PUBLIC REVIEW DRAFT DRAFT UGANDA STANDA RD  
  DUS DEAS 894 
First  Edition  
2016-mm-dd 
 
 Reference number  
DUS DEAS 894: 2016 
© UNBS 201 6 
  
Fresh onions — Specification  
 PUBLIC REVIEW DRAFTDUS DEAS 894:2016 
ii                © UNBS  2016  - 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 2016 
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 UNBS. 
Requests for permission to reproduce this document should be addressed to 
The Executive Director 
Uganda National Bureau of Standards 
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Uganda 
Tel: 256 417 333 2 50/1/2/3 
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E-mail: info@unbs.go.ug  
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 PUBLIC REVIEW DRAFTDUS DEAS 894:2016 
© UNBS  2016 - 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 894: 2016, Fresh onions  — Specification,  is identical with  and has 
been reproduced from a Draft East African Standa rd, DEAS 894 : 2016, Fresh onions  — Specification,  and is 
being proposed for adoption as a Uganda Standard. 
This standard was developed by the Food and agriculture  Standards Technical Committee (UNBS/TC 2). 
Wherever the words, “ East African Standard" appear, they should be replaced by "Uganda Standard." 
 
   DEAS 894:2016  
 
© EA C 2016                                                                                                                        First Edition 2016  
 
DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  
Fresh onions— Specification  
EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY  DEAS 894:2016  
ii © EAC  2016 – All rights reserved  
 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 th e 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  2016  — All rights reserved  
East African Community  
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Tanzania  
Tel: 255 27 2504253/8  
Fax: 255 27 25 04481/2504255  
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  DEAS 894:2016  
© EAC 2016 – All rights reserved  iii 
 Foreword  
Development of the East African Standards has been necessi tated 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 Standar ds 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 
receiv ed 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 therefor e expected to ensure that they always have the latest versions of the standards 
they are implementing .  
EAS ….  was prepared by Technical Committee EASC /TC 016   
 DEAS 894:2016    
 
© EAC 2016 – All rights reserved  
  
 Fresh onions— Specification  
1 Scope  
This draft east African standard prescribes the requireme nts and methods of sampling and tests for fresh bulb 
onions Allium cepa (L.) of the family  Alliaceae  to be supplied to the consumer . This standard does not include 
onions for industrial processing.   
2 Normative references  
The following  referenced documents are indispensable for the application for this standard. For dated 
references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references, the latest edition of the referenced 
document (including any amendments) applies;  
 
ISO 874  Fresh fr uits and vegetables – Sampling  
EAS 38  Packaging, marking and labeling of foods  
ISO 7558  Guide to the prepackaging of fresh fru its and vegetables  
CAC/RCP 53 -2003  Code of Hygienic Practice for Fresh Fruits and Vegetables  
ISO 65 61 (all parts), Fruits, vegetables and derived products – Determination of Cadmium content  
ISO 6633, Fruits, vegetables and derived products -- Determinatio n of lead content -- Flameless atomic 
absorption spectrometric method  
3 Terms and definitions  
For the purpose of this standard the following definitions shall apply:  
 
3.1 mature   
well cured  onions and harvested at a stage which will not result in the onions becoming soft or spongy  
 
3.2 firm 
not soft, flabby, or shriveled  
 
3.3 well shaped  
having the shape characteristic of the variety  
 
 
3.4 damage  
Any defect or in jury which affects the appearance, storage and edible quality of onions.  
 
3.5 diameter  
the greatest dimension measured at right angles to a straight line running from the stem to the root   
2 © EAC  2016 – All rights reserved  
  
 
3.6 
Food grade packaging material  
Any material which when it comes in contact with food or if the area near food is unlikely to contaminate food 
with harmful mat erials  
3.7 
sound  
Not overripe, not soft and free from diseases or insect damage, or bruising or physical injuries affecting 
keeping quality of the fruit.  
 
4 Requirements  
4.1 General requirements  
4.1.1  In all classes, su bject to the special provisions for each class and the tolerances allowed, the bulbs 
shall be: 
(a) intact;  
 
(b) sound; produce affected by rotting or deterioration such as to make it unfit for consumption is excluded  
 
(c) clean, practically free of a ny visible foreign matter  
 
(d) free from damage due to low or high temperatures  
 
(e) sufficiently dry for the intended use  
 
(f) without hollow or tou gh stems  
 
(g) practically free from pests  
 
(h) practically free from damage  caused by pests  and disease  
 
(i) free of abnormal external moisture  
 
(j) free of any foreign smell and/or taste.  
 
4.1.2  The following specific defects shall be conside red as damage:  
 
i. Seed stems which are tough or woody, or which are more than 6.35 mm in diameter;  
 
ii. Splits when onions with two or more hearts are not practically covered by one or more outer scales;  
 
iii. Tops when more than 30 percent of the onions in a lot hav e tops 76 mm or more in length;  
 
iv. New roots when most roots on an individual onion have grown to a length of 50 mm or more in length;  
 
v. Dry roots when more than 20 percent of the onions in a lot have practically all roots 50 mm or more in 
length;  
 
vi. Dry sunken  areas when the affected areas exceed the equivalent to that of a circle 12.7 mm in diameter 
on an onion 70 mm in diameter which does not have the outer papery scale covering the affected 
areas or when the affected areas exceed the equivalent to that of a circle 19 mm in diameter on an 
onion 70 mm in diameter which has the outer papery scale covering the affected areas. 
Correspondingly lesser or greater areas are allowed on smaller or larger onions;  
  
