DEAS 1012 : 2019  
ICS 67.100.20  
 
© EA C 2019                                                                                                                               First Edition 2019   
 DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  
Cheese  — Specification  — Mozzarella cheese  
EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY  DEAS 1012 : 2019  
ii © EAC 2019  – All rights reserved  
 Copyright notice  
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Violators may be prosecuted . DEAS 1012 : 2019  
© EAC 2019  – All rights reserved  iii 
 Contents  Page 
Foreword  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................  iv 
1 Scope  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ......................  1 
2 Normative references  ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................  1 
3 Terms and definitions  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........................  2 
4 Product description  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...............................  2 
5 Requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .........  2 
5.1 Raw materials  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ........  2 
5.2 Essential ingredients  ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................  2 
5.3 Optional ingredients  ................................ ................................ ................................ ..............................  2 
5.4 Specific requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........................  3 
5 Food additives  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ....... 3 
6 Contaminants  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .........  3 
6.1 Heavy metals  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ..........  3 
6.2 Aflatoxins  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...............  3 
6.3 Pesticide and veterinary drugs residues  ................................ ................................ ............................  4 
7 Hygiene  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...................  4 
8 Packaging  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...............  4 
9 Labelling  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .................  4 
10 Sampling  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ................  5 
 DEAS 1012 : 2019  
iv © EAC 2019  – All rights reserved  
 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. I t is envisaged that through 
harmonized standardization, trade barriers that are encountered when goods and services are exchanged 
within the Community will be removed.  
The Community has established an East African Standards Committee  (EASC)  mandated to de velop and 
issue East African Standards  (EAS) . The Committee is composed of representatives of the National 
Standards Bodies in Partner States, together with the representatives from the public and private sector 
organizations  in the community .  
East Africa n Standards are developed through  Technical Committees that are representative of key 
stakeholders including government, academia, consumer groups, private sector and other interested parties. 
Draft East African Standards are circulated to stakeholders thr ough the National Standards Bodies in the 
Partner States. The comments received are discussed and incorporated before finalization of standards, in 
accordance with the Principles and procedures for develop ment of East African Standards.  
East African Standa rds 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 d ocument is Technical Committee EASC /TC 017, Milk and milk products . 
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 r ights.  
 DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  DEAS 1012 : 2019  
 
