DRAFT UGANDA STANDARD ON PUBLIC REVIEW DRAFT UGANDA STANDARD  
  DUS DEAS 876 
First  Edition  
2015-mm-dd 
 
 Reference number  
DUS DEAS 876: 2015 
© UNBS 201 5 
  
Smoked fish, smoke-flavoured and smoke-dried fish —  
Specification  
 DRAFT UGANDA STANDARD ON PUBLIC REVIEWDUS DEAS 876:2015 
ii                © UNBS  2015 - 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 applicati on 
© UNBS 2015 
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 UNB S. 
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 41 505 995 
Fax: 256 41 286 123 
E-mail: unbs@infocom.co.ug  
Web: www.unbs.go.ug  
 DRAFT UGANDA STANDARD ON PUBLIC REVIEWDUS DEAS 876:2015 
© UNBS  2015 - All rights reserved                iii National 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 National 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 consists of representatives of 
consumers, traders, academicians, manufacturers, government and other stakeholders. 
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 draft standards 
for approval and declaration as Uganda Standards by the National Standards Council.  
This Draft Uganda Standard, DUS DEAS 876: 2015, Smoked fish, smoke-flavoured and smoke-dried fish — 
Specification , is identical with  and has been reproduced from an East African  Standard , DEAS 876: 2015, 
Smoked fish, smoke -flavoured and smoke -dried fish — Specification , and is being proposed for adoption  as a 
Uganda Standard.  
Wherever the words, “ East African Standard" appear, they should be replaced by "Uganda Standard." 
 
  DRAFT UGANDA STANDARD ON PUBLIC REVIEW DEAS 876: 2015 
ICS 67.120.30 
© EAC 2015                                                                                                                              First Edition 2015  
 
DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD 
Smoked fish, smoke -flavoured and smoke - dried fish  — Specification  
EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY DRAFT UGANDA STANDARD ON PUBLIC REVIEWDEAS 876: 2015 
© EAC 2015  – All rights reserved  ii 
 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 without 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 purpose of selling it should be addressed 
as shown below or to EAC’s member body in the country of the requester:  
© East African Community 2015 — All rights reserved 
East African Community  
P.O.Box 1096 
Arusha 
Tanzania 
Tel: 255 27 2504253/8 
Fax: 255 27 2504481/2504255 
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 persecuted DRAFT UGANDA STANDARD ON PUBLIC REVIEWDEAS 876: 2015 
© EAC 2015  – All rights reserved  iii 
 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.  
In order to achieve this objective, the Community established an East African Standards Committee mandated 
to develop and issue East African Standards.   
The Committee is composed of representatives of the National Standards Bodies in Partner States, together 
with the representatives from the private sectors and consumer organizations. 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 procedures 
of the Community. 
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 standards 
they are implementing.  
 
 DRAFT UGANDA STANDARD ON PUBLIC REVIEWDRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  DEAS 876: 2015  
 
© EAC 2015  – All rights reserved  1 
 Smoked fish, smoke flavoured fish and smoke dried — Specification 
1 Scope 
This Draft East African Standard specifies requirements, methods of sampling and test for smoked fish , 
smoke flavoured fish and smoke dried fish intended for human consumption. The standard covers all fish 
species.  
2 Normative references 
The following referenced documents are indispensable for the 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. The opening statement should be considered during editing 
AOAC 952.13, Arsenic in fo od ― Silver diethyldibocarbamate method  
AOAC 977.13 , Histamine in sea food — Fluorometric method 
AOAC 972.23, Lead in fish ― Atomic absorption spectrophotometric method  
AOAC 973.34, Cadmium in food ― Atomic absorption spectrophotometric method  
AOAC 983.20, Mercury (methyl) in fish and shellfish― Gas chromatographic method  
CAC/GL 50-2004,  General guideline on sampling 
CAC/RCP 52 -2003, Code of practice for fish and fishery products  
EAS 38, Labelling of pre-packaged foods — Requirements 
EAS 39, Hygiene in the food and drink manufacturing industry ― Code of practice  
EAS 803, Nutrition labelling — Requirements  
EAS 805, Use of nutrition and health claims — Requirements  
ISO 4833-1, Microbiology of the food chain — Horizontal method for the enumeration of microorganisms — 
Part 1: Colony-count technique at 30 degrees C by the pour plate technique  
ISO 6579, Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal method for the detection of Salmonella 
spp. 
ISO 6888 (all parts), Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal method for the enumeration 
of coagulase-positive staphylococci (Staphylococcus aureus and other species)  
ISO 7251, Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal method for the detection and 
enumeration of presumptive Escherichia coli — Most probable number technique  
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  
ISO/TS 21872 (all parts), Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal method for the 
detection of potentially enteropathogenic Vibrio spp. DRAFT UGANDA STANDARD ON PUBLIC REVIEW 
© EAC 2015  – All rights reserved  2 
 ISO/TS 17919 , Microbiology of the food chain -- Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for the detection of food-
borne pathogens -- Detection of botulinum type A, B, E and F neurotoxin-producing clostridia 
ISO 17993:2002, Water quality-Determination of 15 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in water by 
HPLC with fluorescence detection after liquid –liquid extraction 
 
