DEAS 1:201 8 
ICS 67.060  
                                                                                                                             Fourth  Edition  2018  
 
DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  
Wheat flour — Specification  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY  DEAS 1: 201 8 
© EAC 2018 – All rights reserved  ii 
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 DEAS 1: 201 8 
© EAC 2018 – 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 Commit tee 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 S tandards 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.  
EAS  1 was prepared by Technical Committee EASC / TC 014, Cereals, pulses and  related products.  
This fourth  edition  cancels and replaces the third  edition (EAS  1:201 7), which has been technically revised.  
 DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  DEAS 1: 201 7 
 
© EAC 2018 – All rights reserved  1 
 Wheat flour — Specification  
1 Scope  
This draft East African Standard specifies requirements, sampling and test methods for wheat flour prepared 
from common wheat, Triticum aestivum L . or club wheat, Triticum compactum Host , or mixtures thereof 
intended for human consumption.  
It does not apply to wheat flour obtained from Triticum durum  and fortified wheat flour.  
2 Normative references  
The following referenced documents are indispensa ble 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.  
AOAC 952.13, Arsenic in food — Silver diethyldithiocarbamate  
AOAC 965.22, Sorting corn grits — Sieving method  
CODEX STAN 192,  General standard for food additives  
CODEX STAN 193, Codex General Standard for Contaminants and Toxins in Food and Feed  
EAS 35, Edible salt — Specification  
EAS 38, Labelling of pre -packaged foods — Specification  
EAS 39, Hygiene in the food and drink manufacturing industry — Code of practice  
EAS 51, Wheat grains — Specification  
EAS 900,  Cereals and Pulses - Sampling  
EAS 901, Cereals and Pulses – Test Methods  
ISO 2171, Cereals, pulses and by -products — Determination of ash yield by incineration   
ISO 4833 -1, Microbiology of the food chain -- Horizontal method for the enumeration of microorganisms -- Part 1: 
Colony count at 30 degrees C by the pour plate technique  
ISO 5498, A gricultural food products — Determination crude fibre content — General method  
ISO 6561 -1, Fruits, vegetables and derived products — Determination of cadmium content — Part 1 — Method using 
graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry   DEAS 1: 201 8 
© EAC 2018 – All rights reserved  2 
 ISO 6561 -2, Fruits, vegetables and derived products -- Determination of cadmium content -- Part 2: Method using flame 
atomic absorption spectrometry  
ISO 6579 -1, Microbiology o f the food chain -- Horizontal method for the detection, enumeration and serotyping of 
Salmonella -- Part 1: Detection of Salmonella spp . 
ISO 6633, Fruits, vegetables and derived products — Determination of lead content — Flameless atomic absorption 
spectr ometric method  
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 16649 -2, Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs -- Horizontal method for the enumeration of beta -
glucuronidase -positive Escherichia coli -- Part 2: Colony -count technique at 44 degrees C using 5 -bromo -4-chloro -3-
indolyl beta -D-glucuronide  
ISO 21527 -2, Micr obiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal method  for the enumeration of yeasts 
and moulds — Part 2: Colony co unt technique in products with water activity less than or equal to 0.95  
3 Terms and definitions  
For the purposes of this standard, the following terms and definitions shall apply.  
3.1 
wheat flour  
product prepared from common wheat grain, Triticum aestivum  L. or club wheat, Triticum compactum Host , or 
mixtures thereof by grinding or milling process  
3.2 
white wheat flour  
wheat  flour obtained by milling wheat grains at extraction rates that leaves negligible amounts of bran  
3.3  
patent flour  
White wheat flour obtained by milling wheat grai ns at a lower extraction rate.  
3.4 
baker’s flour  
white wheat flour made from semi hard/ha rd wheat which has a medium to high protein content intended 
for bread making  
3.5 
home baking/all -purpose flour  
white wheat flour obtained by milling either soft wheat grains or blends of hard and soft wheat grains used 
for making wide range of baked prod ucts 
3.6 
biscuit flour  
white wheat flour obtained by milling soft wheat or a blend of hard and soft wheat with a high percentage of 
soft wheat for biscuit manufacture  
3.7 
cracker flour  
white wheat flour obtained by milling medium protein wheat with no impr overs  DEAS 1: 201 8 
© EAC 2018 – All rights reserved  3 
 3.8 
self-raising flour  
white wheat flour obtained by milling soft or a blend of soft and hard wheat to which raising agents are 
added  
3.9 
standard flour  
wheat flour obtained by milling wheat grains at a higher extraction than home baking flour  
3.10 
wholemeal flour  
wheat flour obtained by milling the entire wheat grain to fine particle size without any separation  
3.11 
atta flour  
wheat flour of high extraction rate or white wheat flour to which pollard and or bran are blended  
3.12 
food grade packaging material  
material which will safeguard the hygienic, nutritional, technological, and organoleptic qualities of the 
product  
3.13 
foreign matter  
organic or inorganic material other than wheat flour  
4 Quality requirements  
4.1 General requirements  
4.1.1  The wheat grain from which the flour is obtained shall comply with EAS 51.  
4.1.2  Edible salt, if used, shall comply with EAS 35.  
4.1.3  Wheat flour shall:  
a) be characteristic of the colour of wheat from which it was prepared;  
b) be free from any objectionable flavo ur and odour;  
c) be free from insects, worms, fungal infestation, rodent contaminations and foreign matter; and  
d) not contain flour from other cereals. However, the addition of malted barley flour not exceeding 1 % 
is permissible in the case of baker’s flour.  
4.2 Specific requirements  
4.2.1  Wheat flour shall comply with the requirements given in Table 1 when tested in accordance with the 
test methods specified therein.  
 DEAS 1: 201 8 
© EAC 2018 – All rights reserved  4 
 Table 1 — Specific requirements for wheat flour  
 
