ﺍﻟﻌﺭﺒﻴﺔ ﺍﻟﺨﻠﻴﺞ ﻟﺩﻭل ﺍﻟﺘﻌﺎﻭﻥ ﻤﺠﻠﺱ ﻟﺩﻭل ﺍﻟﺘﻘﻴﻴﺱ ﻫﻴﺌﺔ   
GCC STANDARDIZATION ORGANIZATION (GSO) 
  
 
 
GULF STANDARD  
Update GSO No 1003/2011  
 
 
RICE KERNELS 
ﺍﻷﺭﺯ ﺤﺒﻭﺏ  
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
  
 
 
Prepared by:  
 
Gulf technical committee for standards of food and agriculture products 
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 
This document is a draft Gulf  standard circulated for comments, it is therefore, 
subject to change, and may not be referre d it as a Gulf standard, until approved by 
the Board of Directors.  
 
 
 
KR-2026 GSO STANDARD GSO 1003/2011  
 
   
Foreword 
  
  
 
 
Standardization Organization for G CC (GSO) is a regional Organization 
which consists of the National Standard s Bodies of GCC me mber States. One 
of GSO main functions is to issue Gulf Standards /Technical regulation 
through specialized technical committees (TCs). 
 
GSO through the technical progra m of committee TC No 5  "  The Gulf 
Technical Committee for Food and Ag ricultural Standards Products" has 
updated this Standard .  The Draft Standard has been prepared by ( KINGDOM 
OF SAUDI ARABIA      ) 
 
 The draft Standard has been updated based on relevant ADMO, International 
and National foreign Sta ndards and references. 
 
This standard has been approved as Gu lf (Standard / Technical Regulation)   
by GSO Board of Directors in its meeting No..../....  …….held on    /    /   /  H 
,  /    /   G 
 
 
 
  
 
  
 
  
 
  
 GSO STANDARD GSO 1003/2011  
 
   
RICE KERNELS 
 
1. SCOPE AND FIELD of APPLICATION 
 This standard applies to brown rice, white rice, enriched and parboiled rice, all 
for direct human consumption, presented in  packaged form or sold loose from 
the package directly to the consumer. It  doesn’t apply to other products derived 
from rice or to glutinous rice. 
2. COMPLEMENTARY  REFERENCES 
2.1 GSO 9   “Labeling of Prepackaged Foods”. 
2.2 GSO 21 “Hygienic Regulations for Food Plants and their Personnel”. 2.3 GSO 168 “Conditions of Storage Facilities for Dry and Canned Food Stuffs”. 2.4 GSO ISO 950 “Cereals-Sampling (as grains)”. 2.5 GSO 382 “Maximum Limits for Pestic ide Residue in Agriculture and Food 
Products, Part 1”. 
2.6 GSO 383 “Maximum Limits for Pestic ide Residue in Agriculture and Food 
Products, Part 2”. 
2.7 GSO 839 “Food Packages, Part I, General Regulations”. 
2.8 GSO 841 “Maximum limits of mycotoxins permitted in Food and Animal 
Feed-Aflatoxins”. 
2.9        GSO 988 “Radiation Level Permitted in Food Products”. 2.10 GSO 1016 “Microbiological Limits Permitted in Food Products”. 2.11 GSO 1806 “Methods of Test for kernels Rice”. 2.12 GSO 1863 “Food Packages, Part II, Plastic Packages, General Regulations”. 
   
2.13
  GSO  that will be approved later on  “ General Requirements For Processed 
Genetically Modified  Food and Feed”. 
 
3. DEFINITIONS 
 
3.1 Rice:  is whole and broken kernels obtained from the species Oriza Sativa  L. 
3.2 Paddy rice:  is rice that has retained its husk. 
3.3 Brown rice:  is paddy rice from which the husk only has been removed with 
keeping all or part of the bran layers. 
3.4 White rice (milled rice):  is brown rice from which all or part of the bran and 
germ have been removed by milling. GSO STANDARD GSO 1003/2011  
 
