DRAFT UGANDA STANDARD ON PUBLIC REVIEW DRAFT UGANDA STANDARD  
  DUS DEAS 870 
First  Edition  
2015-mm-dd 
 
 Reference number  
DUS DEAS 870: 2015 
© UNBS 201 5 
  
Crackers from marine and freshwater fish, crustacean and 
molluscan shellfish — Specification  
 DRAFT UGANDA STANDARD ON PUBLIC REVIEWDUS DEAS 870:2015 
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 870:2015 
© 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 870: 2015, Crackers from marine and freshwater fish, crustacean 
and molluscan shellfish — Specification , is identical with  and has been reproduced from an East African  
Standard, DEAS 870: 2015, Crackers from marine and freshwater fish, crustacean and molluscan s hellfish— 
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 870: 2015 
ICS 67.120.30 
© EAC 2015                                                                                                                              First Edition 2015  
 
DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD 
Crackers from marine and freshwater fish, crustacean and molluscan 
shellfish — Specification  
EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY DRAFT UGANDA STANDARD ON PUBLIC REVIEW  DEAS 870: 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 REVIEW  DEAS 870: 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.  
DEAS 870 was prepared by the Technical Committee EASC/TC 003, Fish and fishery products.  
 
 DRAFT UGANDA STANDARD ON PUBLIC REVIEWEAST AFRICAN STANDARD   DEAS 87 0:2015  
 
© EAC 2015  – All rights reserved  1 
 Crackers from marine and freshwater fish, crustacean and 
molluscan shellfish — Specification 
1 Scope 
This draft East African Standard specifies requirements and methods of sampling and test for crackers 
prepared from marine and freshwater fish, crustacean and molluscan shellfish.  
 
It does not include ready- to-eat fried as well as artificially flavoured fish, crustacean and molluscan shellfish 
crackers 
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. 
AOAC 952.13,  Arsenic in food — Silver diethyldibocarbamate method 
AOAC 972.23 , Lead in fish —– Atomic absorption spectrophotometric method 
AOAC 973.34 , Cadmium in food — Atomic absorption spectrophotometric method 
AOAC 977.13 , Histamine in sea food — Fluorometric 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 12, Drinking (potable water) — Specification  
EAS 38 , Labelling of pre-packaged foods — Requirements 
EAS 39 , Hygiene in the food and drink manufacturing industry ― Code of practice  
ISO 4833-1 , Microbiology of food chain — Horizontal method for the enumeration of microorganisms — Part 
1: Colony-count 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 
 3 Terms and definitions 
For the purposes of this standard, the following terms and definitions shall apply. 
3.1 
cracker 
Food product made from fresh fish or frozen minced flesh of either marine or freshwater fish, crustacean, 
molluscan shellfish and /or the mixture thereof. 
 
3.2  
fish 
poikilothermic or cold blooded aquatic vertebrates having gills, fins and typically an elongated body 
 
3.3  
crustacean 
arthropod with a hard outer shell and jointed limbs that usually lives in aquatic environment  
 
3.4 
molluscan shellfish 
molluscan having soft unsegmented body with a calcareous shell secreted by a fold of skin 
 
4 Requirements 
4.1 General requirements 
4.1.1  Raw material 
The product shall be prepared from; 
a) Fish, crustacean and molluscan shellfish with characteristic fresh appearance, colour and odour; 
b) Fresh, chilled or frozen fish, crustacean and molluscan shellfish or frozen minced flesh fish, 
crustacean and molluscan shellfish 
c)  potable water shall comply with EAS 12 
  
4.1.2  Other ingredients  
 
Flour other than soy and mushroom flour conforming to relevant East Africa standard. 
 
4.1.3 Optional ingredients 
The product may contain sugar, salt, spices, conforming to relevant East Africa standard. 
 
4.1.4  Finished product 
The product shall have    characteristic colour and texture and free from spoilage and foreign matter. 
 
The product shall be graded as per the requirements stipulated in Table 1. 
 
