DEAS 352: 201 8 
ICS 67.180.10  
© EAC 2018                                                                                                                          3rd Edition 2018   
 
DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  
Chewing gum   — Specification  
EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY  CDEAS 352: 2018  
ii © EAC  2018  – All rights reserved  
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 DEAS 352: 2018  
© EAC 2018 – All rights reserved  iii 
 Foreword  
Development of the East African Standards has been neces sitated 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 Stand ards 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 theref ore expected to ensure that they always have the latest versions of the standards 
they are implementing .  
EAS 352 was prepared by Technical Committee EAS/TC 019, Sugar and Sugar confectione ry. 
This second edition cancels an d replaces the first edition (EAS  352:2000 ), of which has  been technically 
revised.   DARFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  CDEAS 352: 2018 
 
© EAC 2018 – All rights reserved  1 
 Chewing gum — Specification  
1 Scope  
This Draft East African Stand ard specifies  the requ irements , sampling  and test metho ds for ch ewing gum.  
2 Normative references  
The following referenced documents are i ndispensable 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 12, Potable water —Specification   
EAS 39 , Hygiene for food and drink manufacturing industry — Code of practice  
EAS 38 , Labelling of pre -packaged foods — Specification  
EAS 805 , Use of nutrition and health claims — Requirements  
ICUMSA GS 4/7/8/5 -2, Determination of sucros e by gas chromatography in  molasses and factory produc ts - 
official; and cane juice — Tentative  
 ICUMSA GS 4/3 - 7, Determination of total reducing sugars in molasses and refined syrups after hydrolysis by 
the lane and Eynon constant volume procedure — Official (Reference method)  
ISO 5379 , Starches and derived product, — Determination of sulphur dioxide content — Acidimetric method 
and nephelometric method  
ISO 5809 , Starches and derived products — Determination of sulphated ash  
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 — Horinzontal method for detection and 
enumeration of presumptive Escherichia Coli — Most probable number technique   
ISO 21527 -2, Microbiology  of food and animal feeding stuffs — Horinzontal 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 5377 :1981   Starch hydrolysis products -- Determination of redu cing power and dextrose equivalent --  
2 © EAC  2018  – All rights reserved  
 ISO 5809:1982, Starches and derived products -- Determination of sulphated ash  
ISO 8968 -1:2014  (IDF 20 -1:2014)   ,Milk and milk products -- Determination of nitrogen content -- Part 1: 
Kjeldahl principle and crude prote in calculation  
 
ISO 4832  Horizontal method for the detection and enumeration of Coliforms  
ISO 6579 -1 Microbiology of the food chain -- Horizontal method for the detection, enumeration and serotyping  
Of Salmonella  -- Part 1: Detection of  Salmonella  spp. 
 
ISO 21527 -2 horizontal method for the enumeration of viable osmophilic yeasts and xerophilic moulds in 
products intended for human  
 
3 Terms and definitions  
For the purposes of this standard, the following terms and definitions shall apply .  
3.1 
chewing gum  
confection ary product  made from natural or synthetic gum base   and ingredients and /or  additives  
3.2 
bubble gum  
 
chewing gum that can form  a bubble when filled with air  
3.4 
sugar -free gum   
Chewing gum in which sugar has not been added  
3.5 foreign matters 
Any matter which is not part of the product formulation  
4 Requirements  
 
4.1 General requirements  
4.1.1 The chewing gu m product shall:  
a) be safe and suit able for hum an consumption.  
b) be of a acceptable taste , flavour and chewy   
c) be free from forei gn matter ;   
© EAC 2018 – All rights reserved  3 
 4.2 Ingredients  
4.2.1 General  
All ingredi ents s hall co mply with releva nt East African  Standar ds. Where no East African Standards exist, 
Codex Standards shall apply.  
When water is used , it shall comply to EAS 12  
 
4.2.2 Essential ingredients  
Food grade gum base shall be an essential ingredient for the manufacture of chewing gum . 
 ;  
4.2.3 Optional ingredients  
Any other food grade ingredient used shall comply with clause 4.1.1 of this standard  
 
