KENYA STANDARD  DKS 2964:2022  
ICS 67.080.20  
First Edition  
  
 © KEBS 2022  
 Food grade potato  starch — Specification  
 
 
 
                                                                                                   DKS 2964:2022  
 TECHNICAL COMMITTEE REPRESENTATION  
The following organizations were represented on the Technical Committee:  
 
University of Nairobi -Department of Food Science, Nutrition and Technology  
Agriculture and Food Authority - Food Cop directorate  
Kenya Agricultural & Livestock Research Organization  
Kenya Industrial Research & Development Institute  
National Potato Council of Kenya  
Food Science and Technology platform of Kenya  
International Potato  Council  
Kenya Bureau of Standards — Secretariat  
REVISION OF KENYA STANDARDS  
In order to keep abreast of progress in industry, Kenya Standards shall be regularly reviewed.  Suggestions for 
improvements to published standards, addressed to the Managing Dire ctor, Kenya Bureau of Standards, are 
welcome.  
© Kenya Bureau of Standards, 2022 
Copyright. Users are reminded that by virtue of Section 25 of the Copyright Act, Cap. 130 of 2001 of  the Laws of Kenya, copyright subsists 
in all Kenya Standards and except as  provided under Section 25 of this Act, no Kenya Standard produced by Kenya Bureau of Standards 
may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system in any form or transmitted by any means without prior permission in writing f rom the 
Managing Director.                                                                                          DKS 2964:2022  
  
 
Food grade potato starch  — Specification  
 
 
Kenya Bureau of Standards, Popo Road, Off Mombasa Road,  
P.O. Box 54974 - 00200,  Nairobi, Kenya  
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                                                                                                  DKS 2964:2022  
 Foreword  
 
This Kenya Standard has been developed by the Tubers and Tuber Products Technical Committee under the 
guidance of the Standards Projects Committee and it is in accordance with the procedures of the Kenya Bureau 
of Standards.  
 
The development of t his standard is in response to the need to accommodate the emerging quality, innovation, 
technological and environmental issues in the sector. The implementation of the standard is aimed at creating 
harmony, quality, uniformity and fair trade in the sector , thereby creating value for the stakeholders.  
                                
In the development of this standard it was envisaged that the current paradigm of sustainable development shall 
be ensured in the context of social, economic and environmental concerns. The standard  thus intends to 
safeguard the interests of the stakeholders in the entire value chain, guarantee product quality and enhanced 
safety of the consumers.  
 
In the development of this standard, reference was made to the following document s: 
Recommended International Code of Practice General Principles of Food Hygiene.  
EAS 742 -  Food grade cassava starch — Specification  
 
 KENYA STANDARD  DKS 2964:2022  
 
 © KEBS 2022  
  
Food grade potato  starch — Specification  
 
  
1 Scope  
 
This draft Kenyan  Standard specifies the requirements,  methods of  sampling and test for food grade potato  
starch.  
2 Normative references  
 
The following referenced documents are indispensable for th e 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, General standard for the labelling of pre -packaged foods  
EAS 39 , Hygiene in the food and drink manufacturing industry — Code of practice   
EAS 103, General standard for food additives  
EAS 748  Fresh ware  potato  ─ Specification  
EAS 900 Cereals and pulses -Sampling  
ISO 1666, Starch ─ Determination of moisture content ─ Oven -drying method  
ISO 5809, Starches and derived products ─ Determination of sulphated ash  
ISO 5810, Starches and derived products ─ Determination of chloride content ─ Potentiometric method  
ISO 7251 , Microb iology of food and animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal method for the detection and 
enumeration of presumptive Escherichia coli — Most probable number technique   
ISO 6888 -1, Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal method for the enumeration of 
coagulase - positive staphylococci (Staphylococcus aureus and other species) — Part 1: Technique using 
Baird -Parker agar medium  
ISO 10520 , Native starch ─ Determination of starch content ─ Ewers polarimetric method  
ISO 21527 -2 Microbiology o f 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   
ISO 6579 -1- Microbiology of the food chain — Horizontal method for th e detection, enumeration and 
serotyping of Salmonella — Part 1: Detection of Salmonella spp.   
ISO 5498 Agricultural food products — Determination of crude fibre content — General method  
CODEX STAN 193 , Codex general standard for contaminants and toxins in food and feed AOAC 943.02, PH of 
flour. Potentiometric method  
AOAC 942.15 , Titratable Acidity Test  Method  
 
