DEAS 945:2018  
ICS 67.220.10  
 
© EAC 2018                                                                                                                             First Edition 2018  
 DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  
Pickles  — Specification  
EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY  DEAS 945:2018  
ii © EAC 2018 – All rights reserved  
 Copyright notice  
This EAC document is copyright -protected by EAC. While the reproduction of this document by participants 
in the EAC standards development process is permitted with out prior permission from EAC, neither this 
document nor any extract from it may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form for any other 
purpose without prior written permission from EAC.  
Requests for permission to reproduce this document for the pu rpose of selling it should be addressed as 
shown below or to EAC’s member body in the country of the requester:  
© East African Community  2018  — All rights reserved  
East African Community   
P.O. Box 1096 , 
Arusha  
Tanzania  
Tel: + 255 27 2 162100  
Fax: + 255 27 2162190  
E-mail: eac@eachq.org  
       Web: www.eac -quality.net  
Reproduction for sales purposes may be subject to royalty payments or a licensing agreement.  Violators 
may be prosecuted . .            DEAS 945:2018  
© EAC 2018  – All rights reserved  iii 
 Contents  Page 
Foreword  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................  iv 
1 Scope  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ......................  1 
2 Conformance  ................................ ................................ ............................. Error! Bookmark not defined.  
3 Normative references  ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................  1 
4 Terms and definitions  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........................  1 
5 Symbols (and abbreviated te rms)  ................................ ................................ ................................ ........  2 
6 Clause  ................................ ................................ ................................ ......... Error! Bookmark not defined.  
6.1 Subclause (level  1) ................................ ................................ .................... Error! Bookmark not defined.  
6.1.1 Subclause (lev el 2) ................................ ................................ .................... Error! Bookmark not defined.  
6.1.2 Subclause (level  2) ................................ ................................ .................... Error! Bookmark not defined.  
6.2 Subclause (level  1) ................................ ................................ .................... Error! Bookmark not defined.  
7 Clause  ................................ ................................ ................................ ......... Error! Bookmark not defined.  
8 Special  ................................ ................................ ................................ ........ Error! Bookmark not defined.  
Annex  A (normative)  Annex title  ................................ ................................ .......... Error! Bookmark not defined.  
A.1 General  ................................ ................................ ................................ .......Error! Bookmark not defined.  
A.2 Clause  ................................ ................................ ................................ ......... Error! Bookmark not defined.  
A.2.1  Subclause (level  1) ................................ ................................ .................... Error! Bookmark not defined.  
A.2.2  Subclause (level  1) ................................ ................................ .................... Error! Bookmark not defined.  
A.3 Clause  ................................ ................................ ................................ ......... Error! Book mark not defined.  
Annex  B (informative)  Which styles correspond to which element  — Quick reference guide Error! Bookmark not defined.  
Bibliography  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ........................  5 
 DEAS 945:2018  
iv © EAC 2018 – All rights reserved  
 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 barriers 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 composed of representatives of the National 
Standards Bodies in Partner States, together with the representatives from the publi c and private sector 
organizations  in the community .  
East African Standards are developed through  Technical Committees that are representative 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 comments received are discussed and incorporated before finalization of standards, in 
accordance with the Principles and procedur es for development of East African Standards.  
East African Standards are subject to review, to keep pace with technological advances. Users of the East 
African Standards are therefore expected to ensure that they always have the latest versions of the sta ndards 
they are implementing .  
The committee responsible  for this document is Technical Committee EASC /TC 016, [horticulture ], 
Subcommittee SC 02, [processed horticulture ]. 
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document ma y be subject of patent 
rights. EAC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.  
This second/third/…  edition cancels and replaces the first/second/…  edition ( EAS nnn-n:yyyy), which has 
been technically rev ised.  
EAS nnn consis ts of the following parts, under the general title Introductory element  — Main element : .            DEAS 945:2018  
© EAC 2018  – All rights reserved  v 
  .            DEAS 945:2018    
 
