FINAL DRAFT UGANDA 
STANDARD  
  FDUS EAS 1
First Edition
2011-mm-dd
 
 Reference numbe r
FDUS EAS 1: 2011
© UNBS 2011
  
Wheat flour — Specification 
 FDUS EAS 1: 2011 
i i                 ©  U N B S  2011 - 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 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 1: 2011 
© 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 limentarius Commission on Food Standards, and  
(c) the National Enquiry Point on TBT/SPS Agr eements 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 1: 2011 , Wheat flour — Specification, is identical with  and has 
been reproduced from an East African Standard, EAS 1: 2011 , Wheat flour — Specification,  and is being 
proposed for adoption as a Uganda Standard.  
This standard was developed by the Food and agricu lture Standards Technical Committee (UNBS/TC 2).  
Wherever the words, “East Africa Standard" appear, they should be replaced by "Uganda Standard."  EAS 1:2011
ICS 67.060
 
© EAC 2011 Second Edition 2011  
 
       
EAST AFRICAN STANDARD 
 
Wheat flour —  Specification 
 
 
 
 
  
 
   
 
       
      
EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY  
 EAS 1:2011  
 
 
Foreword 
 
Development of the East African Standards ha s 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 Comm unity will be removed.  
 In order to meet the above objectives, the EAC Partner States have enacted an East African 
Standardization, Quality Assurance, Metrology an d Test Act, 2006 (EAC SQMT Act, 2006) to make 
provisions for ensuring standardization, quality as surance, 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 society and the 
environment in the Community.  
East African Standards are formulat ed in accordance with the proc edures established by the East 
African Standards Committee. The East Afri can Standards Committee is established under the 
provisions of Article 4 of the EAC SQMT Act, 2006. The Committee is composed of representatives of the National Standards Bodies in Partner States, t ogether with the representatives from the private 
sectors and consumer organizations. Draft East African Standards are circ ulated to stakeholders 
through the National Standards Bodies in the Pa rtner States. The comments received are discussed 
and incorporated before finalization of standards, in accordance with the procedures of the 
Community.  
 
Article 15(1) of the EAC SQMT Act, 2006 provides t hat “Within six months of the declaration 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 nationa l 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 therefore expected to ensure that they  always have the latest versions of 
the standards they are implementing.  
 
© East African Community 2011 — 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 
                                                 
* © 2011 EAC — All rights of exploitation in any form and by an y means reserved worldwide for EAC Partner States’ NSBs.  
 
ii © EAC 2011 — All rights reserved EAS 1:2011  
 
Table of contents 
 1
 Scope ......................................................................................................................... ......... 1 
2 Normative references ......................................................................................................... 1  
3 Terms and de finitions ........................................................................................................ 1 
4  Quality requ irements .........................................................................................................  2 
5 Food additives ................................................................................................................ .... 3 
6 Hygiene ....................................................................................................................... ....... 4 
7 Contaminants .................................................................................................................. ... 5 
8 Packaging ..................................................................................................................... ...... 5 
9 Labelling ..................................................................................................................... ....... 5 
10 Methods of sampling.......................................................................................................... 6  
 
© EAC 2011 — All rights reserved iii EAS 1:2011  
iv © EAC 2011 — All rights reserved  
Introduction 
 
This revised standard has incorporated the specif ic compositional requirements for wheat flour. The 
standard has prescribed the permissible levels of food additives in wheat flour. Microbiological 
requirements for wheat flour have also been stipulated.  
In the preparation of this East African Standard, t he following sources were consulted extensively: 
 
United States Standards for Wheat , Effective May 2006 
 Wheat, Official Grain Grading Guide, August 1, 2009, Canadian Grain Commission 
 Department of Agriculture, Regulation Gazette No. 6225, 10 July 1998, Agricultural Product 
Standards Act, 1990 (Act No. 119 of 1990), Regulations relating to the grading, packing and marking 
of wheat intended for sale in the Republic of South Africa + Amendment of 19 July 2002, No. 23622 
and Amendment of 19
th August 2003, No. 25370 
 Department of Agriculture, Regulation Gazette No . 22658, 11 September 2001, Agricultural Product 
Standards Act, 1990 (Act No. 119 of 1990), Standards for grades of Class Bread Wheat, Class Biscuit 
Wheat and Class Durum Wheat 
 
Department of Agriculture, Regulation Gazette No. 30782, 22 February 2008, Agricultural Product 
Standards Act, 1990 (Act No. 119 of 1990), Regulations relating to the grading, packing and marking 
of wheat products intended for sale in the Republic of South Africa 
 
 EAS 1:2011  EAST AFRICAN STANDARD 
 
Wheat flour — Specification 
 
1 Scope 
 
This East African Standard prescribes the require ments and methods of sampling and test for wheat 
flour (other than durum wheat flours) intended for human consumption . 
 
