FINAL DRAFT UGANDA 
STANDARD  
  FDUS EAS 782
First Edition
2012-mm-dd
 
 Reference numbe r
FDUS EAS 782: 2012
© UNBS 2012
  
Composite flour – Specification 
 FDUS EAS 782: 2012 
i i                 ©  U N B S  2012 - 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 application  
© UNBS 2012 
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, in cluding 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 
Kampala  
Uganda 
Tel: 256 41 505 995 
Fax: 256 41 286 123 
E-mail: unbs@infocom.co.ug  
Web: www.unbs.go.ug  
 FDUS EAS 782: 2012 
© UNBS  2012 - All rights rese rved                iii National foreword 
Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) is a parastatal under the Ministry  of Tourism, Trade and 
Industry established under Cap 327, of the Laws of U ganda. 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 A limentarius Commission on Food Standards, and  
(c) the National Enquiry Point on TBT/SPS Agr eements 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 gi ven field or area and consists of representatives of 
consumers, traders, academician s, manufacturers, governme nt and other stakeholders. 
Draft Uganda Standards adopted by the Technical Committ ee 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 Final Draft Uganda Standard, FDUS EAS 782: 2012 , Composite flour – Specification, is identical with  and 
has been reproduced from an East African Standard, EAS 782: 2012 , Composite flour – Specification,  and is 
being proposed for adoption as a Uganda Standard.  
This standard was developed by Food and agriculture Standards Technical Committee (UNBS/TC 2).  
Wherever the words, “East African Standard" appea r, they should be replaced by "Uganda Standard." 
 
 
   EAS 782:2012
ICS 67.060
 
© EAC 2012               First Edition 2012  
 
EAST AFRICAN STANDARD 
 
Composite flour — Specification 
 
     
 
               
EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY EAS 782:2012 9 
 
© EAC 2012 – All rights reserved               ii 
 Foreword 
 
Development of the East African Standards has been necessitated by the need for harmonizing requirements 
governing quality of products and services in East Africa. It is envisaged that through harmonized 
standardization, trade barriers which are encountered when goods and services are exchanged within the 
Community will be removed.   
In order to meet the above objectives, the EAC Partner  States have enacted an East African Standardization, 
Quality Assurance, Metrology and Test Act, 2006 (EAC SQMT Act, 2006) to make provisions for ensuring 
standardization, quality assurance, metrology and testing of  products produced or originating in a third country 
and traded in the Community in order to facilitate industrial development and trade as well as helping to 
protect the health and safety of societ y and the environment in the Community. 
 
East African Standards are formulated  in accordance with the procedures established by the East African 
Standards Committee. The East African Standards Committe e is established under the provisions of Article 4 
of the EAC SQMT Act, 2006. The Committee is compos ed of representatives of the National Standards 
Bodies in Partner States, together with the repr esentatives from the priv ate sectors and consumer 
organizations. Draft East African Standards are circul ated 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 t he procedures of the Community.  
 
Article 15(1) of the EAC SQMT Act, 2006 provides that “Wit hin six months of the declar ation of an East African 
Standard, the Partner States shall adopt, without deviation from the approved text of the standard, the East 
African Standard as a national standard and withdraw any existing national standard with similar scope and 
purpose”.  East African Standards are subject to review, to keep pace with technological advances. Users of the East 
African Standards are therefor e expected to ensure that they always hav e the latest versions of the standards 
they are implementing.   
© East African Community 2012 — 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.each.int 
                                                      
* © 2012 EAC — All rights of exploitation in any form and by an y means reserved worldwide for EAC Partner States’ NSBs.  
 EAS 782:2012 
© EAC 2012 – All rights reserved                 iii 
 Acknowledgement 
This standard was devel oped with support from the Policy Analysi s and Advocacy Programme (PAAP) of the 
Association for Strengthening Agricult ural Research in Eastern and Cent ral Africa (ASARECA). This was 
possible though a grant by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). This support 
was used in the process of formulation and mobilization of stakeholders to review the standard in national and 
regional fora. This support is hereby acknowledged. EAST AFRICAN STANDARD EAS 782:2012
 
1               © EAC 2012 – All rights reserved 
 Composite flour ─ Specification  
1 Scope 
This East African Standard specifies requirement s and methods of sampling and test for composite 
flour intended for human consumption.  
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. 
EAS 38, General standard for the labelling of pre-packaged foods  
EAS 39, Hygiene in the food and drink manufacturing industry – Code of practice  
EAS 82, Milled cereal products — Methods of test (General methods)  
EAS 103, Schedule for permitted food additives 
EAS 744, Cassava and cassava products — Determination of total cyanogens ─ Enzymatic assay 
method   
CODEX STAN 193, Codex General Standard for Contaminants and Toxins in Food and Feed 
ISO 712, Cereals and cereal products — Determination of moisture content — Routine reference 
method   
ISO 2171, Cereals and milled cereal products — Determination of total ash 
ISO 5498, Agricultural food products — Determination of crude fibre content — General method   
ISO 6579, Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs  — Horizontal method for the detection of 
Salmonella spp.  
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 16050, Foodstuffs — Determination of aflatoxin B1, and the total content of aflatoxins B1, B2, G1 
and G2 in cereals, nuts and derived products — High-performance liquid chromatographic method  
ISO 21527-2, Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal method  for the 
enumeration of yeasts and moulds — Part 2: Colony count technique in products with  water activity 
less than or equal to 0.95 
ISO 24333, Cereals and cereal products — Sampling   
 EAS 782:2012 9 
3 Product description 
Composite flour is a product obtained by blending of flour prepared from food plants and/or their 
products. It may also be obtained by blending grains/seeds before milling. 
4 Terms and definitions 
4.1 sound/wholesome 
free from disease and physiological deterioration (such as but not limited to decay, breakdown, 
freezing damage) or adulteration/contamination, th at appreciably affects their appearance, edibility, 
the keeping quality of the produce or market value 
4.2 
practically free without defects  in excess of those that can be ex pected to result from, and be consistent with good 
cultural and handling practices employed in the production and marketing of the composite flour 
4.3 
extraneous matter 
organic matter originating from food plants and/or their products other than composite flour 
4.4 
foreign matter 
organic and inorganic materials (such as sand, soil,  glass) other than extraneous matter in the flour 
5  Essential quality and co mpositional requirements 
5.1 Raw material 
The food plants or their products from which the fl our is milled shall be clean, sound, and practically 
free from foreign matter. The raw materials shall co mply with the relevant East African Standards. 
5.2 Finished product 
Composite flour shall be:  
 a) practically free fr om extraneous matter;  
b) free of off flavours and off-odours; and  
c) practically free from any living insects and foreign matter.  
5.3 Compositional requirements 
Composite flour shall conform to the requirements in Table 1 below. 
 
