DRAFT UGANDA STANDARD  
  DUS 2037  
First  Edition  
2018 -mm-dd 
 
 
 Reference number  
DUS 2037 : 2018 
© UNBS 2018   
  
Kombucha — Specification  
 DUS 2030 : 2018  
ii © UNBS 2018  – 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  
© UN BS 2018   
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 4 333 2 50/1/2/3  
Fax: +256 41 4 286 123  
E-mail: info@unbs.go.ug  
Web: www.unbs.go.ug  DUS 2037 :2018  
© UNBS 2018  – All rights reserved  iii 
 Foreword  
Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) is a parastatal under the Ministry of Trade , Industry and 
Cooperatives established under Cap 327 , of the Laws of Uganda , as amended .  UNBS is mandated to co -
ordinate th e 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  Agreement  of the World Trade Or ganisation (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 key stakeholders 
including government, academia, consumer groups, private sector and other interested parties.  
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 d raft standards 
for approval and declaration as Uganda Standards by the National Standards Council.  
The committee responsible for this document is Technical Committee UNBS /TC 2, Food and Agriculture  
Subcommittee SC 16, Drinks, Water and related beverages .  
 UGAND A STANDARD  DUS 2037 : 2018  
 
© UNBS 2018  – All rights reserved  1 
 Kombucha — Specification  
1 Scope   
This Draft Uganda Standard specifies requirements and methods of s ampling and test for  Kombucha drinks.  
2 Normative references  
The following referenced documents 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 cited applies. For undated 
references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.  
US ISO  6634  Fruit, vegetables and derived products — Determination of arsenic content — Silver 
diethyldithiocarbamate spectrophotometric method . 
US ISO 6633 , Fruit and vegetables products — Determination of lead content — Flameless  atomic absorption 
spectrometric method  
US ISO 6637, Fruits, vegetables and derived products — Determination of mercury content — Flameless 
atomic absorption method  
US ISO 6561 -2, Fruits, vegetables and derived produc ts — Determination of cadmium content — Part 2: 
Method using flame atomic absorption spectrometry   
US ISO 6579 –1, Microbiology of the food chain — Horizontal method for the detect ion, enumeration and 
serotyping of Salmonella — Part 1: Detection of Salmonella spp.  
US 28 , / EAS 39  Code of practice for hygiene in the food and drink manufacturing industry  
US 1659 , Materials in contact with food — Requirements for packaging materials  
US EAS 38 , Labelling of pre -packaged foods — General requirements   
US EAS 805:  Use of nutrition and health claims — Requirements  
US EAS 804 , Claims on food — Requirement  
US EAS 12 , Potable water — Specification  
US EAS 104 , Alcoholic beverages — Methods of sampling and test  
US ISO 48 33-1 Microbiology of the food chain – Horizontal method for the enumeration of microorganisms – 
Part 1: Colony count at 30  0C by the pour plate technique  
US ISO 21527 -1 Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal method for the enumeration of 
yeasts and moulds — Part 1, Colony count technique in products with water activity greater than 0.95  
US CAC/GL 50 , General guidelines on sampling  DUS 2037: 2018  
2 © UNBS 2018– All rights reserved  
 US ISO 750 , Fruit and vegetable products – Determination of titratable acidity  
3 Terms and definitions   
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.  
3.1  
kombucha  
fermented beverage made  from sugar, malt or malt substitute s, tea, coffee and other ingredients  with a 
symbiotic culture of yeast and bacteria . 
3.2 
SCOBY  
symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast used in the production of Kombucha . 
4 Quality requi rements  
4.1 Quality of raw materials   
4.1.1  The r aw material s used in the production of kombucha shall be clean, sound and complying with 
relevant standards.  
4.1.2  The cultures used in the production of Kombucha shall be acceptable and unwanted moulds.  
4.2 Essential ingredients  
The following ingredients shall be used in the preparation of kombucha  beverages . 
a) Coffee;  tea or malt  
b) Sugar  
c) Yeast and bacterial culture (SCOBY)  
d) Potable water complying with US EAS 12  
4.3 Other  ingredients  
Other ingredients used in t he production of Kombucha shall be wholesome and complying to relevant 
standards.  
4.4 General quality requirements  
4.4.1  Kombucha shall be practically free from off -odours and off - flavours  
4.4.2  Kombucha shall be practically free from filth (impurities of  animal origin, including dead insects)  
4.4.3  Kombucha shall be practically free from objectionable matter.  
4.4.4  The appearance and consistency of Kombucha  shall be uniform and characteristic of the product . 
4.4.5  The alcohol content of Kombucha shall n ot increase after bottling due to continued fermentation.  DUS 2037: 2018  
© UNBS 2018  – All rights reserved  3 
 4.5 Specific quality requirements  
Kombucha shall comply with the specific quality requirements specified in Table 1.  
Table 1—Quality requirements for Kombucha . 
Characteristic  Requirement  Test metho d 
Non Alcoholic 
Kombucha  Alcoholic 
Kombucha  
Alcohol content, %, (v/v), max  0.5 0.5 - 15 US EAS 104  
Acidity as  acetic acid, g/L max  2 US ISO 1842  
Acidity as  lactic  acid, g/L max  4- 15 US ISO 750  
Total sugar as invert sugar, g/L  max 50 US EAS 104  
 
