DRAFT UGANDA STANDARD FINAL DRAFT UGANDA 
STANDARD  
  FDUS EAS 757 
Second  Edition  
2013-mm-dd 
 
 Reference number  
FDUS EAS 757: 2013 
© UNBS 201 3 
  
Sorghum grains — Specification  
 DRAFT UGANDA STANDARDFDUS EAS 757: 2013 
ii                © UN BS 2013 - 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 2013 
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 
permission from UNBS. 
Requests for permission to reproduce this document should be addressed to 
The Executive Director 
Uganda National Bureau of Standards 
P.O. Box 6329 
Kampala 
Uganda 
Tel: 256 41 505 995 
Fax: 256 41 286 123 
E-mail: unbs@infocom.co.ug  
Web: www.unbs.go.ug  
 DRAFT UGANDA STANDARDFDUS EAS 757: 2013 
© UNBS  2013 - All rights reserved                iii National foreword 
Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) is a parastatal under the Ministry of Tourism, Trade and 
Industry established under Cap 3 27, of the Laws of Uganda. 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/SPS Agreements 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 Final Draft Uganda Standard, FDUS EAS 757: 2013, Sorghum grains  — Specification , is identical with  
and has been reproduced from an East African  Standard , EAS 757: 2013 , Sorghum grains  — Specification , 
and is being proposed for adoption as a Uganda Standard.  
This second edition cancels and replaces the first edition (US EAS 757:2011) which has been technically 
revised. 
Wherever the words, “ East African Standard" appear, they should be replaced by "Uganda Standard." 
 
  DRAFT UGANDA STANDARD FDEAS 757:2013 
ICS 67.060  
© EAS 2013                                                                                                                         First Edition 2013  
 
FINAL DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD 
Sorghum grains — Specification 
EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY DRAFT UGANDA STANDARDDRAFT UGANDA STANDARDFDEAS 757:2013 
ii © EAC  2013  – 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 2013  — All rights reserved 
East African Community  
P.O.Box 1096 
Arusha 
Tanzania 
Tel: 255 27 2504253/8 
Fax: 255 27 2504481/2504255 
E-mail: eac@eachq.org 
       Web: www.eac -quality.net  
Reproduction for sales purposes may be subject to royalty payments or a licensing agreement. 
Violators may be persecuted DRAFT UGANDA STANDARDFDEA S 757:2013 
© EAC 2013 – All rights reserved  iii 
 Contents Page 
Foreword ............................................................................................................................................................  iv 
1 Scope  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...................... 1 
2 Normative references  ................................ ................................ ............................................................  1 
3 Terms and definitions  ................................ ................................ ...........................................................  2 
4 Quality requirements ................................ ................................ .............................................................  2 
4.1 General requirements  ................................ ................................ ...........................................................  2 
4.2 Specific requirements  ................................ ................................ ...........................................................  3 
5 Contaminants  ................................................................ ................................ ................................ ......... 5 
5.1 Pesticide residues  ................................ ................................................................ ................................ . 5 
5.2 Other contaminants  ................................ ................................ ...............................................................  5 
6 Hygiene  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ................... 5 
7 Packaging  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ............... 5 
8 Labelling  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ................. 6 
9 Sampling  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ................ 6 
 
 DRAFT UGANDA STANDARDFDEAS 757:2013 
iv © EAC  2013  – All rights reserved  
 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 .  
FDEAS 757:2013 was prepared by Technical Committee EAS/TC 014 , Cereals, Pulses and related products  
 
 DRAFT UGANDA STANDARDFDEA S 757:2013 
© EAC 2013 – All rights reserved  v 
 Introduction 
This standard has been developed to take into account: 
a) the needs of the market for the product;  
b) the need to facilitate fair domestic, regional and international trade and prevent technical barriers to 
trade by establishing a common trading language for buyers and sellers; 
c) the structure of the CODEX, UNECE, USA, ISO and other internationally significant standards; 
d) the needs of the producers in gaining knowledge of market standards, conformity assessment, 
commercial cultivars and crop production process; 
e) the need to transport the product in a manner that ensures keeping of quality until it reaches the 
consumer; 
f) the need for the plant protection authority to certify, through a simplified form, that the product is fit for 
cross-border and international trade without carrying plant disease vectors; 
g) the need to promote good agricultural practices that will enhance wider market access, involvement of 
small-scale traders and hence making farming a viable means of wealth creation; and 
h) the need to ensure a reliable production base of consistent and safe crops that meet customer 
requirements. 
 