  3.5 Glutinous rice (waxy rice):  kernels of special varieties of rice which have a 
white and opaque appearance. The starch  of glutinous rice consists almost 
entirely of amylopectin. It has a tendency to stick together after cooking. 
3.6 Parboiled rice (Mazza or Sella):  paddy rice that has been boiled in water for 
few minutes so that the starch is fully gelatinized, followed by a drying and dehulling process, to become brown rice,  or further milled to become white 
rice. 
3.7 Enriched rice:  white rice which has been enriched with suitable vitamins and 
minerals. 
3.8 Basmati Rice : 
Basmati is the customary name fo r certain varieties of rice that 
having special characteristics (fluffy, lengt h, aroma, taste, seperate grains) and 
are grown exclusively in specific areas of India and Pakistan, and include the 
following nine approved rice varieties :- 
1- Basmati 370 
2- Basmati 386-India 
3- Basmati 217 
4- Type 3 (Dehradun) 
5- Kernel (Pak Basmati)  
6- Taraori (Karnal Local, HBC-19) 
7- Ranbir Basmati (IET 11348) 
8- Pusa Basmati-1 (IET- 10364) 
9- Super Basmati 
Or any Basmati rice variety that will be approved in the future   
 
3.9 Heat-damaged kernels:  kernels, whole or broken, that have changed their 
normal color as a result of heating. These include whole or broken yellow kernels and parboiled rice in a batch of non-parboiled rice. 
3.10 Damaged kernels:  kernels, whole or broken, showing obvious deterioration 
due to moisture, pests, diseases, or other causes, but excluding heat-damaged 
kernels. 
3.11 Chalking kernels:  are whole or broken kernels except for glutinous rice, of 
which at least three-quarters of th e surface have an opaque and floury 
appearance. 
3.12 Red kernels:  are whole or broken kernels with  a red-colored pericarp covering 
more than one-quarter of their surface,  as a result of incomplete milling, but 
excluding kernels damaged by heat or other causes. 
3.13 Red-streaked kernels:  are kernels, whole or broken, with red streaks, the 
lengths of which may be equal to or great er than one-half of that of the whole 
kernel, but the surface area covered by these red streaks shall be less than one-quarter of the total surface. 
3.14 Pecks:  are whole or broken kernels of par boiled rice of which more than one-
quarter of the surface is dark brown or black in color. 
3.15 Immature kernels:  are unripe and/or undeveloped whole or broken kernels.  GSO STANDARD GSO 1003/2011  
 
  3.16 Extraneous (foreign) matter : organic and inorganic components other than 
kernels of rice. 
3.17 Filth:  impurities of animal origin (incl uding dead insects or their parts, 
rodents, birds, and mites excreta). 
3.18 Plant impurities:  organic components of plant origin (such as foreign seeds, 
husk, bran, straw, paper, wood and thread). 
3.19 Inorganic impurities: such as stones, sand dust, plastics, glass and metals. 
 
4. CLASSIFICATION 
 
4.1 If rice is classified as long grain, medi um grain or short grain, the classification 
should be in accordance with one of the following specifications: 
4.1.1 Option 1:   kernel length/ width ratio as shown in Table (1). 
 
Table (1): Classification of rice according to kernel  
length/width ratio (Option 1). 
 
Class Kernel length/width ratio 
Brown rice 
Parboiled or non-parboiled White rice 
Parboiled or non-parboiled 
Long grain rice 3.1 or more :1 3.0 or more :1 
Medium grain rice 2.1 – 3.0 :1 2.0 – 2.9 :1 
Short grain rice 2.0 or less :1 1.9 or less :1 
 
4.1.2 Option 2 : the kernel length (mm) as shown in Table (2). 
Table (2):  Classification of rice according to the  
kernel length  mm (Option 2) 
Class Kernel length (mm) 
Long grain rice 6.6 or more 
Medium grain rice 6.2 or more but less than 6.6 
Short grain rice Less than 6.2 
 
 
4.1.3 Option 3:  a combination of the kernel length (mm) and the 
length/width ratio as shown in Table (3). GSO STANDARD GSO 1003/2011  
 