5 Food additives  
Food additive whenever used in produc tion of kombucha shall conform to US 45 . 
6 Contaminants  
6.1  Heavy metals  
The product shall not contain heavy metal contaminants in excess of the limits stipulated in Table 2.   
Table 2 – Limits for heavy metal contaminants kombucha drinks  
Contaminant  Maxi mum limit  Method of test  
Arsenic (As), mg/kg  0.05 US ISO 6634  
Lead (Pb), mg/kg  0.05 US ISO 6633  
Mercury (Hg), mg/kg  0.001  US ISO 6637  
Cadmium (Cd), mg/kg  0.003  US ISO 6561 -2 
 
6.2  Pesticide residues  
The product shall comply with those maximum residue limits established by the Codex Alimentarius  
Commission.  
7  Hygiene  
7.1 Kombucha  drinks shall be produced and handled in a hygienic manner in accordance with US EAS 39 .  
7.2 Kombucha drinks shall conform to the limits for microbi ological contaminants in T able 3 . DUS 2037: 2018  
4 © UNBS 2018– All rights reserved  
 Table 3 ─ Microbiological limits for Kombucha  drinks 
Micro organism  Maximum limit  Test method  
Total aerobic count, CFU/mL  100 US ISO 4833 -1 
Escherichia . coli, per 100 mL  Absent  US ISO 7251  
Yeast and moulds, CFU/mL  10 US ISO 21527 -1 
Staphylococc us aureus, CFU/mL  Absent  US ISO 6888 -1 
Salmonella  Absent  US ISO 6579 –1 
8 Packaging  
Kombucha drinks shall be produced and packaged in food contact grade containers in accordance to US 1659 
which will safeguard the hygienic, nutritional, technological, and organoleptic  qualities of the product . 
10 Weights and measures  
Kombucha drinks shall be packaged in accordance with the Weights and Measures legislation of Uganda . 
11 Labelling  
11.1 The containers shall be labelled in compliance with the requirements of US EAS 38. I n addition, the 
following particulars shall be legibly and indelib ly labelled on the container:  
a) Name of the product as Non-alcoholic  Kombucha or Alcoho lic Kombucha  
b) Net content in volume (SI units) , 
c) Alcohol content  
d) Name and physical address of manufacturer ,  
e) Batch number ,  
f) The date of manufacture and expiry of the product and  
g) Instruction for storage and hygien ic handling of the product.   
h) List of Ingredients  
11.2 Nutritional and health claims shall be made in accordance to US EAS  803 and US EAS 805 . 
12 Sampling  
Sampling shall carried out in accordance with US CAC/GL 50  DUS 2037: 2018  
© UNBS 2018  – All rights reserved  5 
 Bibliography  
[1] US 872:201 1, Fermented (non -alcoholic) cereal beverages — Specification  
[2] WHO , Alcohol labelling  
[3] Kampuchea  Brewing Under the Food and Drug Administration Model Food Code: Risk Analysis and 
Processing Guidance  – Special report  
 DUS 2037: 2018  
© UNBS 2018  – All rights reserved  7 
 Certification marking  
Products that conform to  Uganda standards may be marked with Uganda National Bureau of Standards 
(UNBS) Certification Mark shown in the figure below.  
The use of the UNBS Certification Mark is governed by the Standards Act, and the Regulations made 
thereunder. This mark can be us ed only by those licensed under the certification mark scheme operated by 
the Uganda National Bureau of Standards and in conjunction with the relevant Uganda Standard. The 
presence of this mark on a product or in relation to a product is an assurance that the goods comply with the 
requirements of that standard under a system of supervision, control and testing in accordance with the 
certification mark scheme of the Uganda National Bureau of Standards. UNBS marked products are 
continually checked by UNBS for  conformity to that standard.  
Further particulars of the terms and conditions of licensing may be obtained from the Director, Uganda 
National Bureau of Standards.  
 
 DUS 2037: 2018    
 
ICS 67.160.20  
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© UNBS 2018– All rights reserved