 DRAFT UGANDA STANDARDDRAFT UGANDA STANDARDFINAL DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  FDEAS 757:2013 
 
© EAC 2013 – All rights reserved  1 
 Sorghum grains — Specification 
1 Scope 
This Final Draft East African Standard specifies the requirements and methods of sampling and test for 
sorghum grains of varieties (cultivars) grown from Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench intended for human 
consumption.  
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. 
EAS 38, Labelling of pre-packaged foods — Specification 
EAS 39, Code of Hygiene Practice in Food and Drink Manufacturing Industry  
EAS 79, Cereals and pulses as grain — Methods of sampling  
EAS 217, Methods for the microbiological examination of foods  
ISO 605, Pulses — Determination of impurities, size, foreign odours, insects, and species and variety — Test 
methods 
ISO 711, Cereals and cereal products — Determination of moisture content (Basic reference method)  
ISO 712, Cereals and cereal products — Determination of moisture content — Routine reference method  
ISO 5223, Test sieves for cereals 
ISO 7971-1, Cereals — Determination of bulk density, called mass per hectolitre — Part 1: Reference method 
ISO 7971-3, Cereals — Determination of bulk density, called mass per hectolitre — Part 3: Routine method 
ISO 9648, Sorghum – Determination of tannin  
ISO 13690, Cereals, pulses and milled products — Sampling of static batches  
ISO 16050, Foodstuffs — Determination of aflatoxin B 1, and the total content of aflatoxin B 1, B2, G 1 and G 2 in 
cereals, nuts and derived products  — High performance liquid chromatographic method 
ISO 20483, Cereals and pulses — Determination of the nitrogen content and calculation of the crude protein 
content — Kjeldahl method 
CODEX STAN 193, Codex general standard for contaminants and toxins in food and f eed DRAFT UGANDA STANDARD 
2 © EAC  2013  – All rights reserved  
 3 Terms and definitions  
For the purposes of this standard, the following terms and definitions shall apply.  
3.1  
sorghum  
dried grain having the characteristics of the varieties (cultivars) grown from Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench 
3.2 
broken  
pieces of sorghum grain which passes through a screen having round holes of 1.8mm in diameter  
3.3 
damaged 
kernels, pieces of sorghum kernels, and other grains that are badly ground damaged, badly weather 
damaged, diseased, frost-damaged, germ-damaged, heat-damaged, insect-bored, mould-damaged, sprout-
damaged, or otherwise materially damaged 
3.4 
decorticated  
grains from which the external casings and whole or parts of the germ have been removed in an appropriate 
manner, using mechanical treatment 
3.5 
foreign matter 
organic and inorganic material other than sorghum grains, broken kernels, other grains and filth. Foreign 
matter includes loose sorghum seed coats 
3.6 
immature and shrivelled  
grains that are not properly developed  
3.7 
poisonous, toxic and/or harmful seeds 
seeds which if present in quantities above permissible limit may have damaging or dangerous effect on health, 
organoleptic properties or technological performance such as Jimson weed — Datura ( D. fastuosa  Linn and 
D. stramonium  Linn.) corn cokle ( Agrostemma githago  L., Machai Lallium remulenum  Linn.) Akra (Vicia 
species), Argemone mexicana , Khesari and other seeds that are commonly recognized as harmful to health 
3.8 
sprouted 
grains with visible evidence of root system beginning to emerge 
3.9 
test weight 
density of a measured volume of grain expressed in kilograms per hectolitre 
3.10 
food grade material 
packaging material, made of substances which are safe and suitable for their intended use and which will not 
impart any toxic substance or undesirable odour or flavour to the product 
4 Quality requirements  
4.1 General requirements 
Sorghum grains shall be: DRAFT UGANDA STANDARD 
© EAC 2013 – All rights reserved  3 
 a) the dried mature grains of Sorghum bicolor  (L.) Moench, before the removal of dockage, that consist 
of 50 % or more of whole kernels of sorghum excluding non-grain sorghum and not more than 10.0 % 
of other grains;  
b) hard, clean, wholesome, uniform in size and shape; 
c) in form of well-filled seeds of uniform colour; 
d) free from abnormal flavours, musty, sour or other undesireable odour, obnoxious smell and 
discolouration;  
e) safe and suitable for human consumption; and 
f) free from micro-organisms and substances originating from micro-organisms, fungi or other poisonous 
or deleterious substances in amounts that may constitute a hazard to human health. 
4.2 Specific requirements 
Sorghum grains shall be categorised into three grades on the basis of the tolerable limits established in Table 
1.  DRAFT UGANDA STANDARD 
4 © EAC  2013  – All rights reserved  
 Table 1 — Specific requirements for sorghum grains 
S/N Characteristic  Grade   Method of 
test 
1 2 3 
i)  Moisture, % m/m max.  13.5 ISO 
711/712  
ii)  Test w eight, kg/hl  min. 71 62 62 ISO 7971 -
1/ISO 7971 -
3 
iii)  Total admixture , % m/m , max. (total of foreign material, 
screenings and trash)  11.0 30.0 50.0 
ISO 605  iv)  Foreign material , % m/m, max.  2.0 3.0 4.0 
v)  Foreign matter, % m/m,  max.(decorticated seed)  0.5 
vi)  Screenings, % m/m , max. (all matter passing through a 2.0  
mm slotted screen , 40 shakes in the direction of the slots using 
an agit ator) 11.0 25.0 50.0 
ISO 5223  vii)  Trash , % m/m , max. (chaff and other sorghum trash retained 
above a 2.0  mm slotted screen following the screenings 
process)  5.0 15.0 15.0 
viii)  Crude protein  (on dry matter  basis ), % m/m, min. 7.0 ISO 20483  
ix)  Ergot affected grai ns, % m/m, max.  0.05 ISO 605  
x)  Tannin content  (on dry matter  
basis ), % m/m, max.  Whole grains  0.5 ISO 9648  
Decorticated grains  0.3 
xi)  Defective 
grains, % by 
count, 300 
grain sample  
max.  Weather stained  5.0 20.0 20.0 ISO 605  
Field fungi  5.0 10.0 10.0 
Dry green  5.0 10.0 10.0 
Immature grain( fully green in colour)  5.0 10.0 10.0 
Split/ broken  7.0 10.0 10.0 
Total defective  5.0 8.0 10.0 
xii)  Small foreign s eeds, % m/m, max.  1.6 
xiii)  Total Aflatoxin (AFB 1+AFB 2+AFG 1+AFG 2), ppb , max. 10 ISO 16050  
 xiv)  Aflatoxin B 1, ppb , max. 5 
xv)  Fumonisin ppm , max. 2 AOAC 
2001.04  
NOTE  The parameter, Total defective grains is not the sum total of the individual defects. It is limited to 70  % of the sum 
total of individual defects.  DRAFT UGANDA STANDARD 
© EAC 2013 – All rights reserved  5 
 5 Contaminants 
5.1 Pesticide residues 
Sorghum grains shall comply with those maximum pesticide residue limits established by the Codex 
Alimentarius Commission for this commodity.  
NOTE Where the use of certain pesticides is prohibited by some Partner States, it should be notified to all Partner 
States accordingly. 
5.2 Other contaminants 
Sorghum grains shall comply with those maximum limits for other contaminants established in CODEX STAN 
193. 
6 Hygiene 
6.1 Sorghum grains shall be produced, prepared and handled in accordance with the provisions of 
appropriate sections of EAS 39  
6.2 When tested by appropriate standards of sampling and examination listed in Clause 2, the products 
shall: 
a) be free from microorganisms in amounts which may represent a hazard to health and shall not exceed 
the limits stipulated in Table 2; 
b) be free from parasites which may represent a hazard to health; and 
c) not contain any substance originating from microorganisms in amounts which may represent a hazard 
to health. 
Table 2 — Microbiological limits 
S/N Type of micro -organi sm Limits  Method  of test 
i)  Yeasts and moulds, cfu per g max.  104 
EAS 217  
 ii) Staphylococcus aureus , cfu per g  max.  103   
iii) Escherichia c oli, per g  Absent  
iv) Salmonell a, per 25 g  Absent  
 
