DRAFT UGANDA STANDARD  
  DUS 2029 
First Edition  
2018 -mm-dd 
 
 
 Reference number  
DUS 2029 : 2018 
© UNBS 2018   
  
Edible Sugarcane — Specification   
 DUS 2029 : 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 applic ation  
© UNBS 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  
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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 2029 :2018  
© UNBS 2018  – All rights reserved  iii 
 Contents  Page 
Foreword  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................  iv 
1 Scope  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ......................  1 
2 Normative references  ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................  1 
3 Terms and definitions  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........................  2 
4 Requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .........  2 
4.1 General requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........................  2 
4.2 presentation forms  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................  2 
4.3 Specifi c requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........................  2 
5 Contaminants  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .........  3 
5.1 Pesticide residues  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ . 3 
5.2 Heavy metals  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ..........  3 
5.3 Other Contaminants  ................................ ................................ ................................ ..............................  3 
6 Hygiene  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...................  3 
6.1 Microbiol ogy ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ..........  3 
7 Packaging  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...............  3 
8 Labelling  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .................  3 
9 Sampling  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ................  4 
Bibliography  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ........................  5 
 DUS 2029 : 2018  
iv © UNBS 2018  – All rights reserved  
 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 the 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 Na tional Enquiry Point on TBT  Agreement  of the World Trade Organisation (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 co nsists 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. T he committee reviews the comments before recommending the draft 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 Agricultur e], 
Subcommittee SC  11, [Sugar, edible starches and related confectionery products ]. 
This first edition ( DUS 2029 :2018 ), which has been tec hnically developed .  DRAFT UGANDA STANDARD  DUS 2029 : 2018  
 
© UNBS 2018 – All rights reserved  1 
 Edible Sugarcane — Specification  
1 Scope   
This D raft Uganda Standard specifies the requirement s, met hod of testing and sampling of edible s ugarcane  
for direct human consumption . 
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 doc ument. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For undated 
references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies  
971.21 , Mercury  in food by flame atomic absorption spectroscopy (FAAS)  
986.15 , Arsenic , cadmium, lead, selenium, and zinc in human and pet foods by atomic absorption 
spectrometry (AAS)  
US 28 EAS 39 , Code of practices for hygiene in the food and drink manufacturing industry  
US 738 , General standard for contaminants and toxins in food and feed ( 5th Edition ) 
US 1659 , Materials in contact with food — Requirements for packaging materials  
US CAC/GL 50 , General guidelines on sampling  
US EAS 38 , Labelling of pre -packaged foods — General requirements  
US ISO 4831 , Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal method for the detection and 
enumeration of coliforms — Most probable number technique  
US ISO 4833 -1, Microbiology of the food chain – Horizontal method for the enumeration of microorganisms – 
Part 1: Colony count at 30 C by the pour pl ate technique  
US 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  
US ISO 7251 , Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal method for the detection and 
enumeration of presumptive Escherichia coli — Most probable number technique  
US ISO 21527 , 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  
  
2 © UNBS 2018  – All rights reserved  
 3 Terms and definitions   
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.  
3.1 
Sugarcane stem  
solid, unbranch ed stem, roughly circular in cross -section, is clearly differentiated into joints each comprising a 
node and an internode  
3.2 
Stalk  
 main stem of a herbaceous plant.  
3.3 
Maturation index (MI),  
ratio between the brix of the stalks tip and base  
4 Requiremen ts 
4.1 General requirements  
Sugar cane stem shall be;  
a) fresh, mature, well -formed and firm.  
b) free from dirt,  
c) Free from disease, visible insect pests   
d) Free from mechanical damage and pest damage  
e) Free from off odurs  
f) With characteristic natural taste and aro ma 
4.2 presentation  forms  
Sugar can stem may be presented in the following forms;  
a) whole stem  
b) chopped  
c) chopped and peeled  
4.3 Specific requirements  
4.3.1 Edible Sugar cane shall have ≥ 60 Total Sugars (%DM)  DUS 2029 : 2018  
© UNBS 2018  – All rights reserved  3 
 5 Contaminants  
5.1 Pesticide residues  
Edible Sugarcane  shall conform to those residual limits for pesticides established by the Codex Alimentarius 
Commission.  
5.2 Heavy metals  
Edible Sugarcane  shall not exceed the limits of metal Co ntaminants as in Table 1.  
Table 1— Maximum level of metallic contaminants in Edible S ugarcane  
SN Parameter  Limit (mg/kg)  Test method  
i Lead (Pb)  0.05 AOAC 986.15  
ii Arsenic (As)  0.2 AOAC 986.15  
iii Mercury (Hg  0.05 AOAC 971.21  
 
5.3 Other Contaminants  
Edible Sugarcane shall conform to those maximum levels for contaminants and toxins as in US 738 . 
6 Hygiene  
Edible Sugarcane  shall be harvested , packaged and transported following hygienic practices in accordance 
US 28, EAS 39   
6.1 Microbiology  
Edible Suga rcane  shall be free from microorganisms as stated in Table 2 below;  
Table 2 — Microbiological requirements for Edible Sugarcane  
SN Microorganism  Limit  Test method  
i Total plate count, cfu/ g, Max. 103 US ISO 4833 -1 
ii Coliform count, cfu/ g, Max. 10 US IS O 4831  
iii Yeast and mould count, cfu/ g, Max. 10 US ISO 21527  
iv E.coli cfu/ g, Max. Absent  US ISO 7251  
v Staphylococcus aureus cfu/ g, Max. Absent  US ISO 688 8-1 
7 Packaging  
Edible Sugarcane shall be packaged in clean food grade packaging material which comply with US 1659  
8 Labelling  
In addition to the requirements of US EAS 38,  the following labelling requirements shall apply and shall be 
legibly and indelibly marked.   
4 © UNBS 2018  – All rights reserved  
 a) Common name of the product to be declared on the label as ' Edible Sugarcane ';  
b) Net co ntents by volume (`System International') units;  
c) Name and phys ical address of the packer ; 
d) Country of origin;  
e) Sugar cane variety ; 
f) Storage conditions   
g) Packing date  
9 Sampling  
Sampling and analysis of Edible Sugarcane  shall be done in accordance with US CAC/ GL 50 . 
 DUS 2029 : 2018  
© UNBS 2018  – All rights reserved  5 
 Bibliography  
[1] Sugar cane production guideline, 2014, Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, South 
Africa  
 DUS 2029 : 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 used only by those licensed under the certification mark scheme operated by 
the Ug anda 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 superv ision, 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 o f licensing may be obtained from the Director, Uganda 
National Bureau of Standards.  
 
 DUS 2029 : 2018    
 
ICS 67.180.10 
Price based on nn pages  
© UNBS 2018 – All rights reserved