3 Terms and definitions 
For the purposes of this standard, the following terms and definitions shall apply. 
3.1 
hot smoking  
process at which fish is smoked at an appropriate combination of temperature and time sufficient to cause 
complete coagulation of protein in the fish flesh. 
3.2  
cold smoking 
process of treating fish with a smoke using a time/temperature combination that will not cause significant 
coagulation of the proteins in the fish flesh but that will cause substantial reduction of the water activity 
3.3  
wholesome / sound  
free from physiological deterioration or adulteration/contamination, that appreciably affects quality of the fish 
3.4  
smoked fish fillet 
fish fillets that has been smoked 
3.5  
fillet 
slice of fish flesh of irregular size and shape removed from the carcass by cuts made parallel to the backbone  
3.6  
smoke flavours 
either smoke condensates or artificial smoke flavour blends prepared by mixing chemically defined 
substances in known amounts or any combination of both 
 3.7 
smoke condensates  
products obtained by controlled thermal degradation of wood in a limited supply of oxygen (pyrolysis), 
subsequent condensation of the resultant smoke vapours and fractionation of the resulting liquid products  
3.8  
smoke-flavoured fish 
product prepared from fish that has been treated with smoke flavours, without undergoing a smoking process 
3.9  
smoke dried fish 
product prepared from fish that has undergone a combined smoking and drying process and may include 
salting 
3.10 
smoked fish 
fish that has undergone a hot or cold smoking process DRAFT UGANDA STANDARD ON PUBLIC REVIEW 
© EAC 2015  – All rights reserved  3 
 4 Requirements  
4.1 Raw material 
4.1.1  Fish used shall be obtained or prepared from any fish species which is sound and wholesome, fresh, 
chilled or frozen and fit for human consumption. 
4.1.2 Ingredients  
Other ingredients used such as salt, seasoning and condiments, herbs and spices and smoke flavours shall 
be of food grade quality and comply with relevant standards. 
4.1.3 Smoking materials 
Wood or other plant material used for the generation of smoke or smoke-condensates shall not contain toxic 
substances either naturally contained in the material or through contamination, or after being treated with 
chemicals, paint or impregnating materials. In addition,wood or other plant material must be handled in a way 
to avoid contamination of food with  Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH) from smoking and direct drying 
processes.  
4.2 Finished product 
4.2.1 Smoked fish and smoke - dried fish shall:- 
a) have pleasant mild fresh smoked flavour 
b)  have no acrid, resinous or musty odours or flavours due to the use of unsuitable wood shavings during 
the smoking process.  
4.2.2 Smoked fish, smoke –flavoured fish and smoke –dried fish shall: 
a) be stored in a suitable storage condition 
b) be free from foreign matter  
c)  be free from off fla vour and objectionable  odours  
d) not exhibiting any sourness whatsoever and  
e) be of desirable texture  
4.3 Specific requirements 
 
The smoke dried fish  shall not exceed 10% moisture content tested as per the Annex A and the histamine 
content shall not exceed 1 00, mg/kg tested as per AOAC 977.13  
5 Food additives   
No additives are permitted in smoke-dried fish. However if food additive used in the smoked fish or smoke 
flavoured fish the maximum level of application should comply with the list under Table 1.  
Table 1: List of food additives 
Acidity Regulators    
INS Number  Additive Name  Maximum Level in Product  
260 Acetic acid  glacial  GMP  
330 Citric acid  GMP  
325 Sodium lactate  GMP  
334 Tartaric acid  L[+] 200 mg/kg  
270 Lactic acid  L-, D-, DL- GMP  
326 Potassiu m lactate  GMP  
327 Calcium lactate  GMP  
Antioxidants    
301 Sodium ascorbate  GMP  
316 Sodium erythorbate (sodium GMP  DRAFT UGANDA STANDARD ON PUBLIC REVIEW 
© EAC 2015  – All rights reserved  4 
 isoascorbate)  
325 Sodium lactate  GMP  
Colours    
129 Allura Red AC  300 mg/kg  
160b(i)  Annato extracts, bixin -based  10 mg/kg, as bixin  
110 Sunset yellow FCF  100 mg/kg  
102 Tartrazine  100 mg/kg  
Packaging Gas    
290 Carbon dioxide  GMP  
941 Nitrogen  GMP  
Preservatives    
290 Carbon dioxide  GMP  
941 Nitrogen  GMP  
Preservatives (for reduced 
oxygen packaged products only)    
200-203 Sorbates  2000  mg/kg as sorbic acid  
210-213 Benzoates  GMP  
6 Hygiene 
The product shall be prepared and handled in accordance with EAS 39 and CAC/RCP 52 and shall comply 
with microbiological limits given in Table 2. 
Table 2— Microbiological limits for smoked fish, smoke –flavoured fish and smoke –dried fish   
S/No.  Type of microorganism  Maximum limit  Method of test  
1 Salmonella  in 25 g  Absent  ISO 6579  
2 Escherichia coli , MPN/g  10  ISO 7251  
3 Staphylococcus aureus , CFU/g   103 ISO 6888  
4 Total viable count, CFU/g  105 ISO 4833 -1 
5 Yeast and moulds, CFU/g  103 ISO 21527 -1 
6 Vibrio spp,per 25g  Absent  ISO/TS 21872  
     7 Clostridium botulinum1 Absent  
 ISO/TS 17919  
 Note: 1For canned product  
 