3 Terms and definitions  
For the purpose of this standard, the following term s and definition s shall apply.  
 
3.1  
food grade potato  starch  
white granular glucose polymer obtained by wet extraction process from mature potato  (Solanum tuberosum  .) 
tubers  
 
3.2  
foreign matter  
inorganic matter such as sand, glass, metal, stones, clay and mud and organic matter such as chaff, straw, 
weed se eds and insects or insects fragments, rodent hairs  
 
4 Requirements  
 DKS 2964:2022  
2 © KEBS: 2022 – All rights reserved  
 4.1 General requirements  
4.1.1 Food grade potato  starch shall be processed from fresh ware potato  tubers  complying with EAS 748  
 
4.1.2 Food grade potato  starch shall be: 
 
a) characteristic  colour  of the raw material used . 
b) tasteless .  
c) odourless.  
d)free from foreign matter .  
e) be insoluble in cold water and alcohol  
 
4.2 Specific  quality  requirements  
 
4.2.1 Food grade potato  starch shall give a blue -black colouration when tested with iodine.  
 
4.2.2 Not less than 95 % of mass of food grade potato starch shall pass through a sieve of 140 μm mesh 
screen.  
 
4.2.3 Food grade potato  starch shall conform to the compositional quality requirements shown in Table 1.  
 
Table 1: Specific requirements  for food grade potato starch  
Parameter  Requirement  Method of test  
Total acidity, %, by mass, max  1.0 AOAC 942.15  
pH 5 - 7 AOAC 943.02  
Starch content, %, by mass, min.  60, ISO 10520  
Moisture, % by mass, max  12.0 ISO 1666  
Sulphated ash, % by mass, max.  0.6 ISO 5809  
Chloride, %, by mass, max.  0.6 ISO 5810  
Fibre, % by mass on dry weight 
basis, Max  0.2 ISO 5498  
   
5 Food additives  
 The Food grade potato starch shall contain only permitted additives at the level of good manufacturing practice 
as   specified  in accordance with EAS 103.  
6 Contaminants  
6.1 Pesticide residues  
Food gra de potato  starch shall conform to maximum residue limits for pesticide residues established by the 
Codex Alimentarius Commission.  
6.2 Other contaminants  
Food Grade potato  starch shall comply with the maximum levels of the Codex General Standard for 
Contaminants and Toxins in Food and Feed (CODEX STAN 193).  DKS 2964:2022  
© KEBS 2022 – All rights reserved  3 
 7 Hygiene  
Food grade potato  starch shall be prepared and handled in a hygienic manner in accordance  
with EAS 39 and shall conform to microbiological limits specified in Table 2  
 
Table 2 — Microbiological limits for food grade potato  starch  
 Micro -organisms  Maximum limit  Method of Test  
Staphyllococcus aureas, CFU/g  <10 ISO 6888 -1 
Escherichia coli , cfu/g  Absent  ISO 7251  
Salmonella , per 25g  Absent  ISO 6579  
Yeast and mould, CFU/g, max.  103  ISO 21527 -1  
 
8 Packaging  
 
8.1 Food grade potato starch shall be packed in food grade packaging materials which will safeguard the 
hygienic, nutritional, and organoleptic qualities of the products.  
 
8.2 Each package shall be securely closed and sealed.  
 
 
9 Labelling  
 
In addition to the requirements of EAS 38; the following labelling  requirements shall apply and shall be legibly 
and indelibly marked  
 
a) the common name of the food t o be declared on the label shall be 'Food grade potato  starch';  
 
b) the net contents by weight  
 
 c) the starch content percentage (%)  
 
c) the name and physical and address of the manufacturer / distributor;  
 
d) the country of origin;  
 
e) lot identification;  
 
f) date of manufacture and expiry  date;  
 
g) the statement `Human Food' shall appear on the package;  
 
h) storage conditions as ‘store in a cool dry place away from contaminants’; and  
 
i) instructions on disposal of used package.  
 
 
 
10 Method of sampling    
 
Sampling shall be done in accordance with EAS 900  DKS 2964:2022  
© KEBS 2022 – All rights reserved  3 
     
 
© KEBS 2020 – All rights reserved