DEAS 147-1: 2017  
ICS 67.220.20  
 
© EAC 2017                                                                                                                           Second  Edition 2017  
 DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  
Vinegar — Specification — Part 1: Vinegar from natural sources  
EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY  DEAS 147-1: 2017  
ii © EAC  2017  – All right s reserved  
 Copyright notice  
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 DEAS 147-1: 2017  
© EAC 2017  – 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 goo ds 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 Na tional 
Standards Bodies in Partner States, together with the representatives from the public and private sector 
organizations  in the community .  
East African Standards are developed through  Technical Committees that are representative of key 
stakeholders i ncluding 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 in corporated before finalization of standards, in 
accordance with the Principles and procedures for development of East African Standards. XXXXXX.  
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 .  
The committee responsible for this docu ment is Technical Committee EASC /TC 006, Spices culinary herbs 
and condiments . 
This seco nd edition cancels and replaces the first edition (EAS  147-1:1999 ), which  has been technically 
revised.  
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be subject of patent 
rights. EAC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.  
 DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  DEAS 147-1: 2017  
 
© EAC 2017  – All rights reserved  1 
 Vinegar — Specification — Part 1: Vinegar from natural sources  
1 Scope   
This Draft East African Standard specifies requirements and methods of sampling and test for vinegar from natural 
sources intended for huma n consumption.  
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 referenc es, 
the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.  
CODEX STAN 192, General standards for food additives   
CODEX STAN 193,  Codex general standards for contaminants and toxins in food and feed  
EAS 38, General standard for th e labelling of pre -packaged foods  
EAS 39, Code of practice for hygiene in the food and drink manufacturing industry  
EAS 104, Alcoholic beverages — Method of sampling and test  
ISO 948, Spices and condiments — Sampling  
ISO 7952, Fruits, vegetables and derive d products — Determination of copper content — Method sing flame 
atomic absorption spectrometry  
ISO 9526, Fruits, vegetables and derived products — Determination of iron content by flame atomic 
absorption spectrometry  
3 Terms and definitions   
For the purpo ses of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.  
3.1 
vinegar  
liquid, produced exclusively from a suitable raw material of agricultural or silvicultural origin by the process of 
double fermentation (alcoholic and acetous) and contains a spec ified amount of acetic acid.  
3.2 
wine vinegar  
vinegar obtained from grape juice or wine by acetous fermentation  
3.3 
fruit wine vinegar and cider vinegar  
vinegar obtained by acetous fermentation from wine of fruit or cider,. The products may also be obtain ed from 
fruit by the process defined in 3.1.  DEAS 147-1: 2017  
2 © EAC  2017  – All right s reserved  
 3.4 
spirit vinegar  
vinegar obtained by acetous fermentation of distilled alcohol of agricultural origin  
3.5 
grain vinegar  
vinegar obtained without intermediate distillation by the process defined in 3.2, from an y cereal grain, the 
starch of which has been converted to sugars by a process other than solely by the diastase of malted barley  
3.6 
malt vinegar  
vinegar obtained without intermediate distillation by the process defined in 3.2, from malted barley, with or 
without the addition of cereal grains, the starch of which has been converted to sugars solely by the diastase 
of the malted barley  
3.7 
distilled malt vinegar  
vinegar produced by the distillation of malt vinegar as defined in 3.6 above under reduced pressu re. It 
contains only the volatile constituents of the malt vinegar from which it is derived.  
3.8 
whey vinegar  
