FINAL DRAFT UGANDA 
STANDARD  
  FDUS EAS 739
First Edition
2011-mm-dd
 
Referen
ce numbe r
FDUS EAS 739: 2010
 © UNBS 201 1
  
Dried cassava chips — Specification 
 FDUS EAS 739: 2010  
 
© UNBS  2011 – All rights reserved ii 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 2011 
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 739: 2010 
© UNBS  2011 - 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 limentariu s Commission on Food Standards, and  
(c) the National Enquiry Point on TBT/SPS Agr eem ents 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 739:2010, Dr ied cassava chips — Specification, is identical 
with and has been reproduced from an East African Standard, EAS 739:2010, Dried cassava chips — 
Specification,  and is being proposed for adoption as a Uganda Standard.  
This standard was developed by the Food and Agricu lt ure Standards Technical Committee (UNBS/TC 2).  
Wherever the words, “East African Standard" appear, they sho uld be replaced by "Uganda Standard." 
 
 EAS 739:2010
 ICS 67.080.20
 
© EAC 2010                First Edition 2010  
 
 
 
 
EAST AFRICAN STANDARD 
 
Dried cassava chips — Specification 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY 
 EAS 739:2010 9 
 
© EAC 2010– 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 2010 — 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 
                                                      
* © 2010 EAC — All rights of exploitation in any form and by an y means reserved worldwide for EAC Partner States’ NSBs.  
 EAS 739:2010 9 
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. 
ASARECA is a non-political association of agricultural research institutes  in: Burundi, DR Congo, Eritrea, 
Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzani a and Uganda. ASARECA serves  as a platform for 
promoting regional research and in the sharing of benef its and spillovers that derive from such research. The 
mission of ASARECA is to “ Enhance regional collective action in agricultural research for development, 
extension and agricultural training and education, to pr omote economic growth, fight poverty, eradicate hunger 
and enhance sustainable use of resources in Eastern and Central Africa ”. 
Development of standards has been part of PAAP’s contribution to changing the way business is done in 
crucial agricultural sectors to increase effici ency and/or reduce waste through rationalization and 
harmonization of policies, laws, regulations and proc edures. Rationalization focuses on how countries conduct 
business in a given subsector, and determines what should be done to make the procedures and processes 
more efficient. Harmonization brings together regionally  different approaches (policies, laws, regulations and 
procedures) into unified approaches that are applied acro ss the countries. This harmonization process allows 
commodities and factors to move freely across national boundaries, thereby improving domestic and foreign investment by expanding markets beyond national borders. Over time this will lead to gradual attainment of 
seamless borders for trade in cassava and cassava products across the region. 
Removal of regulatory bottlenecks to transboundary movem ent of cassava products in the region will enhance 
competitiveness of trade and value addition in the sub-se ctor. It will improve the value chains by supporting 
product differentiation and hen ce increased trade in ca ssava products in the regi on. This will ultimately 
contribute to incomes, employment generation and improved welfare in the region. This fits snugly with the 
aspirations of ASARECA as a key player contributing to economic dev elopment of the region.  
 
© EAC 2010 – All rights reserved                 iii 
 
 EAST AFRICAN STANDARD EAS 739:2010
 
1               © EAC 2010 – All rights reserved 
 Dried cassava chips — Specification 
1 Scope 
This draft East African Standard specifies the requirements and methods of sampling and test for 
dried cassava chips 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, Code of practice for hygiene in the food and drink manufacturing industry  
ISO 712, Cereals and cereal products — Determination of moisture content — Routine reference 
method 
EAS 217-2,  Methods for the microbiological examination of foods — Part 2: General guidance for the 
enumeration of micro-organisms — Colony count technique at 30 °C  
EAS 217-6, Methods for the microbiological examinati on of foods — Part 6: Examination for 
Salmonella Spp 
EAS 217-8, Methods for the microbiological examination of  foods — Part 8: Enumeration of yeast and 
moulds   
ISO 874  Fresh fruits and vegetables - sampling  
DEAS 744, Cassava and cassava products — De termination of total cyanogens ─ Enzymatic assay 
method  
ISO 3094, Fruit and vegetable products – Determination of copper 
ISO 6633, Fruit and vegetable products – Determination of lead content – Flameless AAS method 
ISO 6634, Fruit and vegetable Products – Determination of arsenic content – Silver 
diethyldithocarbamate spectrophotometric method 
ISO 6637 Fruit and vegetable products — Determination of mercury content — Flameless atomic absorption method  
ISO 5498, Agricultural food products — Determination of Crude Fibre Content — Modified Scharrer 
Method 
ISO 2171,  Cereals, pulses, and derived products — Determination of total ash  
EAS 82,  Milled cereal products — Methods of Test (General methods)  EAS 739:2010 9 
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 10520, Native starch — Determination of star ch content — Ewers polarimetric method  
ISO 16050, Food stuffs — Determination of aflatoxins B
 1 and total content of aflatoxins B 1, B, G2 1 and 
G2 in cereals, nuts, and derived products — High performance liquid chromatographic method 
3 Terms and definitions 
3.1 product description 
dried cassava chips 
pieces of fresh cassava storage roots obtained by slicing or chipping peeled cassava storage root and 
drying them with or without additional processing  
4 Terms and definitions 
For the purpose of this standard, the fo llowing terms and definitions shall apply. 
4.1  
filth 
impurities of animal origin, including dead insects 
4.2 
food grade material 
one that will not transfer non-food chemicals into the food and contains no chemicals which would be 
hazardous to human health 
4.3 
foreign matter 
all organic and inorganic materials (such as sand, soil, glass) . 
 