4.2 Specific requirements 
4.2.1 When tested in accordance with AOAC 977.13, the level of histamine in the product shall not exceed 
100 ppm. 
4.2.2  The product shall comply with the requirements specified in Table 1. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 DRAFT UGANDA STANDARD ON PUBLIC REVIEW 
© EAC 2015  – All rights reserved  3 
 Table 1 — Requirements for crackers from marine and freshwater fish, crustacean and molluscan 
shellfish 
 
S/NO  Parameter  Grade  Fish Crustacean and 
Molluscan 
Shellfish  Test method  
1 Crude protein (N x 6.25),  
%, w/w min.  
 
 I  
II  
III 12  
8  
5 8  
5  
2  
2 Moisture content, % w/w   8 to 14  8 to 14  ANNEX A  
 
 
5 Food additives  
Only the use of the following additives is permitted. 
 
Addit ive  Maximum level in the final 
product  
Sequestrants   
452 Polyphosphates  5 mg/kg expressed as P 2O5, singly 
or in combination (includes natural 
phosphate)   
Flavour enhancers   
621 Monosodium glutamate  GMP  
6 Hygiene 
The product covered by the provisions of this standard 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 crackers from marine and freshwater fish, crustacean and 
molluscan shellfish.  
S/No  Micro -organisms  Maximum limits  Test method  
i) Salmonella  per 25 g  Absent  ISO 6579  
ii) Escherichia coli,  MPN/g  Absent  ISO 7251  
iii) Staphylococcus aureus,  CFU/g                  102 ISO 6888  
iv) Vibrio Spp . Absent  ISO/TS 21872  
v) Total viable count, CFU/g  105 ISO 4833 -1 
vi) Yeast and moulds, CFU/g  102 ISO 21527 -1 
7 Contaminants  
Heavy metals 
Crackers from marine and freshwater fish, crustacean and molluscan shellfish shall comply with the heavy 
metal limits given in T able 3 . 
 
Table 3  — Heavy metal limits for crackers from marine and freshwater fish, crustacean and molluscan 
shellfish.  
 
 DRAFT UGANDA STANDARD ON PUBLIC REVIEW 
© EAC 2015  – All rights reserved  4 
 S/No  Heavy metal  Maximum limit,  
mg/kg  Test method  
i) Arsenic  0.1 AOAC 952.13  
iii) Lead  0.3 AOAC 972.23  
iii) Cadmium  0.3 AOAC 973.34  
iv) Methy l mercury  0.5 AOAC 983.20  
8  Weights and measures 
The weight of the product shall comply with Weights and Measures regulations of Partner States or equivalent 
legislation.  
9 Packaging  
The product shall be packed in food grade containers which is moisture proof and gas impermeable that will 
safeguard the hygienic, nutritional, technological and organoleptic qualities of the product. They shall not 
impart any toxic substance or off odour or flavour to the product.  
10 Labelling 
 General  
In addition to the requirements in EAS 38, the following specific labelling requirements shall apply and shall be 
legibly and indelibly marked: 
a) The name of the product shall be derived from the main raw material(s) used. And shall be named as  
"Fish Crackers" if the raw material is from fish, those from cracker from crustacean and molluscan 
shellfish shall depict the common name of the species, such as like "Prawn Crackers" or "Squid Crackers" 
crackers made by mixing if different species of fish, crustaceans or molluscan shellfish used then the 
product shall be named as “mixed cracker”, indicating all the specie/common name used.   
b) name and physical address of processor; 
c) net weight in grams or kilograms; 
d) production date; 
e) batch number; 
f) expiry date; 
g) instruction for use; and 
h) country of origin. 
i) conditions of storage 
j) Net weight in g or kg 
11 Sampling  
Sampling shall be done in accordance with CAC/GL 50-2004. 
 DRAFT UGANDA STANDARD ON PUBLIC REVIEWDEAS 87 0: 2015    
 
© EAC 2015 – All rights reserved 
  
 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.