7 Contaminants 
7.1 Heavy metals 
The product shall comply with the heavy metal limits given in Table 3. 
Table 3 — Heavy metal limits for smoked fish, smoke –flavoured fish and smoke –dried fish   
S/No.  Parameter  Maximum limit,  
mg/kg  Test method  
(i) Arsenic  0.1 AOAC 952.13  
(ii) Lead  0.3 AOAC 972.23  
(iii) Cadmium  0.3 AOAC 973.34  
(iv) Methyl mercury  0.5 AOAC 983.20  
 DRAFT UGANDA STANDARD ON PUBLIC REVIEW 
© EAC 2015  – All rights reserved  5 
 7.2 Smoked fish and smoke-dried fish shall not contain more than 5ppb of Polycyclic aromatic Hydrocarbon 
especially Benzo (a) pyrene when tested as per ISO 17993:2002. 
 
7.3 Pesticide residues 
Smoked fish shall comply wi th those maximum pesticides residue limits established by the Codex 
Alimentarius Commission  
8 Weights and measures  
The fill and the weight of the product shall comply with Weights and Measures regulations of the importing 
Partner State.  
9 Packaging  
The product shall be packed in food grade containers which will safeguard the hygienic, nutritional, and 
organoleptic qualities of the product. They shall not impart any toxic substance or undesirable odour or flavour 
to the product.  
10 Labelling 
10.1 In addition to the requirements in EAS 38, the following specific labelling requirements shall apply and 
shall be legibly and indelibly marked:   
a) The product shall be named as  “Smoked fish/smoke – flavoured /smoke –dried fish” and the fish 
species fish   
b) list of ingredients 
c) Net weight in g or kg 
d) Name, physical and postal address of the processor  or packer 
e) Country of origin 
f) Production date 
g)  expiry date 
h) Storage condition 
i) Batch  number 
j) Instruction for use 
 
10.2 Nutritional labelling, nutrition and health claims may be made in accordance with EAS 803 and EAS 805 
10.3 Labelling of non-retail container  
10.3.1  Information on the above provisions shall be given either on the container or in accompanying 
documents, except that the name of the product, lot identification, and the name and address of the processor 
or packer as well as storage instructions, shall appear on the container. 
10.3.2  However, lot identification, and the name and address of the processor or packer may be replaced by 
an identification mark provided that such a mark is clearly identifiable with the accompanying documents. 
11 Sampling  
Sampling shall be done in accordance with CAC/GL 50-2004. 
 DRAFT UGANDA STANDARD ON PUBLIC REVIEW 
© EAC 2015  – All rights reserved  6 
 Annex A 
(normative) 
 
Determination of moisture content  
A.1 Principle  
The sample is dried to constant weight in an oven. 
A.2 Apparatus  
A.2.1 Moisture dishes , made of nickel, stainless steel, aluminium or porcelain, with well-fitting lids 
A.2.2 Oven 
A.2.3 Desiccator 
A.3 Procedure  
Weigh accurately about 10 g of the sample in a suitable moisture dish, previously dried in an oven and 
weighed. Place the dish in an oven maintained at 105 °C ± 2 °C for five hours.  Cool the dish in a desiccator 
and weigh with the lid on.  Repeat the process of heating, cooling and weighing at half-hour intervals until the 
loss in mass between two successive weightings is less than 1 mL. Record the lowest mass obtained.  
Preserve the dish containing this dried material in a desiccator for the determination of total ash (see B.2.3). 
A.4 Calculation  
The moisture content shall be expressed as follows: 
Moisture, % by mass = 
100
12 1

m mm m  
where 
m1 is the mass, in grams, of the moisture dish with material before drying;  
m2 is the mass, in grams, of the moisture dish with the material after drying; and   
m is the mass, in grams, of the empty moisture dish.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 DRAFT UGANDA STANDARD ON PUBLIC REVIEWDEAS 876: 2015    
 
© EAC 2015 – All rights reserved