© EAC 2012 – All rights reserved               2 
 EAS 782:2012 
 
Table 1 – Compositional requirements 
S/N Characteristic Requirements Methods of test 
1 Acid insoluble ash, %, by mass, max. 0.40 EAS 82 
2 Fat Acidity, mg KOH, max. 50 ISO 5986 
3 Total ash content %, by mass on dry matter basis, max. 4.0 EAS ISO 2171  
4 Moisture Content, %, by mass, max. 13.5 EAS ISO 712 
5 Crude fibre content, %, by mass on a dry matter basis, max. 5.0 EAS ISO 5498 
 
5.4 Particle Size  
Not less than 90% shall pass through a 600 µm sieve for fine flour and not less than 90% shall pass 
through a 1200 µm sieve for coarse flour. Testing for particle size shall be done in accordance with 
EAS 82.  
Composite flour intended for baking purposes shall have  particle size such that not less than 90% shall 
pass through 250 µm sieve.  
5.5 Hydrocyanic acid content 
If cassava is used in blending the composite flour, the total hydrocyanic acid content of composite 
flour shall not exceed 10 mg/kg, when tested using EAS 744. 
5.6 Anti nutritional Factors  
If soy flour is used in blending the composite flou r intended for instant consumption such as instant 
porridge, trypsin inhibitor activity in the composite flour shall not exceed 5 mg/g.  
If sorghum flour is used in blending the composite flou r, the tannin content of the composite flour shall 
not exceed 0.3% by mass on a dry matter basis. 
6 Food Additives 
Food additives may be used in the preparation of  composite flour in accordance with EAS 103.  
7 Contaminants  
7.1 Pesticide residues  
Composite flour shall conform to those maximum re sidue limits for pesticides established by the 
Codex Alimentarius Commission for this commodity.  
7.2 Other contaminants  
Composite flour shall conform to those maximu m levels of the Codex General Standard for 
Contaminants and Toxins in Food and Feed (CODEX STAN 193). 
The product when tested in accordance with IS O 16050 shall not exceed the following levels:  
© EAC 2012 – All rights reserved               3 
 EAS 782:2012 9 
a) Total aflatoxins content – 10µg/kg; and  
b) Aflatoxin B1 content – 5µg/kg.   
8 Hygiene 
Composite flour shall be prepar ed and handled in acco rdance with EAS 39. Composite flour shall 
conform to the limits of microorganisms in Table 2.  
Table 2 − Limits for Microorganisms in composite flour 
 
  
 hts and Measure    WeigS/N Microorganisms Requirement Method of Test 
1 Escherichia coli, cfu/g, max  <1  ISO 7251 
2 Salmonella, 25 g, max Absent ISO 6579 
3 Yeast and Moulds, per g, max 104 ISO 21527-2  
9 Packaging 
Composite flour shall be packaged in food grade materi al to safeguard the safety, hygienic, nutritional 
and organoleptic qualities of the product. 
10  Weights and Measures  
Composite flour shall be packaged in accordance wi th the Weights and Measures requirements of the 
destination country. 
11 Labelling 
11.1  In addition to the requirements of EAS 38, the following specific requirements shall apply and 
shall be legibly and indelibly marked;  
a) common name of the product, “composi te flour”/”blended flour”/”mixed flour”; 
b) name, and physical address of the manufacturer/ distributor and /or trade name/ brand name; 
c) date of manufacture; 
d) list of ingredients; e) lot identification;  
f) net weight in metric units; 
g) expiry date;  h) country of origin; 
i) the net weight in metric units; 
j) storage instructions; and k) instructions on disp osal of used package. 
© EAC 2012 – All rights reserved               4 
 EAS 782:2012 
© EAC 2012 – All rights reserved               5 
 11.2  When labelling non-retail packages, informati on for non-retail packages shall either be given 
on the packages or in accompanying documents, except that the name of the produce, lot 
identification and the name and address of the manuf acturer or packer shall appear on the package   
 
12  Method of sampling 
 
Sampling shall be done in accordance with ISO 24333. 
 
13 Criteria for conformity  
A lot shall be declared as conforming to this standard if samples inspected or analysed for quality 
requirements conform to the provisions of this standard. 
 EAS 782:2012
  
© EAC 2012 — All rights reserved