© EAC 2018  – All rights reserved  
  
 Pickles — Specification  
1 Scope   
 
This Draft East Africa Standard specifies  the requirements and methods of sampling and test for pickles 
intended for human consumpti on. 
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 cited applies. For undated references, 
the lat est edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.  
EAS 38, General standard for labeling of prepackaged foods   
EAS 39, Code of practice for hygiene in the food and drink manufacturing industry   
ISO 4833 (all parts), Microbiology of  the food chain — Horizontal methods for the enumeration of 
microorganisms  
ISO 6579, Microbiology of food and animal feedingstuffs — Horizontal methods for the detection of 
Salmonella spp.  
ISO 6633, Fruits, vegetables and derived products — Determination o f lead content — Flameless atomic 
absorption spectrometric method  
ISO 7251, Microbiology of food and animal feedingstuffs — Horizontal methods for the detection and 
enumeration of presumptive Escherichia coli — Most Probable Number technique  
ISO 21527 -1, Microbiology of food and animal feedingstuffs — Horizontal methods for the enumeration of 
yeasts and moulds I 
ISO 6636 -2, Fruits, vegetables and derived products — Determination of zinc content — Part 2: Atomic 
absorption spectrometric method  
ISO 6634 , Fruits, vegetables and derived products — Determination of arsenic content — Silver 
diethyldithiocarbamate spectrophotometric method   
ISO 7952 , Fruits, vegetables and derived products — Determination of copper content — Method using flame 
atomic absorption spec trometry  
ISO 2447, Fruit and vegetable products — Determination of tin  
3 Terms and definitions   
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.   
2 © EAC 2018 – All rights reserved  
 3.1 
pickles  
fruits or vegetables preserved in common salt, vinegar, edible oil or citrus fruits juices  
 
3.2 
defects  
means fault or inadequacy    
3.3  
food grade material  
materials that will safeguard the hygienic, safety, nutritional, technological, and organoleptic qualities of the 
product.  
4 Types  
Pickles shall be of the following thr ee types depending on preserving medium.  
Type 1 – Pickles in vinegar  
 
Type 2 – Pickles in citrus fruit juice or brine and  
 
Type 3 – Pickles in edible vegetable oil  
5 Grades  
Pickles shall be of two grades  
a) Grade 1 and  
b) Grade 2  
4 Requirements  
4.1 Gener al requirements  
4.1.1  The fruits and vegetables used in the preparation of pickles shall be wholesome i.e fresh or cured, clean 
and sound, and shall be practically free from damage or fungal attack.  The only substances that may be 
added to pickles are sp ices, salt, vinegar and sugar.  
Pickles shall be suspended in either vinegar of good quality (Type 1), freshly prepared brine /citrus fruit juice 
(Type 2) or any edible vegetable oil (Type 3).  
4.1.2  Pickles shall;  
a) have the essential physical, chemical, nutrition al characteristics , colour, aroma and flavour of the 
same kind of fruits or vegetables from which it is made.  
b) shall be free from living insects, mites or other parasites and moulds, and shall be practically free from 
dead insects, live insect fragments and  rodent contamination visible to the naked eye or with 
magnifying lens  
c) have uniform appearance, consistency and characteristic of the product and remain as such when 
stored under normal storage conditions.  
4.2 Specific requirements  
Pickles shall also conf orm to the requirements given in Table 1  
  
© EAC 2018  – All rights reserved  3 
 Table 1─  Requirements for pickles  
Type of Pickle  Characteristic   
Requirement  Test m ethod  
Type 1  
Type 2  
Type 3  Fluid portion, per cent by mass of the net mass, 
max 
 33.3 By proportion  
Type 1 and Type 3  
 
 
Type 2  Acidity, as acetic by fluid portion, perc ent by 
mass, max.  
 
Acidity for pickles in citric acid, percent by mass, 
max 3.0 
 
 
1.2 ISO 750  
All types  Sodium chloride, percent by mass, max  12 Annex B  
5 Contaminants  
5.1 Pesticide residues   
Pickles  shall conform to the pesticide residue limits prescr ibed by the Codex Alimentarius Commissio n of the 
respective commodity.  
5.2 Metal contaminants    
Pickles shall not contain any metallic contaminants in excess of levels specified in Table 2 
Table 2─ Limit for metal contaminants in Pickles  
Class  Maximum (mg/kg)  Test method  
Arsenic (as As )  0.2 ISO 6634  
Tin (as Sn)  250 ISO 2447  
Copper (as Cu)  5 ISO 7952  
zinc  (as Zn)  5 ISO 6636 -2, 
Lead (as Pb)  0.1  ISO 6633  
6. Hygiene  
6.1 Pickles shall be manufa cture d in accordance with the requirements and Good Hygienic Practices 
prescribed in EAS 39  (see clause 2).  
6.2 Pickles shall be free from pathogenic organisms and shall comply with the microbiological limits provided 
in Table 5, when determined by the met hods shown alongside the table.   
4 © EAC 2018 – All rights reserved  
 Table 3─ Microbiological limits for pickle  
Type of micro -organism  Limits (number of count) 
maximum  Test method  
Total viable counts, cfu/g, max  10 ISO 4833 (all parts)  
Yeasts and moulds  cfu/g  shall be absent  ISO 21527 -1 
Escherichia coli  cfu/mL  shall be absent  ISO 7251  
Salmonella  sp. per 25 g  shall be absent  ISO 6579  
Bacillus spp  Absent  ISO 4833 -1 
   