4.2.2  In addition to the requirements in Table 1, self -raising flour shall contain:  
a) sodium bicarbonate in sufficient amounts to provide not less than 0.4 % of available carbon dioxide; 
and 
b) acid ingredients singly or in combination including sodium acid pyrophosphate, mono acid calcium 
phosphate and sodium aluminium phosphate.  
5 Food additives  
Wheat flour may contain only the permitted food additives in the CODEX STAN 192. The use of 
azordica rbonamide (ADA) and potassium bromate is not allowed.   
S/No   
Characteri
stic   Type of flour   
Test 
method  Patent 
wheat 
flour  Baker’s 
flour  Home 
bakin
g flour  Bisc
uit 
flou
r Crac
ker 
flou
r Self-
raisi
ng 
flour  Standar
d flour  Atta 
flour  Whol
emeal 
flour  
i.  Moisture 
content, 
max, % 
m/m  14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 EAS 901, 
Clause  5 
ii.  Crude 
fibre 
content, 
max., % 
m/m  1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.0 ISO 5498  
iii.  Total ash 
content, 
max.,% 
m/m  0.7  0.8 0.8 0.8 0.8 3.0 1.10 2.0 2.0 ISO 2171  
iv.  Residue 
on sieving 
through 
180-
micron 
sieve, 
max., %  0.5 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.80 30.0 55.0 30.0 EAS 901, 
Clause 4  
v.  Crude 
protein  
content, 
min, % 
m/m  8.0 9.0 8.0 8.0 8.0 8.0 9.0 8.0 8.0 EAS 901, 
Clause 6 DEAS 1: 201 8 
© EAC 2018 – All rights reserved  5 
 6 Hygiene  
6.1 Wheat flour shall be prepared and handled in accordance with EAS 39.  
6.2 The product shall comply with microbiological limits given in Table 2 when tested in accordance with 
the test meth ods specified therein.  
    
Table 2 — Microbiological limits for wheat flour  
S/No
. Micro -organism  Maximum limit  Test method  
i.  Total aerobic count per g  105 ISO 4833 -1 
ii.  Escherichia coli  per 1 g  <1x102 ISO 16649 -2 
iii.  Salmonella  per 25 g  Absent  ISO 6579 -1 
iv.  Yeast and moulds cfu/g  104 ISO 21527 -2 
 
v.  Staphylococcus aureus  per 25 g  102 ISO 6888 -1 
7 Contaminants  
7.1 Heavy metals  
Wheat flour shall comply with limits for heavy metals established by the Codex Alimentarius  Commission as 
given in Table 3 when tested in accordance with the test methods specified therein.  
Table 3 — Heavy metals limits for wheat flour  
S/N Heavy metal  Limit  
mg/kg  Test method  
i.  Arsenic (As)  0.1 AOAC 952.13  
ii.  Lead (Pb)  0.2 ISO 6633  
iii.  Cadmium (Cd)  0.1 ISO 6561 -1/2 
 
7.2 Pesticide residues  
Wheat flour  shall comply with pesticide residue limits established by the Codex Alimentarius Commission for 
this commodity.  
 
7.3 Mycotoxins  
Wheat flour  shall comply with  the mycotoxin limits established by the Codex Alimentarius Commission as 
given in Table 4 when tested in accordance with the test methods specified therein .  DEAS 1: 201 8 
© EAC 2018 – All rights reserved  6 
 Table 4 — Mycotoxins limits for wheat flour  
S/N Mycotoxin  Maximum limit  
µg/kg  Test method  
EAS 901  
i.  Total aflatoxins  10 Clause 9  
Clause 10  
 ii.  Aflatoxin B 1 5 
iii.  Fumonisins  2000   
 
Clause 11  
Clause 12  
8 Weights and measures  
Wheat flour shall be packaged in accordance with the weights and measures regulations of the destination 
country.  
NOTE  EAC Partner States are signatory to the International Labour Organizations (ILO) for maximum 
package weight of 50 kg where human loading and offloading is involved.  
9 Packaging  
Wheat flour shall be packaged in food grade packaging materials. When the product is packag ed in sacks, 
these shall be clean, sturdy and strongly sewn or sealed.  
10 Labelling  
Labelling shall be done in accordance with EAS 38. At the minimum, the following information shall be 
displayed:  
a) product name as “Wheat flour”;  
b) type of wheat flour  
c) name, ad dress and physical location of the manufacturer/ packer/importer;  
d) lot/batch/code number;  
e) net weight, in kilograms;  
f) the declaration “Food for Human Consumption’’;  
g) storage instruction as  
h)  “Store in a cool dry place away from any contaminants’’;  
i) date of manufacture;  
j) expiry date;  
k) instructions on disposal of used package; and  
l) Country  of origin.  DEAS 1: 201 8 
© EAC 2018 – All rights reserved  7 
 11 Sampling  
Sampling shall be done in accordance with EAS 900. 
 DEAS 1: 201 8 
© EAC 2018 – All rights reserved  8 
 Bibliography  
CODEX STAN 152 -1985 (Rev. 1 - 1995), Codex standard for wheat flour  DEAS 1: 201 8   
 
© EAC 2018– All rights reserved