© EAC 2019  – All rights reserved  1 
 Cheese  — Specification  — Mozzarella cheese  
1 Scope   
This Draft East African Standard specifies  requirements , sampling and test method s for mozzarella cheese 
intended for direct consumption or for further processing . 
2 Normative references   
The fol lowing 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 references, 
the latest edition of the referenced docum ent (including any amendments) applies.  
AOAC 926.08, Loss on drying (moisture) in cheese  
AOAC 980.21 , Aflatoxin M1 in milk and cheese, Thin –layer chromatography  
CAC/RCP 1,  General principles of food hygiene — Code of practice  
EAS 38, Labelling of pre -packa ged foods — General requirements  
CODEX STAN 192,  General standard for food additives  
CODEX STAN 283, General standard for cheese  
ISO 1735, Cheese and processed cheese products — Determination of fat content — Gravimetric method 
(Reference method)  
ISO 4832,  Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal method for the enumeration of 
coliforms — Colony -count technique  
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 16649 -2, Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal method for the enumeration of 
betaglucuroni dase -positive Escherichia coli — Part 2: Colony -count technique at 44 degrees C using 5 -
bromo -4-chloro -3-indolyl beta -D-glucuronide  
ISO 6611, Milk and milk products — Enumeration of colony -forming units of yeasts and/or moulds —Colony -
count technique at 25 degrees C  
ISO 6888 -1, Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal method for the enumeratio n of 
coagulase -positive staphylococci (Staphylococcus aureus and other species) — Part 1: Technique using 
Baird -Parker agar medium  
ISO 11290 -2, Microbiology of the food chain — Horizontal method for the detection and enumeration of 
Listeria monocytogenes a nd of Listeria SPP. — Part 2: Enumeration method  
ISO 707, Milk and milk products — Guidance on sampling   
2 © EAC 2019  – All rights reserved  
 ISO 8197, Milk and m ilk products — Sampling — Inspection by variables  
ISO 5738, Milk and milk products — Determination of copper content — Photometric m ethod (reference 
method)  
3 Terms and definitions  
No terms and definitions are listed in this document . 
4 Product description  
4.1 Mozzarella cheese  
Mozzarella is an unripened cheese in conformity with the General Stan dard for Cheese (CODEX STAN 283 ) 
and th e Standard for Unripened Cheese Including F resh Cheese (CODEX STAN 221 ). It is a  smooth elastic 
cheese with a long stranded parallel -orientated fibrous protein structure without evidence of  curd granules. 
The cheese is rindless 1 and may be formed into var ious shapes.Mozzarella with a high moisture content is a 
soft cheese with overlying layers that may form pocketscontaining liquid of milky appearance. It may be 
packed with or without the liquid. The cheese has a near white colour. Mozzarella with a low mo isture content 
is a firm/semi -hard homogeneous cheese without holes and is suitable for shredding.Mozzarella is made by 
“pasta filata” processing, which consists of heating curd of a suitable pH value kneading and stretching until 
the curd is smooth and fr ee from lumps. Still warm, the curd is cut and moulded, then firmed by cooling. Other 
processing techniques, which give end products with the same physical, chemical and organolepti c 
characteristics are allowed.  
5 Requirements  
5.1 Raw materials  
Cows’ milk or buffaloes’ milk, or their mixtures, and products obtained from these milks  
5.2 Essential  ingredients  
Essential ingredients to be used in Mozzarella cheese shall be as follows:  
a) starter cultures of harmless lactic acid and/ or flavour producing bacteria a nd cultures of other 
harmless micro -organisms; and 
b) Rennet or other safe an d suitable coagulating enzymes.  
5.3 Optional ingredients  
Optional ingredients which may be used in Mozzarella cheese shall be as follows:  
a) safe and suitable processing aids;  
b) sodium ch loride and potassium chloride as a salt substitute ; 
c) vinegar; and  
d) rice, corn and potato flours and starches complying with Codex Stan 262.   
© EAC 2019  – All rights reserved  3 
 5.4 Specific  requirements  
Mozzarella cheese shall comply with the specific requirements in Table 1 when tested in acco rdance with test 
methods specified therein . 
Table1 ▬ Specific  requirements  for Mozzarella cheese  
Milk constituent  With high 
moisture (Soft) With low moisture  
(firm/semi -hard ) Test method  
Milk fat in dry matter, 
%,min  20 18 ISO 1735   
Dry matter  Depending on the fat in dry matter content, according to the table below  
 Fat in dry matter 
content (m/m),%:  Corresponding minimum dry matter content (m/m), %:  
With low moisture  With high 
moisture  Test method  
18 ≤ F < 30  34 _ AOAC 926.08  
20 ≤ F < 30  _ 24 
30 ≤ F < 40  39 26 
40 ≤ F < 45  42 29 
45 ≤ F < 50  45 31 
50 ≤ F < 60  47 34 
60 ≤ F < 85  53 38 
5 Food additives  
Food additives  may be used in mozzarella cheese in accordance with CODEX STAN  192. 
6 Contaminants  
6.1 Heavy metals  
The heavy metal  shall not exceed maximum limits set in table 3.  
Table 3 — Maximum limits of heavy metals  
S/N  heavy metal  maximum limit  mg/kg  Test method  
i.  Lead  0.02 AOAC 999.10  
6.2 Aflatoxin s 
When tested in accordance AOAC 980.21, aflatoxin  M1 shall not exceed 0.5  μg/kg.  
4 © EAC 2019  – All rights reserved  
 6.3 Pesticide and veterinary drugs residues  
Mozzarella cheese shall comply with those maximum limits for pesticides and veterinary drugs residues for 
milk as specified by Codex Alimentarius  Commission . 
7 Hygien e 
7.1 The mozzarella cheese shall be proce ssed, packaged, stored and distributed under hygienic conditions 
complying with CAC/RCP 1 and CAC/RCP 57.  
7.2 Mozzarella cheese shall also have the following microbiological limits, as given in Table 4, when tested 
according to appropriate test method.  
Table 4 ▬ Microbiological limits for mozzarella cheese  
S/N Microorganism   maximum limits  Test method  
i.  Salmonella spp  /25g absent  ISO 6 579-1 
ii.  Staphylococcus aureus , cfu/g  102 ISO 6888 -1 
iii.  E. coli , cfu/g  absent  ISO 16649 -2 
iv.  Listeria monocytogenes , /25g absent ISO 11290 -2 
v.  Coliforms, cfu/g  10 ISO 4832  
vi.  Yeast s and moulds cfu/g  102 ISO 6611  
8 Packaging  
The products shall be packaged in  food grade containers made of suitable material and shall be well sealed in 
order to prevent contamination of the contents  during storage and transportation.  
9 Labelling  
Labelling of mozzarella shall be done in accordance with the requirements stipulated in RS EAS 38 and shall 
also include the following:  
a) name  of the product  as “Mozzarella cheese” ; 
b) name and  physical  address of manufacturer;  
c) ingredients ; 
d) net content;  
e) date of manufacture;  
f) expiry date;  
g) storage conditions ; and 
h) country of origin ; 
i) source of milk (cow/buffalo) ; 
j) milk fat content ; and   
© EAC 2019  – All rights reserved  5 
 k) batch number . 
10 Sampling  
In addition to the provision in ISO 707, the samp ling shall conform to the provisions in ISO 8197 or ISO 5538 
when the sampling is purposely for inspection.  
 DEAS 1012 : 2019    
 
© EAC 2019  – All rights reserved