2 Normative references 
 
The following normative documents contain provisions which, through reference in this text constitute 
provisions of this East African  
 
EAS 35, Edible salt — Specification 
 
EAS 38, Labelling of prepackaged foods — Specification  
 
EAS 39, Hygiene in the food and drink manufac turing industry — Code of practice  
 
EAS 51, Grades of wheat grain — Specification  
 
EAS 82, Milled cereal products — Methods of test 
 
EAS 103, Schedule for permitted food additives  
 ISO 16050, Foodstuffs — Determination of aflatoxin B1, and the total content of aflatoxins B1, B2, G1 
and G2 in cereals, nuts and derived products — High-performance liquid chromatographic method 
 ISO 13690, Cereals, pulses and milled products — Sampling of static batches  
 CODEX Stan 193, Codex general Standards for contaminants and toxins in Food and Feed 
 ISO 5498, Agricultural food products-Determ ination crude fibre content-General method 
 ISO 2171, Determination of Ash content 
 
ISO 1871, Food and feed products -General guidelines for the determination of nitrogen by the 
Kjeldahl method  
 
 
3 Terms and definitions 
 
3.1 wheat flour  
shall be the product made from milling clean wheat  grains conforming to the requirements of EAS 51 
 
3.3 
white wheat flour 
obtained by milling wheat grains at extraction rates that leaves negligible amounts of bran 
 
3.4 
bakers flour 
white wheat flour obtained by milling high protein wheat intended for bread making 
 
3.5 household or home baking flour 
white wheat flour obtained by milling wheat grades  or blends of hard and soft wheat intended for 
domestic use 
© EAC 2011 — All rights reserved  1 EAS 1:2011  
 
3.6 
biscuit flour white wheat flour obtained by milling a blend of ha rd and soft wheat with a high percentage of soft 
wheat for biscuit manufacture  
3.7 
cracker flour  
white wheat flour obtained by milling lo w protein wheat with no improvers 
 
3.8 
self-raising flour 
white wheat flour obtained by milling a blend of soft and hard wheat to which raising agents are added 
 
3.9 
standard flour 
wheat flour obtained by milling wheat grains at a higher extraction than home baking flour 
 
3.10 
wholemeal flour wheat flour obtained by milling the entire wheat grain to fine particle size without any separation  
 3.11 
atta flour 
wholemeal flour with coarse particles  
4  Quality requirements 
 
4.1 Raw materials 
 
The wheat grain from which the flour is obtained shall be of sound quality, free from sand, have 
characteristic odour and flavour complying wi th the relevant East African Standards 
 
4.2  General requirements  
 
4.2.1 All types of wheat flour shall have the charac teristic colour and shall be free from any 
objectionable flavours and odours . 
 4.2.2
 The flour shall be free from insects, worms, fungal infestation, rodent contaminations and 
foreign matter. 
 
4.2.3 The flour shall not contain flour from other ce reals. However, the addition of malted barley 
flour not exceeding 1 % is permissible in the case of baker’s flour. 
 
4.2.4  The shelf life shall be three months for wholemea l and atta, but six months for all other flours. 
 
4.3 Specific requirements  
 
The types of wheat flour shall comply with t he compositional requirements given in Table 1 
 
2 © EAC 2011 — All rights reserved EAS 1:2011  
 
Table 1 — Specific requirements 
 
Types of flour 
Moisture 
content, 
max. %, 
m/m 
Fibre 
content, 
max. %, 
m/m 
Total ash 
content, 
max. %, 
m/m 
Residue on 
sieving 
through 
180 micron-
sieve,  max. 
% 
Protein 
content, 
min. %, 
m/m 
Mixture of 
acid-
ingredients 
and sodium 
bicarbonate 
added,  
max. %,  
m/m  
Total 
aflatoxin 
Aflatoxin 
B1 only, 
ppb max  
Fumonisin 
White wheat 
flour:       
10 5 2 Baker’s flour 13 1.0 0.70 0.80 11.0 – 
Home baking flour 13 1.0  0.70 0.80 9.0 – 
Biscuit flour 13 1.0 0.55 0.50 8.0 – 
Cracker flour 13 1.0 0.70 0.50 8.0 – 
Self-raising flour 13 1.0 2.0 0.80 8.0 4.5 
Standard flour 13 1.5 1.10 30.0 11.0 – 
Atta flour 13 2.0 2.0 55.0 12.0 – 
Whole-meal flour 13  
2.0 
 2.0 30.0 12.0 – 
Test methods ISO 6540 ISO 5498 ISO 
2171  ISO 1871  ISO 16050 
 
