KENYA STANDARD        DKS 1270: 2020  
ICS 67.060  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Wafers — Specification  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
© KEBS 20 20         Third  Edition  2020 
 
 
 
 DKS 1270: 20 20 
 
ii                                                                                                                © KEBS 20 20 — All rights reserved  TECHNICAL COMMITTEE EPRESENTATION  
 
The following organizations were represented on the Technical C ommittee:  
 
National Cereals and Produce Board  
Ministry of Health — Department of Public Health  
— Division of Nutrition  
Ministry of Industry, Trade & Cooperatives — Department of Industry  
Egerton University  
Technical University of Kenya  
Kenya Industrial Res earch Development Institute  
Government Chemist’s Department  
DSM Nutritional Products  
Pembe Flour Mills Ltd.  
Unga Ltd.  
Mombasa Maize Millers  
Salwa Kenya Limited  
Amesi K Ltd  
Agribusiness and Rural Development Consultants  
Kenya Bureau of Standards ― Secretari at 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
REVISION OF KENYA STANDARDS  
 
In order to keep abreast with the progress in the industry, Kenya standards shall be regularly reviewed. 
Suggestions for improvement of published standards are welcome and should be addressed to the 
Managing Director,  Kenya Bureau of Standards.  
 
 
 
 
©Kenya Bureau of Standards, 20 20 
 
Copyright. Users are reminded that by virtue of Section 25 of the Copyright Act, Cap. 12 of 2001  of the Laws of Kenya, copyr ight 
subsists in all Kenya Standards and except as provided under  Section 26 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 
from the Managing Director . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   
© KEBS 20 20 — All rights reserved                                                                                                                 iii  
 
KEN YA STANDARD        DKS 1270: 20 20 
ICS 67.060  
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Wafers — Specification  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
KENYA BUREAU OF STANDARDS (KEBS)  
 
Head Office:  P.O. Box 54974, Nairobi -00200, Tel.: (+254 020) 605490, 602350, Fax: (+254 020) 604031  
E-Mail: info@ kebs.org,  Web:http://www.kebs.org   
 
Coast Region     Lake Region          Rift Valley Region  
P.O. Box 99376, Mombasa -80100   P.O. Box 2949, Kisumu -40100        P.O. Box 2138, Nakuru -20100  
Tel.: (+254 041) 229563, 230939/40   Tel.: (+254 057) 23549, 22396        Tel.: (+254 051) 210553, 210555  DKS 1270: 20 20 
 
iv                                                                                                                © KEBS 20 20 — All rights reserved  Fax: (+254 041) 229448    Fax: (+254 057) 21814  
 
Foreword  
 
This Second Edition  of KS 1270  was prepared by the Processed Cereals and Pulses Technical Committee 
under the guidance of the Food Industry Standards Committee and it is in accordance to the procedures of 
the Kenya Bureau  of Standards . 
 
This Kenya Standard was prepared to control the quality of wafers consumed in Kenya.  It prescribes 
requirements and methods of test for wafers. This standard will ensure that local an d imported wafers are of 
acceptable and wholesome quality for the consumers.  
 
The standard has taken into account the information which members of the manufacturing firms submitted.  
 
During the preparation of this Kenya Standard reference was made to the f ollowing document:  
 
IS:  2397 -1988 Specification for wafers.  
 
Acknowledgement is hereby made for the  assistance derived from this source.  
 
 
 
 
 
  
  
DRAFT KENYA STANDARD                                 DKS 1270: 20 20  
 
 
Wafers — Specification  
 
1 Scope  
 
This Kenya Standard prescribes requirements and methods of test for wafers.  
 
2 Normative references  
 
The following documents are indispensable in th e application of this standard:  
 
KS EAS 767 , Fortified wheat flour  
 
KS EAS 12 , Potable water  
 
KS 346 , Specificat ion for baking powder or other approved leavening agents  
 
KS EAS 781 , Specification for biscuits  
 
KS EAS 43 , Specification for bread  
 
KS EAS 35 , Specification for fortified edible salt  
 
KS CODEX 192 , General Standard for food additives  
 
KS EAS 3 9, Code of practice for hygiene in the food and drink manufacturing industry  
 
KS EAS 38 , Labelling of pre-packaged  foods  
ISO 16649 -2, Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs -- Horizontal method for the enumeration of 
beta-glucuronidase -positive Escherichia co li -- Part 2: Colony -count technique at 44 degrees C using 5 -
bromo -4-chloro -3-indolyl beta -D-glucuronide  
ISO 6579 -1, Microbiology of the food chain -- Horizontal method for the detection, enumeration and 
serotyping of Salmonella -- Part 1: Detection of Sal monella spp.  
ISO 21527 -2, Microbiology of food and animal feedstuffs — 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 6888 -1, Microbiology of food a nd 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  
 
3 Definition  
 
3.1 
wafer  
is a thin unleavened bread  made from  batter, with essential material specified in Clause 3, and with or 
without the addition of other ingredients specified in Clause 4  
 
4 Requirements  
 
4.1 General requirements  
 
4.1.1 Wafers shall be free from insects, moulds, yeast, any harmful or foreign ma tters and contamination.  
 
4.1.2 Each pack of wafers shall not have more than 5 % broken pieces.  DKS 1270: 20 20 
 
2                                                                                                                © KEBS 20 20 — All rights reserved   
4.1.3 Sandwich wafers  shall have two or more plain wafers sandwiched with filling in between.  The filling 
may be cream (e.g. orange, lemon or strawberry flavo ured cream, among others.), jam, jelly, caramel, raisins 
or similar products and shall not be less than 50 % by mass of the filled wafers.  
 