  Table (3): Classification of ri ce according to the kernel  
length and the length/width ratio (Option 3) 
Class Kernel length (mm) Length/width ratio 
Long grain rice More than 6.0 3.0 or more :1 
Medium grain rice 5.2 – 6.0 Less than 3.0 :1 
Short grain rice 5.2 or less Less than 2.0 :1 
 
4.2 White rice color may be classified according to the following degrees of 
milling: 
4.2.1 White brown rice (Under-milled rice):  is obtained by milling brown rice but 
not to the degree necessary to meet the requirements of white rice. 
4.2.2 White rice (Well-milled rice):  is obtained by milling br own rice in such a way 
that some of the germ, all the external layers and most of the internal layers of the bran have been removed. 
4.2.3 Extra-white rice (Extra-well milled rice):  is obtained by milling brown rice 
in such a way that exceed white rice degr ee. Almost all of the germ, all of the 
external layers the largest part of the in ternal layers of the bran, and some of 
the endosperm have been removed. 
4.3 Rice may be classified according to broken part as the following specifications: 
4.3.1 Whole kernel:  kernels without any broken part. 
4.3.2 Head rice: kernels, the length of which is equal to or greater than three 
quarters of the average length of the corresponding whole kernels. 
4.3.3 Large broken kernels:  are fragments of kernel, the length of which is less 
than three-quarters but greater than one-half of the average length of a 
corresponding whole kernels. 
4.3.4 Medium broken kernels:  are fragments of kernel, the length of which is equal 
to or less than one-half but greater than  one-quarter of the average length of a 
corresponding whole kernels. 
4.3.5 Small broken kernels:  are fragments of kernel, the length of which is equal to 
or less than one-quarter of the averag e length of a corresponding whole kernels 
but which does not pass though a metal si eve with round perforation 1.4 mm in 
diameter. 
4.3.6 Chips:  are fragments of kernel which pass through a metal sieve with round 
perforations 1.4 mm in diameter. 
 
  
         
5. REQUIREMENTS 
 The following requirements shall be met in kernels of rice: GSO STANDARD GSO 1003/2011  
 
  5.1 It shall be clean, sound and free from abnormal odours or odour which 
indicates deterioration. 
5.2 It shall be free from fungi growth, live insects in all their life stages and live 
mites. 
5.3 It shall be free from toxic or harmful seeds. 5.4 It shall have similar color, shape, kind and variety. 5.5 The moisture content shall not be greater than 15% (m/m). 5.6 It shall be processed according to hygienic regulations for food plants and their 
personnel proscribed in the GSO standard mentioned in item 2.2. 
5.7 Pesticide residues shall not exceed the limits prescribed in the GSO standard 
mentioned in item 2.5 and item 2.6 
5.8 Fungal toxins (Aflatoxin) shall not ex ceed the limits prescribed in the GSO 
standard mentioned in item 2.8 
5.9 Radiation levels shall not exceed the limits prescribed in the GSO standard 
mentioned in item 2.9 
5.10 Microbiological criteria shall not exceed the limits prescribed in the GSO 
standard mentioned in item 2.10 
5.11 The classification shall comply with specifications prescribed in item 4. 5.12 In case of enriched rice, the minimu m and maximum allowance of vitamins 
and minerals mentioned in Table 4 shall meet the values specified in the same 
table. 
5.13 The maximum contents of defective kernel s, other kinds of rice and extraneous 
matter shall not be greater than the values specified in Table 5. 
5.14 In case of modified genetic rice shall be  according to  GSO standard mentioned in 
item 2.13 
5.15 In case of Basmati rice item ( 3.8) the  product  shall contain at least 93% 
Basmati rice, if it is below  than  93%  it can not be named Basmati rice. 
   