5 General requirements  
5.1 Raw materials 
The raw material shall be Fresh sweet cassava roots  
The cassava storage roots from which the dried ca ssava chips are prepared shall be of the following 
conditions: 
− Mature;  
− free from diseases and pests; 
− not be woody; and 
− not be spongy. 
5.2 Processing 
The processing of cass ava chips shall be don e shall be done in accordance with EAS 39. 
© EAC 2010– All rights reserved               2 
 EAS 739:2010 9 
5.3 General quality requirements  
Dried cassava chips shall be safe and suitable for human consumption and shall conform to the 
following requirements:  
a) The taste and odour of dried cassava chips shall be typical of the product.  
b) The colour of the chips shall be characteristic of the variety. 
NOTE The colour of cassava is usually white, creamy or yellow. The yellow coloured varieties are normally rich in 
carotenes. 
c) Dried cassava chips shall be free from filth, foreign matter and extraneous matter 
d) the cassava chips shall not appear mouldy 
5.4 Composition requirements 
Dried cassava chips shall conform to the compositional requirements in Table 1. 
Table 1 — Compositional requirements for dried cassava chips 
Parameter Requirement Method of test 
Moisture content, by mass, %, maximum 12 ISO 712 
Crude ash on dry matter basis %, maximum 3 ISO 2171 
Acid insoluble ash, on dry matter basis, %, 
maximum 0.15 EAS 82 
Crude fibre on dry matter basis %, maximum 2 ISO 5498 
Hydrogen cyanide  mg/kg, dry matter basis  max 10 DEAS 744 
6 Contaminants 
6.1 Pesticide residues  
Dried cassava chips shall comply with the maximum residue limits for pesticides established by the 
Codex Alimentarius Commission for this product. 
6.2 Other contaminants  
Dried cassava chips shall comply with the maxi mum levels of the Codex General Standard for 
Contaminants and Toxins in Food and Feed (CODEX STAN 193). 
7 Hygiene 
7.1 The product covered by the provisions of th is standard shall be proc essed, packaged, stored 
and transported under hygienic conditions conforming to EAS 39. 
7.2 Dried cassava chips shall conform to the requirements for microbiological limits in Table 2. 
© EAC 2010 – All rights reserved               3 
 EAS 739:2010 9 
 
© EAC 2010– All rights reserved               4 
 Table 2 — Microbiological limits for dried cassava chips 
Micro organisms Requirement Method of test 
Escherichia coli  cfu/g, max.  Shall be absent ISO 7251 
Salmonella , 25 gm shall be absent EAS ISO 
Yeasts and moulds, cfu/g, max. 103EAS ISO 
8 Packaging 
Dried cassava chips shall be packaged in food gr ade, clean and moisture-proof materials that 
safeguard the hygienic, nutritional, physical an d organoleptic qualities of the product. 
9 Weights and Measures  
Dried cassava chips shall be packaged in accord ance with the requirements specified under the 
Weights and Measures legislat ion of each Partner State. 
10 Labelling 
10.1 In addition to the requirements of EAS 38, t he following labeling requirements shall apply and 
shall be legibly  and indelibly marked; 
a) the common name of the product whic h shall be “Dried cassava chips”.  
b) name and physical address of  the manufacturer or packer; 
c) lot identification ; 
d) net mass in metric units; 
e) date of manufacture; 
f) country of origin; 
g) the words "Human food, store in cool dry place"; away from contaminants and; 
h) best before date 
10.2 Information for non-retail containers shall either be given on the container or in accompanying 
documents, except that the name of the product, lot identification and the name and address of the 
manufacturer or packer shall appear on the container.  
11 Methods of sampling 
Sampling shall be done in accordance to ISO 874 
12. Criteria for conformity  
A lot shall be declared as conforming to this standard  if each sample inspected or analysed for quality 
requirement conforms to the provision of this standard. EAS 739:2010
  
© EAC 2010 — All rights reserved