NOTE 'Cream' here means a homogeneous mixed preparation of hydrogenated fat, or bakery shortening, icing sugar, flav ours and 
permitted food colours, with or without other ingredients in small proportions (see  Clause 5). 
 
4.1.4 Coated wafers , these include both half -coated and full -coated wafers.  The coating may be of 
chocolate, caramel or similar coating and shall not be less than 50 % by mass of the coated wafer.  
 
4.2 Essential ingredients    
 
The following material shall be used in the preparation of wafer batter:  
 
4.2.1 Baker's wheat flour, complying with the requirements of the latest edition of KS EAS 767 .  
 
4.2.2 Water, complying with the requirements of the latest edition of KS EAS 12 . 
 
4.2.3 Aerating agent, complying with the requirements of the latest edition of KS 346, Specification for 
baking powder or other approved leavening agents, e.g. sodium bicarbonate or  ammonium bicarbonate.  
 
5 Compositional requirements  
 
5.1 The wafers shall conform to the requirements given in Table 1. In the case of coated/sandwiched 
wafers, the coating or the filling shall be removed before carrying out the tests.   
 
Table 1 — Composi tional requirements  
 
 
 
Sl No. 
  
 
Characteristic   
Requirements   
 
Test method   
Plain 
wafers   
Sandwiched or 
coated Wafers  
i) Moisture, % by mass (max.)  4.5 6.0 
KS EAS 781 ii) Acid insoluble ash, on dry basis, % by 
mass (max.)  1.0 1.0 
iii) 
 Acidity of extracted fat (as oleic acid), 
%  by mass (max.)  1.0 1.0 
iv)  Crude fibre, % (max.), on dry basis   5  5  KS EAS 43   
v) Fat, % (min.)  0.7 2.0 KS EAS 43  
 
 
 
 
6 Optional ingredients  
 
In addition to the essential ingredients specified in Clause 3 , wafers ma y contain any other optional 
ingredient complying to relevant Kenya Standard such as  
 
6.1 Edible salt  
 
 
6.2 permitted Flavour ing agents   
 
6.3 Butter  
 
6.4 Fat spread  DKS 1270:  2020 
   
© KEBS 20 20 — All rights reserved                                                                                                                 3  
6.5 Milk powder  
 
6.6 Corn s tarch  
 
7 Food additives  
 
Only permitted food additives in accor dance with  KS CODEX STAN 192  may be used.  
 
 
7 Hygiene  
 
7.1 The wafers shall be prepared and packaged in premises built and maintained under hygienic 
condition in accordance with Public Health Act Cap 242, the Food Drugs and Chemicals Substances Act , 
Cap. 254 of the Laws of Kenya and , KS EAS 39 . 
 
7.2 Wafers shall be free from pathogenic organisms and shall comply with the microbiological 
requirements indicated in Table 2. 
 
7.3 The total aflatoxins limits in the wafers shall not exceed 10 ppb and 5  ppb for a flatoxin B1.  
 
Table 2 — Microbiological limits for wafers  
 
Sl No. Type of micro -organism  Maximum number 
of counts  Test method  
i) Salmonella  in 30 g  Shall be absent  ISO 6579 -1 
ii)  Escherichia Coli  in 1 g   Shall be absent   ISO 16649 -2 
iii) Staphylococcus  aureas  in 1 g  Shall be absent  ISO 6888 -1 
iv) Yeast and moulds in 1 g  102 ISO 21527 -2 
 
 
8 Heavy metal c ontaminants  
 
Wafers shall also comply with the heavy metal contaminants limits indicated in Table 3. 
 
Table 3 — Limits for heavy metal c ontaminants  
 
Sl No Contaminant  Max. l imits  Test method  
i) Lead (Pb)  0.5 mg/kg  ISO 6633  
ii) Arsenic (Ar)  0.1 mg/ kg  AOAC 6633  
 
 
9 Packaging and labelling  
 
9.1 Packaging   
 
9.1.1 The wafers shall be packaged in food grade materials that will ensure the safety and integr ity of the 
product throughout the shelf life.  
 
9.1.2 The fill of the container shall be in accordance with the Weights and Measures Act Cap. 513 of the 
Laws of Kenya.  
 
9.1.3 The disposal of used packages and expired wafers shall comply with  Environment Mon itoring and 
Coordination Act No. 8  of 1999 on the disposal of solid and liquid waste.  
 DKS 1270: 20 20 
 
4                                                                                                                © KEBS 20 20 — All rights reserved  9.2 Labelling   
 
In addition to the Labelling requirements of KS EAS 38 , the label  shall include:  
 
i) name of the product  shall be ‘wafers’.  
ii) date of manufacture , 
iii) expiry date , 
iv) country of origin , 
v) storage instructions ,