vinegar obtained from whey fermentation, without intermediate distillation by the process defined in 3.2  
3.9 
honey vinegar  
vinegar obtained from h oney wine, without intermediate distillation, by the process of acetous fermentation  
4 Requirements  
4.1 Ingredients  
4.1.1  Raw materials shall include the following:  
a) products of agricultural origin containing starch, or starch and sugars, including but not limited to fruit,   
cereal grains, malted barley, whey and honey.  
b) wine of grapes or other fruits , cider.   
c) distilled alcohol of agricultural origin.  
4.1.2  The following ingredients may be added to vinegar in amount necessary to impart a distinctive flavour:  
a) whey;  
b) fruit juices or their equivalent of concentrated fruit juices;  
c) sugars;  
d) honey; and  
e) salt. 
4.1.3 Processing aids which include Nutrients for Acetobacter (such as yeast extracts and autolysates and 
amino acids) and nutrient salts may be used  
 DEAS 147-1: 2017  
© EAC 2017  – All rights reserved  3 
 4.2 Specif ic requirements  
4.2.1  Vinegar  shall comply with the requirements in Table 1.  
S/No.  Characteristic  Type of vinegar  Test 
method  Malt Fruit wine 
and Cider  Wine  Spirit  
i)  Total acid content, g/l, min.1 50 50 60 50 EAS 104  
ii)  Residual alcohol content, %, v/v,  
max.  0.5 0.5 1 0.5 EAS 104  
iii)  Soluble solids, degree brix, max.  2.0 2.0 1.3 2.0 EAS 104  
iv)  pH, 2.4-3.0 2.4-3.0 2.6-3.4 2.4-3.0 EAS 104  
v)  Ash, %, m/m, max . 0.45 0.45 0.7 0.05 EAS 104  
vi)  Copper, mg/Kg  10 10 10 10 ISO 7952  
vii)  Iron, mg/Kg  30 30 30 30 ISO 9526  
NOTE Vinegar should contain not more than the amount of acid as acetic acid that may be retained through the use of biological 
fermentation.  
1 Calculated to 1 % acetic acid 
5 Food  additives  
Use of food additives and in vinegar shall be in accordance with Co dex Stan 192.  
6 Contaminants  
Heavy metals in vinegar shall not exceed maximum residue limit as stipulated in Codex Stan 193.  
7 Hygiene  
Vinegar from natural sources shall be manufactured and handled in a hygienic manner in accordance with 
EAS 39.  
8 Weights and Measures  
The volume and fill of the container  shall comply with the Weights and Measures regulations of Partner States 
or equivalent legislation.  
9 Packaging  
Vinegar shall be packaged in food grade containers, which protect the product from damage with out reacting 
with the product.  
10 Labelling  
10.1 The product shall be legibly and indelibly labelled in compliance with the requirements of EAS 38. In 
addition the following information shall  appear legibly on each container:  DEAS 147-1: 2017  
4 © EAC  2017  – All right s reserved  
 a) name of the product;  
i) A product  manufactured from only one raw material shall be denominated ‘X vinegar’, where ‘X’ 
the name of the raw material used.  
ii) A product manufactured from more than one raw material shall be denominated ‘Y vinegar’, 
where ‘Y’ constitutes a complete list of the ra w materials used in descending order of proportion.  
iii) Where an ingredient has been added, which imparts to the food the distinctive flavour of the 
ingredient or ingredients, the name shall be accompanied by an appropriate descriptive term.  
b) brand name or trad emark if any;  
c) list of ingredients;  
d) minimum total acid content % as acetic;  
e) net volume of contents;  
f) name, physical location and full address of manufacturer, packer, distributor, importer, exporter or vendor 
of the food shall be declared;  
g) date of manufactur e; 
h) country of origin;  
i) batch number;  
j) Storage conditions  
k) Instructions of use  
10.2 Labelling of non -retail containers  
The following specific provisions apply to the labe lling of non -retail containers:  
a) Information in 10 .1 shall be given either on the container  or in accompanying documents, except that 
the name of the food, lot identification and the name and address of the manufacturer or packer shall 
appear on the containers.  
b) Lot identification and the name and address of the manufacturer or packer may be repl aced by an 
identification mark, provided that such a mark is clearly identifiable with the accompanying document.  
11 Sampling  
Sampling shall be carried out in accordance with ISO 948.  
. DEAS 147-1: 2017    
 
© EAC 2017  – All rights reserved