
butter  
fatty product derived exclusively from milk and/or products obtained from milk, principally in the form of a n 
emulsion of the type water -in-oil 
3.2 
cow 
lactating female of cattle ( Bos indicus and Bos Taurus or their crosses)  
4 Requirements  
4.1 Raw materials  
Butter shall be made exclusively from milk.  
4.2 Permitted ingredients  
The following ingredients may be use d: 
a) edible salt complying with EAS 35  for salted butter; and  
b) starter cultures of lactic acid bacteria.   
© EAC 2018 – All rights reserved  3 
 4.3 General requirements  
Butter shall:  
a) have characteristic texture and colour ; 
b) be of characteristic flavour , free from taint and rancidity;  
c) be firm, neith er greasy nor oily at 25 °C and showi ng granular texture on breaking;  and 
d) not have water exuding to the surface . 
4.4 Specific requirements  
Butter shall comply with specific  requirement s given in Table 1  when tested in accordance with test methods 
specified  therein . 
Table 1 — Specific requirements for butter  
S/N Characteristic  Requirement  Test method  
i.  Fat content, % , m/m, min.  80 RS ISO 3727 -3 
ii.  Milk Solids -Not-Fat content, % , m/m,  
max.  2 RS ISO 3727 -2 
iii.  Moisture Content, % , m/m,  max. 16 RS ISO 3727 -1 
iv.  Butter serum pH  6.6 - 7.0 RS ISO 7238  
v.  Acid value of fat, % , max. 0.10 RS ISO 660  
vi.  Iodine value  26 - 40 RS ISO 3961  
vii.  Free fatty Acid as oleic acid, % , max. 0.3 RS ISO 1740  
viii.  Refractive Index at 40 °C  1.4530  - 1.4590  RS ISO 6320  
 
4.3 Microbiological limits  
Butter shall comply with microbiological  limits  given in Table 2 when tested in accordance with test methods 
specified therein  
Table 2 — Microbiological limits  for butter  
S/N Microorganism  Maximum limit  Test m ethod  
i.  Total plate count , CFU/g  105 ISO 4833 -1 
ii.  E. coli, CFU/g  Absent  ISO 11866 -1 
iii.  Salmonella  Spp, in 25 g  Absent  ISO 6 579-1 
iv.  Moulds and yeasts, CFU/g  10 ISO 6611  
v.  Staphylococcus aureus  per g  Absent  ISO 6888 -3 
 
5 Food additives  
Food additives, if used, shall comply  with CODEX STAN 192 .  
4 © EAC  2018 – All rights reserved  
 6 Contami nants  
6.1 Heavy metals  
The level of Lead (Pb) shall not exceed 0.02 mg/kg when tested in accordance with AOAC 999.10.  
6.2 Mycotoxin  
When tested in accordance with ISO 14501, the level of Aflatoxin M1shall not exceed 0.50 μg/kg . 
6.3 Pesticide and veterinary  drug residues  
The products covered by this standard shall comply with the maximum residue limits for veterinary drug and 
pesticide residues established in Codex Standard Guide for Maximum Pesticide Limits in Foods . 
7 Hygiene  
Butter  shall be produced and h andled in accordance with CAC/RCP 57 and CAC/RCP 1.  
9 Packaging  
Butter shall be packaged in food grade containers which safeguard s the quality of the product . 
10 Labelling  
The containers shall be labelled in compliance with the requirements of EAS 38  and E AS 803 . In addition, the 
following particulars shall be legibly and indelibly labelled on the container:  
a) name of the product as  “salted butter or unsalted butter”;  
b) net content in  SI units ; 
c) name and physical address of manufacturer;  
d) batch or code number;  
e) nutritional information ; 
f) the date of manufacture and expiry date;  
g) instruction for storage and use; and  
h) country of origin.  
11 Sampling  
Sampling of butter for analysis shall be done in accordance with ISO 707.  DEAS 22: 2018    
 
© EAC 2018  – All rights reserved