DEAS 28: 2018  
ICS 67.140.10  
 
© EAC 2018                                                                                                                          Second  Edition 2018  
 DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  
Black tea — Specification  
EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY  DEAS 28: 2018  
ii © EAC 2018 – All rights  reserved  
 Copyright notice  
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© East African Community 2018  — All rights  reserved  
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 DEAS 28: 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 b arriers 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 Committee is c omposed 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 r epresentative 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 com ments 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 advanc es. 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 EAS/TC 002, Coffee, Tea, Cocoa 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.  
This second edition cancels and replaces t he first edition (EAS  28: 2000 ), which has been technically revised.  
 DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  DEAS 28: 2018  
 
© EAC 2018 – All rights reserved  1 
 Black — Specification  
1 Scope  
This Draft East African Standard specifies requirements, sampling and test methods for black tea.  
This standard also applies to blended black tea.  
It does not apply to scented or decaffeinated  black tea . 
2 Normative references  
The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their content constitutes 
requirements of this document.  For dated references, only the edition ci ted applies. For undated references, 
the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.  
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 water 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 — Determination of crude fibre content — General method  
ISO 6078, Black tea — Vocabulary  
ISO 14502 -1, Determination of substances characteristic of green and black tea — Part 1: Content of total 
polyphenols in tea — Colorimetric method using Folin -Ciocalteu reagent  
ISO 15598, Tea — Dete rmination of crude fibre content  
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   
2 © EAC 2018 – All rights  reserved  
 ISO 6579, Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal method for the detection of Salmonella 
spp 
ISO 6888 -1, Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal method for the enumeration of 
coagulase -positive staphylococci (Staphylococcus au reus and other species)   
ISO 7251, Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal method for the detection and 
enumeration of presumptive Escherichia coli — Most probable number technique  
ISO 9768, Tea — Determination of water extract  
ISO 1664 9-2, 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 purposes of this document, the terms and definitions given in ISO 6078  and the following apply.  
3.1 
black tea  
Tea derived solely and exclusively, and produced by acceptable processes, notably withering, leaf 
maceration, aeration and drying  from leaves, bud s 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 
blended black tea  
mixture of black teas from different grades, gardens or regions  
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, but of tea origin such as twigs, bark and stems  
3.5 
adulterant  
any material intentionally added that c hanges 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 Requirements  
4.1 General requirements  
Black tea shall:  
a) be free from taint and have characteristic appearance, colour and taste of black tea ; 
b) free from living insects, moulds,  filth and adulterants ;  
© EAC 2018  – All rights reserved  3 
 c) free from added colouring matter and harmful substances;  and 
d) free from foreign and extraneous matter  
NOTE  Black tea  may be graded especially when it is sold in bulk (See Annex B)  
4.2 Specific  requirements  
The black tea shall comply with the specific requirements specified in Table 1 when tested in accordance with 
test methods specified therein.  
Table 1 ▬ Specific requi rements for black tea  
S/N Characteristic  Requirement  Test method  
i.  Moisture  content , %, (m/m), max.  7 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 percentage 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 14502 -1 
Apart from moisture conten t, 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 the determination of crude fibre i n 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 always be that specified in ISO 
15598. The requirement of 16.5 % m ass fraction remains unchanged regardless of the method used.  
5 Hygiene  
5.1 Black tea shall be processed and handled in a hygienic manner in accordance with EAS 39.  
5.2 Black tea shall comply with microbiological requirements specified in Table 2 when tes ted 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  CFU/ g  104 ISO 21527 -2 
ii.  E. Coli , CFU/ g  Absent  ISO16649 -2 
6 Contaminants  
When teste d in accordance with Annex A, the amount of iron filings in black tea shall not exceed 150 mg/kg . 
7 Pesticide residues  
Black tea shall comply with the maximum residue limits established by the Codex Alimentarius Commission.   
4 © EAC 2018 – All rights  reserved  
 8 Sampling  
Sampling shall be don e in accordance with ISO 1839.  
Liquor for the sensory assessment shall be prepared in accordance with ISO 3103.  
10 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 requirements 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 “Black Tea’’;  “Blended black tea” ; 
b) name and physical address  of the manufacturer/ b lender/packer/ importer/ exporter;  
c) date of manufacture;  
d) best before;  
e) identification number net weight in g or kg;  
f) country of origin ; 
g) instruction for use and storage ; and  
h) grade of tea (when sold in bulk).   
© EAC 2018  – All rights reserved  5 
 Annex  A 
(normative)  
 
Determination of Iron fillings  
A.1 Apparatus  
a) Magnet (at least 4000 gauss)  
b) Polythene sheet  
c) 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 cling 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 the test. 
  
6 © EAC 2018 – All rights  reserved  
 Annex  B  
(informative )  
 
Black tea grades  
A.1 Leaf 
TGFOP - Tippy golden flowery orange pekoe  
TFOP - Tippy flowery orange pekoe  
GFOP - Golden flowery orange pekoe  
FOP - Flowery orange pekoe  
OP - Orange pekoe  
FP - Flowery pekoe  
P - Pekoe  
A.2 Brokens  
TGFBOP - Tippy golden flowery broken orange pekoe  
TGBOP - Tippy golden broken orange pekoe  
GFBOP - Golden flowery broken orange pekoe  
TBOP - Tippy broken orange pekoe  
GBOP - Golden broken orange pek oe 
FBOP - Flowery broken orange pekoe  
BOP - Broken orange pekoe  
BP - Broken pekoe  
BPS - Broken pekoe souchong  
PS – Pekoe  souchong  
S - Souchong  
BM - Broken mixed  
BT - Broken tea   
© EAC 2018  – All rights reserved  7 
 A.3 Fannings  
TGOF - Tippy golden orange Fannings  
GOF - Golden orange Fannings  
FBOPF - Flowery broken orange pekoe Fannings  
BOPF - Broken orange pekoe Fannings  
FOF - Flowery orange Fannings  
OF - Orange Fannings  
OPF - Orange pekoe Fannings  
BPF - Broken pekoe Fannings  
PF - Pekoe Fannings  
FF - Flowery Fannings  
F - Fannings  
BMF - Broken m ixed Fannings  
A.4 Dust  
BOPD - Broken orange pekoe Dust  
PD - Pekoe Dust  
D - Dust 
FD 
CD 
RD 
Fine Dust  
Churamoni Dust  
Red Dust  
 DEAS 28: 2018    
 
© EAC 2018  – All rights reserved