© EAC 2016 – All rights reserved  3 
 vii. Sunburn when more than 33 % of the onions in a lot have a  medium green color on one -third of the 
surface;  
 
viii. Sprouts when visible, or when concealed within the dry top and more than 19 mm in length on an onion 
5 cm or larger in diameter, or proportionately shorter on smaller onions;  
 
ix. Peeling when more than one -half of the thin papery skin is missing, leaving the underlying fleshy scale 
unprotected;  
 
x. Cracked fleshy scales when one or more of the fleshy scales are cracked;  
 
xi. Watery scales when more than the equivalent of the entire outer fleshy scale is affected by of f-color, 
water soaked condition. The off -color must be of some shade of brown or yellow;  
 
xii. Dirt, staining or other foreign matter when more than 20 % of the onions in a yellow, brown or red lot, or 
more than 15 % of the onions in a white lot are appreciably  stained. Onions with adhering dirt or other 
foreign matter shall be judged on the same basis as stained onions;  
 
xiii. Mechanical when any cut extends deeper than one fleshy scale, or when any bruise breaks a fleshy 
scale; and,  
 
xiv. Translucent scales when more tha n the equivalent of two entire outer fleshy scales have a water 
soaked condition.  
 
In addition the stems must be twisted or clean cut and must not exceed 6 cm in length (except for stringed 
onions).  
 
4.1.3 The development and condition of the  onion  shall be s uch that enable them  to: 
 
a) reach the appropriate stage of physiological maturity corresponding to the particular characteristics of 
the variety, and  
 
b) to withstand transport and handling;  
c) arrive in a satisfactory condition at the place of destination in ord er to ripen satisfactorily.  
  
 
 
4.2 Specific requireme nts 
 
 
4.2.1 Classification  
 
The onions are classified in two classes defined below:  
 
4.2.1.1 Class I  
 
Onions in this class shall be of good quality.  Their characteristics shall be typical of the variety.  
 
The bulbs must be:  
 
 firm and compact  
 
 un-sprouted (free from externally visible shoots)  
 
 free from swelling caused by abnormal vegetative development  
 
 practically free of root tufts; however, for onions harvested before complete maturity, root tufts are 
allowed.  
  
4 © EAC  2016 – All rights reserved  
 The following defects, however, ma y be allowed, provided they do not affect the general appearance 
of the produce, the quality, the keeping quality or presentation in the package:  
 
 a slight defect in shape  
 
 a slight defect in colouring  
 
 light staining which does not affect the last dried s kin protecting the flesh, provided it does not cover 
more than one fifth of the bulb’s surface  
 
 superficial cracks in, and partial absence of the outer skins, provided the flesh is protected.  
 
 
4.2.1.2 Class II  
 
This class includes onions which do not qual ify for inclusion in Class I, but satisfy the minimum requirements 
specified above. They  shall be reasonably firm.  
 
The following defects may be allowed provided the onions retain their essential characteristics as regards the 
quality, the keeping qua lity and presentation:  
 
 defect in shape  
 
 defect in colouring  
 
 
 traces due to rubbing  
 
 slight marking caused by parasites or disease  
 
 small healed cracks  
 
 slight bruising, healed, unlikely to impair keeping qualities  
 
 root tufts  
 
 stains which do not affect the last dried skin protecting the flesh, provided they do not cover more than 
half the bulb’s surface  
 
 cracks in the outer skins and p artial absence of over a maximum of one third of the bulb’s surface, 
provided the flesh is not damaged.  
  
© EAC 2016 – All rights reserved  5 
 5 Tolerances  
5.1 Class I 
10 per cent by number or weight of onions not satisfying the requirements of this class, but meeting those of 
Class II or, exceptionally, coming within the tolerances of that class.  
5.2 Class II  
10 per cent by number or weight of onions satisfying neither the requirements of the class nor the minimum 
requirements with the exception of produce affected by rotting or any other  deterioration rendering it unfit for 
consumption.  
6 Contaminants  
6.1 Pesticide residues   
 
Onions shall comply with those maximum pesticide residue limits established by the Codex Alimentarius Commission 
for this commodity.  
 
6.2 Metal contaminants  
 
Onions shall not contain any metallic contaminants in excess of the quantities specified in Table 3.  
 
 
 
Table 1  – Limit for metal contaminants for carrots  
 
 
Characteristics   
Maximum (mg/kg)  Method of test         
 (See clause2)  
 
 
 
Cadmium (as Cd)  
Lead (as Pb ) 
  
0.05 
0.1  
ISO 6561 (all parts)  
ISO 6633   
 
 
7 Hygiene  
Onions shall  be prepared and handled in accordance with CAC/RCP 53-2003 . 
8 Packaging  
7.1 Onions  shall be packed in such a way as to protect the produce properly.  The food grade packaging 
material use d inside the package shall be clean and of a quality such as to avoid causing any external or 
internal damage to the produce.  The use of materials, particularly of paper or stamps bearing trade  
6 © EAC  2016 – All rights reserved  
 specifications is allowed, provided the printing or labelling  has been done with non -toxic ink or glue.  Packages 
must be free from any foreign matter and the material shall be recyclable.  
7.2  Onions shall also be packed in containers in accordance with ISO 7558.  
7.3 The contents of each package shall be uniform an d consist exclusively of onions  of the same origin, 
variety and/or commercial type, and quality.  The visible part of the content of the package shall be 
representative of the entire contents.  
9 Labelling  
In addition to the requirements of the  general standard EAS 38 , containers of onions shall be legibly and 
indelibly marked or labeled with the following information:  
 
 
i) Name, postal and physi cal address of the packer or dispatcher  
ii) Name of the produce  as " Onions  ",  
iii) Origin of produce  
iv) Harvest date  
v) Net weight (kg).  
vi) Size code  
vii) Class  
viii) Identification  code  and/or batch number   
ix) storage instructions  
 
10 Sampling  
Sampling of onions shall be carr ied out as prescribed in ISO 874  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
© EAC 2016 – All rights reserved  7