8 Packaging  
Pickles  shall be packaged in food grade containers  
9 Weight and measures  
The volume and filling of the container shall comply with weight and measur es regulations in the respective 
partner state  
10 Labelling  
a) In addition to the requirements of EAS 38,  803,804 and 805  the following specific labelling 
requirements shall apply and shall be legibly and indelibly marked  Name, type and grade of the 
product  
 
b) Brand or trade name, if any  
 
c) Name, address of the manufacturer  
 
d) Country of origin  
 
e) Date of manufacture  
 
f) Best before date  
 
g) Batch or code number,  
 
h) List of ingredients in descending order of proportion and  
 
i) Net mass of the contents.  
10 Methods of sampling  
Sampling shall be in accordance with Annex C  and test shall be done in accordance with methods specified in 
the relevant Tables and annexes of this Standard  
 
 
 
 
  
© EAC 2018  – All rights reserved  5 
 Annex A  
 
Determination of the grade of the product  
 
A.1 A pparatus  
 
A.1.1  White porcelain bowls - big enough to hold the contents of the container under examination.  
A.1.2  Stainless steel spoons - Table spoon.  
 
A.2 P rocedure  
 
A.2.1 Panel of judges  
 
Grades of the product shall be judges by a panel of three to five judges. All the judges constituting a panel 
shall be conversant with the factors covering the quality of the product. The containers shall be opened and 
the contents poured separately into white porcelain bowls. Each judge shall independently examine the 
contents from each of the container and  indicate scores for different characteristics.  
 
 A.2.1.1  The judges shall consider the following characteristics; colour and texture, taste and flavor; and 
absence of defects.  
 
A.2.2 System of scoring  
 
The variations within each factor are so described i n Table 5 that the scores may be ascertained for each 
factor and expressed numerically. The relative importance of each factor has been expressed numerically on 
scale of 100. Each judge shall indicate the score for the individual factors by the method desc ribed n Table 3, 
and record this observations in score sheet.  
 
A.2.1  The scores as number points indicated by the judges for the content of each container for three factors 
(see A.2.1.1) shall be recorded in a tabular form in the score card and the average  score calculated for each 
container entered in the appropriate column (see Table 2 and A.2.3.2)  
 
 
A.2.3 Ascertaining the grade  
 
A.2.3.1 Consistency among judges  
 
To ascertain the consistency of judgment among the judges, the total score indicated by each  of them for the 
contents of the same container shall be calculated by adding up the scores for the various individual 
characteristics.  If the difference between the maximum and the minimum of the total score so obtained does 
not exceed (K + 5) judges, th e scoring shall be deemed as consistent for the container under consideration.  If 
the differences exceeds (K + 5), the score, that is the furthest from its immediate neighbour (the scores being 
arranged in one order) shall be discarded and the consistency  among the remaining judges shall be 
examined.  
 
 
A.2.3.2 When the consistency (see A.2.3.1) is thus established, the overall average scores indicated by the 
judges whose scoring has been found to be consistent, shall be calculated for each can.  The averag e score 
for each of the individual characteristics shall also be individual characteristics shall also be calculated by 
taking into account the corresponding scores as given scores as given by the same judges for the contents of 
the same container.  
 
A.2.3. 3 Assignment of grade  
 
In order to assign a grade for the contents of a container, the following procedure shall be adopted.  
 
A.2.3.3.1 Grade 1  
  
6 © EAC 2018 – All rights reserved  
 The score for each factor individually shall be not less than 65 percent of the maximum score obtainable and 
the overall average scores shall not be less than 75 points.  
 
A.2.3.3.2 Grade 2  
 
The score for each factor individually shall be not less than 65 percent of the maximum score obtainable and 
the overall average scores shall not be less than 6 5 points  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
© EAC 2018  – All rights reserved  7 
 Annex B.  
Determination of sodium chloride  
 
B.1 Principle  
 
The salt from the foodstuff is extracted either by carefully ashing at 500 °C – 550 °C to remove alkali chloride 
followed by dissolution of the ash. Alte rnately, the test portion is boiled in dilute nitric acid. In the presence of 
acid excess silver nitrate is added and back titrated with ammonium or potassium thiocyanate (Volhard 
procedure)  while in the absence of acid the chloride ion is determined dire ctly by  titration of test portion with 
0.1 silver nitrate (Mohr procedure).  
 
B.2 General  
 
Either of the two methods, namely, Method 1 (see B.2.1) and the Method 2 (see B.2.2) may be used. Method 
1 shall be the referee method in case of dispute.  
 