4.3 Specific requirements  
Chewing gum  shall comply with the specific quality requirements s pecified  in Table 1.  
Table 1 — Requirements for chewing gum and bubble gum  
S/N Characterist ic Requi rement  Method of test  
Chewing 
gum Bubble 
gum  
i) 1  Moisture, % by mass, max.   4  4  AOAC 977.10  
 ii) 2  Sulphated ash, (if sug ar based), % by mass, max.  9.5  15  ISO 5809  
iii) 3  Acid insoluble ash, % by mass, max.  2.0 5.5 3.5 5.5   AOAC 975.12  
iv) 4  Reducing sugars, (if sugar based), % by mass, min. % by mass, min. 4.5 5.5 5.5 ISO 5377 - 1981  
v) 5  Sucrose, (if sugar based), % by mass, m ax. 70 80 70 60  ICUMSA GS 4/7/8/5 - 
2 
vi) 7  Gum base , % by mass, min .  12.5 12 14.0 12  Annex A 
 
5  Food additives  
The Food additives used in product shall comply with Codex standard 192   
  
4 © EAC  2018  – All rights reserved  
 6 Contaminants  
6.1 Pesticide residues  
Chewing gum shall comply with maximum pesticide residues limits established by the Codex   Alimentarius 
Commission for this commodity . 
6.2 Heavy m etal  
 
 
Chewing gum shall not contain heavy metals in amounts which may represent a hazard to human health and 
shall comply with the limits i n Table 2.  
 
 
Table 2 — Limits for metal contaminants  
 
S/N Metal  Maximum Limits mg/kg 
(ppm)  Test methods  
1 Lead    0.5 AOAC 986 -15 
 2 Arsenic   1.0 
 
7 Hygiene  
The Chewing gum  shall be prepared and handled in a hygienic manner in accordance with EAS 39 a nd shall 
comply with the microbiological limits stipulated in Table 3  when tested in accordance with the methods 
specified therein.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
© EAC 2018 – All rights reserved  5 
 Table 3 — Microbiological l imits for chewing gum  
 
 
Characteristic  Requirement  Test Methods  
Coliforms  CFU/g  <10  ISO 4832  
Salmonella spp per 
25 g Not detected  ISO 6579 -1 
Staphylococcus 
aureus /g 
 Not detected   ISO 6888 - 3 
Yeast and moulds, 
CFU/g  <10 ….ISO 21527 -2 
 
 
 
8  Packaging  
 
The Chewing gum shall be packaged in food grade material that ensure the integ rity and the safety of the 
product  
9 Labelling  
The packages shall be labelled in accordance with the requirements of  EAS 38.  
 
Exemptions specified in clause 4.7.1. c)  of EAS 38  for expir y date do not apply and expire date shall be 
given.  
  
10. Weight an d meaures  
The weight and fill of chewing gum shall comply with the weights and measures regulations of Partner States 
or equivalent legislation.  
 
11 Sampling  
‘Sampling shall be carried out in accordance with Codex Stan  50  
  
6 © EAC  2018  – All rights reserved  
 Annex  A 
(normative)  
 
Determinat ion of gum base content  
A.1 Preparation of the sample  
Take  four tablets of chewing gum or bubble gum and clean with  a fine hair brush  to remove  the talc and sug ar 
dust. Cut the s ample into s mall pieces.  
A.2 Method  
Weigh accurately  the entire samp le and quantitatively transf er the sample into an  extracti on catri dge. Take 
200 ml of chlorof orm in a tared  250-mL capacity round-bottom flask.  Extract the  samp le for eight  hours in a 
soxh let extraction  assembly.  Subseq uently  distil off the chloroform in a drying  chamber at 105 °C ± 1 °C. 
Weigh the flask. Continue the process till a constant mass is obta ined 
A.3 Calcul ation 
The gum based content shall be expressed as follows:  
Gum b ase content, % by mass 
MMM 2 1  
where 
 
M1 mass , in grams , of the flask  with extract ed gum s ample, 
M2 mass , in grams , of the empty flask, and  
M mass , in grams , of the sample ta ken for te st. 
 DEAS 352: 2018   
 
© EAC 2018 – All rights reserved