7 Packaging 
7.1 Sorghum grains shall be packed in suitable packages which shall be clean, sound, free from insect, 
fungal infestation and the pack aging material shall be food grade. 
7.2 Sorghum grains shall be packed in containers which will safeguard the hygienic, nutritional, and 
organoleptic qualities of the products. 
7.3 Each package shall contain sorghum grains of the same type and of the same grade designation. 
7.4 If sorghum grains are presented in bags, the bags shall also be free of pests and contaminants. 
7.5 Each package shall be securely closed and sealed. DRAFT UGANDA STANDARD 
6 © EAC  2013  – All rights reserved  
 8 Labelling 
In addition to the requirements in EAS 38, each package shall be legibly and indelibly labelled with the 
following: 
a) product name as ― Whole sorghum grains ‖  
b) variety; 
c) grade; 
d) name, address and physical location of the producer/ packer/importer; 
e) lot/batch/code number; 
f) net weight, in k ilograms;  
NOTE EAC Partner States are signatory to the International Labour Organizations (ILO) for maximum package 
weight of 50 kg where human loading and offloading is involved. 
g) the declaration ―Food for Human Consumption’’;  
h) storage instruction as ―Store in a cool dry place away from any contaminants’’;  
i) crop year; 
j) packing date; 
k) instructions on disposal of used package; 
l) country of origin; and 
m) a declaration on whether the sorghum was genetically modified or n ot. 
9 Sampling  
Sampling shall be done in accordance with the EAS 79/ISO 13690. 
 DRAFT UGANDA STANDARDFDEAS 757:2013    
 
© EAC 2013 – All rights reserved