Table (4): Minimum and maximum allowance of vitamins  
and minerals in enriched rice 
Vitamins and Minerals Minimum allowance 
ppm Maximum allowance 
ppm 
Thiamin 4.4 8.8 
Riboflavin 2.6 5.3 
Niacin 35 70 
Iron 29 57 
 GSO STANDARD GSO 1003/2011  
 
  Table (5): Maximum contents of defective kernels,  
other kinds of rice and extraneous matter 
 
Defect described Maximum content % m/m 
Brown rice White rice Brown rice 
Parboiled White rice 
parboiled 
Defective kernels:     
Heat-damaged 4.0* 3.0 8.0* 6.0 
Damaged (no heat) 4.0 3.0 4.0 3.0 
Immature 12.0 2.0 12.0 2.0 
Chalky 11.0* 11.0 — — 
Red 12.0 4.0 12.0 4.0 
Red-streaked — 8.0 — 8.0 
Pecks — — 4.0* 2.0 
Chips 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 
Other types of rice:     
Paddy 2.5 0.3 2.5 0.3 
Brown — 1.0 — 1.0 
Glutinous 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 
Extraneous matter:     
Organic plant impurities 1.5 0.5 1.5 0.5 
Filth 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 
Inorganic impurities 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 
*  After milling for control purposes. 
6. SAMPLING 
 Samples shall be drawn according to the GSO standard mentioned in item 2.4 
 
7. METHODS OF  TEST  
7.1 All necessary tests on the representativ e sample drawn according to item (6), 
shall be carried out according to the GSO standard mentioned in items  2.11. 
7.2  In case of  quantitative and  qualitativ e  analysis of  Basmati rice, the following 
protocols are applied as guide lines:- 
- Protocol for the identification of sel ected  Basmati Rice varieties"- Food   
Standards Agency, london,and CAZS, Univer isty of Wales,Bangor – February 
2005 
- Protocol for the quantitative analysis of a dulteration of Basmati rice with       
sherbati, mugad sugandha, pak 386 or s uperifine "- Food Standards Agency, 
london,and CAZS, Univeristy of Wales,Bangor – February 2006 
 
 GSO STANDARD GSO 1003/2011  
 
  8. PACKAGING TRANSPORTATION AND STORAGE 
 The following specifications shall be  observed on packaging, transportation 
and storage. 
8.1 Packaging:  without prejudice to the previsions  of the GSO standard mentioned 
in items 2.7 and 2.12, kernels shall be packaged in suitable, clean, sufficiently strong and well stitched sacks or containe rs, not previously used and have no 
contaminating affect on the product or its quality characteristics. 
8.2 Transportation 
 Rice kernels shall be transported in such a suitable way as to protect their 
quality characteristics. Transportation methods shall not be used for carrying pesticides or any other harmful or poisonous materials. 
8.3 Storage 
 Without prejudice to the provisions of the GSO standard mentioned in item 2.7, 
rice kernels shall be stored in such  a way as to safeguard the quality 
characteristics and to protect them  from mechanical damage and 
contamination. Stores shall comply with hygienic requirements and shall prevent rice exposure to insects, rodents, birds, high moisture or temperature. 
 
9. LABELLING 
 Without prejudice to the previsions of  the GSO standard mentioned in item 2.1, 
the following information shall be indicated on each sack or container: 
9.1 Rice type : white, brown, parboiled (Mazza or Sella). 9.2 Country of origin  9.3 Length of kernels (long, medium, short). 9.4 White rice color unparboiled  (white brown, white, extra white). 9.5 Total percentage of broken kernels. 9.6 Percentage of each broken part (%head, %large, %medium, %small). 9.7 Cooking method. (voluntary) 9.8 Crop year (……… crop). 9.9 Vitamins and minerals (if found). 9.10 Additives (if found). 9.11 produced from genetically modified organism (if found). 
9.12 In addition to the above mentioned, it shall only be indicated on sack or 
container if product contains at least 93%  Basmati rice, if it is below than 93% 
Basmati word can not be used. 
  