B.2.1 Me thod 1  
 
B.2.1 .1 Apparatus  
 
a) Graduated flask  – of 100 ml capacity  
b) Erlenmeyer flask  – of 250 ml capacity  
c) Burrette  
d) Pipette  
e) Balance  
f) Centrifuge  
 
B.2.1.2  Reagents  
 
a) Ethyl alcohol  
b) Concentrated nitric acid  
c) Standard silver nitrate solution  – 0.1 mol/l  
d) Ferric alum ind icator solution  – a saturated solution of ferric ammonium sulphate (FeNH 4(SO) 2, 
12H 2O), 
e) Standard ammonium thiocyanate solution 0.1 mol/l.  
 
 
B.2.1.3 Procedure  
 
Weigh exactly 5 g to 10 g  of the test portion and transfer to a 100 ml graduated flask with rough ly 50 ml of 80  
% alcohol. Shake well to suspend all insoluble material. Add 1ml of concentrated nitric acid, and with pipette, 
add excess of known volume of 0.1 mol/L silver nitrate solution. Dilute to 100  ml with alcohol. Then transfer 
the mixture to the centrifuge bottle and centrifuge for 5 min. at appropriately 1 800 RPM.  
 
Pipette 50 ml of the supernatant liquid into a 300 ml Erlenmeyer flask and - add two milliliter of concentrated 
nitric acid and two milliliter of ferric alum solution.  Titrate with t he standard ammonium to a permanent light 
brown colour.  
 
B.2.1. 4 Calculation  
 
Sodium chloride, in the brine, per cent by mass.  
 
(V1M1 – V2 M2) 
  = 11.6  
                                                 W  
8 © EAC 2018 – All rights reserved  
  
Where  
  V1 = volume in milliliters of the standard silver nitrate solution  
  M1 = molarity of the standard silver nitrate solution  
V2 = volume in milliliters of the standard ammonium thiocyanate solution used.  
  M2 = molarity of the standard ammonium thiocyanate used, and  
  W = mass in grams of the brine i n the aliquot  
                                                                                               
 
 
B.2.2  Method 2  
 
B.2.2 .1 Reagents  
 
a) Standard sodium hydroxide solution  – 0.1 mol/l  
b) Standard silver nitrate solution  – 0.1 mol/l  
c) Phenolphthalein ind icator solution  – prepared by dissolving 0.1 g of phenolphthalein in 100 ml of 
60 percent rectified spirit.  
d) Potassium chromate indicator solution  approximately 5% (W/v).  
 
B.2.2. 2 Procedure  
 
Take a suitable aliquot of the solution prepared as in B.2.2.3. 
 
B.2.2.3 If it is acidic, neutralize it with the standard sodium hydroxide solution using phenolphthalein as an 
indicator.  
-Add 2 ml of 5% Potassium chromate indicator solution, then titrate with 0.1 N standard silver nitrate solution. 
Make simultaneously a  blank determination.  
 
B.2.2.4  Calculation  
 
Sodium chloride, in the brine, percent by mass  
 
58.4 (VM) x 100  
    = 
                                   W x 1000  
 
 Where   V = volume in ml of the standard silver nitrate, solution used (titre value)  
   M = mol arity of the standard solution, and  
  W = Weight in grams of the brine in the aliquot . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
© EAC 2018  – All rights reserved  9 
 Annex C  
(normative)  
 
Sampling  
C.1  Definitions  
C.1.1 
lot 
collection of primary containers or units of the same size, type, and style manufactured or packed u nder 
similar conditions and handled as a single unit of trade  
C.1.2 
lot size  
number of primary containers or units in the lot  
C.1.3 
sample size  
total number of sample units drawn for examination from a lot  
C.1.4 
sample unit  
container, a portion of the cont ents of a container, or a composite mixture of product from small containers 
that is sufficient for the examination or testing as a single unit. For fill of container, the sample unit shall be the 
entire contents of the container   
10 © EAC 2018 – All rights reserved  
 C.2 Sampling plans  
Lot size (primary containers)  Size of container,  
n 1 
Net weight equal to or less than 1 kg (2.2 lb)  
4 800 or less  13 
4 801 to 24 000  21 
24 001 to 48 000  29 
48 001 to 84 000  48 
84 001 to 144 000  84 
144 001 to 240 000  126 
Over 240 000  200 
Net weight  greater than 1 kg (2.2 lb) but not more than 4.5 kg (10 lb)  
2 400 or less  13 
2 401 to 15 000  21 
15 001 to 24 000  29 
24 001 to 42 000  48 
42 001 to 72, 000  84 
72 001 to 120 000  126 
Over 120 000  200 
Net weight greater than 4.5 kg (10 lb)  
600 or less  13 
601 to 2 000  21 
2 001 to 7 200  29 
7 201 to 15 000  48 
15 001 to 24 000  84 
24 001 to 42 000  126 
Over 42 000  200 
1 n = number of primary containers in sample.   
© EAC 2018  – All rights reserved  11 
   
12 © EAC 2018 – All rights reserved  
 Bibliography