a 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ICS 67.160.10                          DMS 178:2016  
       Second edition 
 
 
 
 
 
 
DRAFT MALAWI STANDARD  
 
 
 
 
 
Country wines – Specification 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
NOTE – This is a draft proposal and shall neither be used nor regarded as a Malawi standard   
  ICS 67.160.10           DMS 178:2016 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Country wines – 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@mbsmw.org  
                                                                      Web-site:  www.mbsmw.org 
 
Price based on 4 pages 
 
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 iTABLE 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 labelling……………………..……………………………………………… …………………………. 4  
Sampling and methods of test…………………………………………………………… ………………………….....4  
 
FOREWORD 
 
This draft Malawi standard is a second edition of M S 178:1988, Country wines – Specification .  The revision 
of this Malawi standard has been prepared after con sideration of several issues that need to be amende d 
and re-addressed in order to incorporate technologi cal advances.  This draft Malawi standard has been 
prepared by MBS/TC 11,  the Technical Committee on Beverages  to provide requirements for country wines.  
 
In preparing this draft Malawi standard reference w as made to the following standards: 
 
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 st andards. 
 
 
TECHNICAL COMMITTEE 
 
This draft Malawi standard was prepared by MBS/TC 1 1, 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 and 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 ye ars, or earlier whenever it is necessary, in order 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 wines  – Specification 
 
 
1 SCOPE 
 
This draft Malawi standard specifies requirements a nd methods of sampling and test for country wines 
prepared from fruits.  
 
 
2 NORMATIVE REFERENCES 
 
The following standards contain provisions, which t hrough reference in this text, constitute provision s of this 
Malawi standard. All standards are subject to revis ion and, since any reference to a standard is deeme d to 
be a reference to the latest edition of that standa rd, parties to agreements based on this standard ar e 
encouraged to take steps to ensure the use of the m ost recent edition of the standard indicated below.  
Information on current valid national and internati onal standards can be obtained from the Malawi Bure au of 
Standards. 
 
MS 19:  Labelling of prepacked foods – General standard;  
 
MS 21:  Food and food processing units – 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 925.35: Determination of sucrose in fruits and fruit produc ts; 
 
ISO 4832: Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs – Ho rizontal 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 techniqu e; and  
 
ISO 5519:  Fruits, vegetables and derived products – Determin ation of sorbic acid content. 
 
 
3 TERMS AND DEFINITIONS 
 
For the purposes of this draft standard, the follow ing terms and definitions shall apply; 
 
3.1 
country wines 
wines obtained by alcoholic fermentation of fresh o r processed fruits or fruit juice or sugar mixed wi th fruits, 
vegetables, flowers and herbs. These wines are also  known as home wines. 
 
3.2 
dry wine  
wine in which practically all the sugar has been co nverted by fermentation into alcohol to a maximum s ugar 
content of 4 g/l as sucrose 
 
3.3 
extraneous matter  
includes inorganic matter such as sand, glass, meta l, gravel, dirt, pebbles, stones, lumps of earth, c lay and 
mud and organic matter such as chaff, straw, weed s eeds 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 w hich the skins, and stems are present during fermen tation 
in order to impart the red colouration arising from  anthocyanin pigments extracted by the alcohol bein g 
produced 
 
3.6 
rose wine  
wine produced by the normal alcoholic fermentation of fruits juice, usually grapes, in which the colou ring 
matter of skins and stems are removed before fermen tation, yet retaining the pink colouration  
 
3.7 
sweet wine 
wine which contains some unfermented sugar to a min imum level of 45 g/l as sucrose 
 
3.8 
white wine 
wine produced by the normal alcoholic fermentation of fruit juice, usually grapes without the pigment 
extraction  
 
3.9 
wine 
alcoholic beverage obtained by fermentation of fres h or processed fruits or fruit juice (usually grape  fruits or 
grape juice) 
 
 
4 TYPES 
 
This standard covers the 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 associa ted with the type of wine;  
 
5.1.2 be free from cloudiness and suspended/particulate m atter;  
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 to give or amplify colour; and 
 
5.1.6 be free from any extraneous matter.  
 
5.2 Red wine shall derive the red colour from natural p igments; mainly anthocyanins present in fruits. No 
colour shall be added to give or amplify the red co lour. The wine shall derive 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 require ments 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 sweet 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, max. 250 
 
5.4 Microbiological limits 
 
Country wine shall comply with limits for micro-org anisms 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 u sed in the production 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 materials used in the production of cou ntry wines shall comply with the maximum residue li mits 
for pesticides as established by the Codex Alimenta rius Commission. 
 
 
 
 
  
4 
 8 HYGIENE 
 
The product covered by the provisions of this draft  standard shall be prepared and handled in accordan ce 
with the requirements set out in MS 21.   
 
 
9 PACKAGING AND LABELLING 
 
9.1 Packaging requirements 
 
Country wine shall be packaged in suitable food gra de containers. Country wine shall be packaged for b ulk 
delivery and storage in containers that shall preve nt contamination of the product and preserve its sa fety and 
quality. 
 
9.2 Labelling requirements 
 
In addition to the requirements of MS 19, the follo wing specific provisions shall apply: 
 
a) Common name as ‘wine’ preceded by the fruit name whe re the wine is produced from other fruit other 
than grape; 
 
b) Name, physical location and address of manufactu rer; 
 
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 propo rtion 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 dra ft standard shall be sampled as prescribed in  
MS 107.  
 
10.2  The product shall be tested using appropriate stan dard methods declared in this draft standard. 
 
  
 
ICS 67.160.10           DMS 178:2016  
 
 
 
 
 
 
THE MALAWI BUREAU OF STANDARDS                CERTI FICATION MARK SCHEME 
The Malawi Bureau of Standards 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 common consumer, the 
Bureau operates a Certification Mark Scheme. 
Under this 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.