    GSO STANDARD GSO 1003/2011  
 
   
  
REFERENCES 
  
  -  ﺍﻷﻏﺫﻴﺔ ﺩﺴـﺘﻭﺭ  ﺠﻨﺔﻟ٥٩٩١ ﻡ . ﺭﻗﻡ ﺍﻷﺭﺯ ﻭﺍﺼـﻔﺔﻤ
٨٩١-٥٩٩١ . ﺍﻟﺴﺎﺒﻊ ﺍﻟﻤﺠﻠﺩ) ٣٥-٠٦  (.
 Codex Alimentarius 1995. Codex Standard 198-
1995. Volume 7 (53-60).
-    ﺍﻟﺩﻭﻟﻴﺔ ٨٩٩١ﺍﻟﻤﻭﺍﺼﻔﺎﺕ ﻡ. ﺍﻷﺭﺯ ﻭﺍﺼﻔﺔﻤ   ﻗﻡﺭ
١٠٣٧- ٨٩٩١  . 
International Standard 1998. Rice specification 
7301-1998.
-  ﺭﻗﻡ  ﺍﻟﻬﻨﺩﻯ ٧٦ﺍﻟﻨﻅﺎﻡ  ﻭ ٨٦  - ﺍﻟﺒﺴﻤﺘﻰﺍ  ﻻﺭﺯ  -    
٣٢/١/٣٠٠٢ 
  - ﺍﻟﺒﺴﻤﺘﻰ  ﻟﻸﺭﺯ ﺍﻟﺒﺭﻴﻁﺎﻨﻲ  ﺍﻟﻤﻤﺎﺭﺴﺔ  ﺩﻟﻴل-  ٥٠٠٢  
  
  -ﻟﺒﺭﻭ ﺘﻭﻜﻭل  ﻤﺤﺩﺩﺓ ﺒﺴﻤﺘﻲ ﺃﺭﺯ ﺃﺼﻨﺎﻑ ﻋﻠﻰ ﻠﺘﻌﺭﻑ  – ﻭﻜﺎﻟﺔ
ﺍﻟﺒﺭﻴﻁﺎ ﺍﻟﻤﻭﺍﺼﻔﺎﺕ  ﻟﻨﺩﻥ ، ﻨﻴﺔ – ﻭﻴﻠﺯ ﺠﺎﻤﻌﺔ  -٥٠٠٢ﻓﺒﺭﺍﻴﺭ  
   - - ﺍﻷﺭﺯ ﻓﻲ ﺍﻟﻐﺵ ﻋﻥ ﻟﻠﻜﺸﻑ  ﺍﻟﻜﻤﻲ ﺍﻟﺘﻘﺩﻴﺭ ﺒﺭﻭﺘﻭﻜﻭل
 ﺼﻭﺠﺎﻨﺩﺓ  ﻤﻭﺠﺎﺩ ، ﺸﺭﺒﺘﻲ ﻨﻭﻉ ﻤﻥ ﺒﺴﻤﺘﻰ ﺍﻟﻐﻴﺭ ﺒﺎﻷﺭﺯ ﺍﻟﺒﺴﻤﺘﻰ
 ﺒﺎﺕ ٦٨٣،  ﻓﺎﻴﻥ ﺴﻭﺒﺭ ،  -  ﻟﻨﺩﻥ ، ﺍﻟﺒﺭﻴﻁﺎﻨﻴﺔ  ﺍﻟﻤﻭﺍﺼﻔﺎﺕ  ﻭﻜﺎﻟﺔ
   – ﻭﻴﻠﺯ ﺠﺎﻤﻌﺔ  -  ٦٠٠٢ﻓﺒﺭﺍﻴﺭ..Indian Order  No. S.O 67 – 68 (E)- Basmati rice 
-  Date 23 –January 2003  
 
- British code of practice for Basmati rice – July 
2005 
 
- Protocol for the identification of selected  
Basmati Rice varieties"- Food   Standards Agency, london,and CAZS, Univeristy of 
Wales,Bangor – February 2005. 
 
- Protocol for the quantitative analysis of 
adulteration of basmati rice with       sherati, mugad sugandha, pak 386 or superifine "- Food 
Standards Agency, london,and CAZS, Univeristy 
of Wales,Bangor – February 2006.