4.4 Self-raising flour 
 In addition to the specifications in Table 1, sp ecific requirements for self-raising wheat flour may 
contain the following: 
 
4.4.1 Edible salt conforming to EAS 35. 
 
4.4.2 Acid ingredients  
 
The acid ingredients shall be one or any combination of the following: 
 
i) sodium acid pyrophosphate;  
 
ii) mono acid calcium phosphate; 
 
iii) sodium aluminium phosphate;  
 
iv) sodium bicarbonate shall be in sufficient amount s to provide not less than 0.4 % of available 
carbon dioxide. 
 
 
5 Food additives 
 
The product shall contai n only permitted additives complying with EAS 103. 
© EAC 2011 — All rights reserved  3 EAS 1:2011  
 
5.1 Improvers  
 
Improvers may be added singly or in combination, including but not limited to:  
Maximum permitted level 
i) ascorbic acid     200 ppm;  
ii) potassium persulphate    100 ppm; 
 iii) ammonium persulphate    250 ppm; 
 
iv) mono calcium phosphate   2 500 ppm; 
 
v) chlorine dioxide     30 ppm. 
 
 
 
5.2 Bleachers (added singly) 
 
Maximum permitted level 
i) nitrogen peroxide    GMP; 
 
ii) benzoyl peroxide    150 mg/kg 
 
5.3 Diastatically actives (singly or combined ) 
 
Maximum permitted level 
i) malt flour (milled from highly diastatic barley) GMP; 
 
ii) fungal enzyme (amylozyne or MYL-X)  45 mg/kg 
 
NOTE All food additives shall be of food grade quality.  
 
5.4   Azordicarbonamide (ADA) and Potassium Bromate  
 
Shall not be used at all.  
 
6 Hygiene 
 6.1 Wheat flour shall be produced, prepared and handled in accordance with the provisions of 
appropriate sections of EAS 39. 
 
6.2 When tested by appropriate methods of sampling and examination, the product: 
 
⎯ shall be free from microorganisms in amounts which may represent a hazard to health; 
 
⎯ shall be free from parasites which may represent a hazard to health; and 
 
⎯ shall not contain any substance originating from  microorganisms in amounts which may represent 
a hazard to health. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
4 © EAC 2011 — All rights reserved EAS 1:2011  
6.3 The product shall be free from pathogenic micro-organism and shall comply with 
microbiological limits in Table 2. 
 
Table 2 — Microbiological limits 
 
Sl. No. Micro-organism Maximum limit Methods of test 
 
(i)  Total aerobic count per g  10
5  EAS 217 
 
(ii)  E. Coli  per 1 g  Not detectable  EAS 217 
 
(iii)  Salmonella  per 25 g  Not detectable  EAS 217 
(iv) Yeast and Moulds cfu/g 104 EAS 217 
(V) S.aureus  per 25 g Not detectable EAS 217 
 
 
7 Contaminants 
 
7.1 Heavy metals 
 
Wheat flour shall comply with those maximum limits for heavy metals established by the Codex Alimentarius Commission for this commodity. 
 
7.2  Pesticide residues  
Wheat flour shall comply with those maximum pes ticide residue limits established by the Codex 
Alimentarius Commission for this commodity.  
 
Note: where the use of certain pesticides is prohibited by some Partner States, then it shall be notified to all 
Partner States accordingly. 
 7.3 Mycotoxins:  
 
Wheat flour shall comply with those maximum mycotoxin limits established by the Codex Alimentarius Commission for this commodity. In particular, total aflatoxin levels in wheat grains for human 
consumption shall not exceed 10 µg/kg (ppb) with B
1 not exceeding 5 µg/kg (ppb) when tested 
according to ISO 16050.  
8 Packaging  
 8.1 Wheat flour shall be packaged in containers which will safeguard the hygienic, nutritional, 
technological, and organoleptic qualities of the product. 
 
8.2 The containers, including packaging material, shall be food grade. 
 
8.3 When the product is packaged in sacks, thes e must be clean, sturdy and strongly sewn or 
sealed. 
 
9 Labelling 
 
In addition to the requirements in EAS 38, each pack age shall be legibly and indelibly marked with the 
following: 
 
i) product name as “wheat flour ”  
 
ii) name, address and physical location of the manufacturer/ packer/importer;  
iii) lot/batch/code number; 
 
© EAC 2011 — All rights reserved  5 EAS 1:2011  
6 © EAC 2011 — All rights reserved iv) net weight, in kg;  
 
Note: EAC partner states are signatory to the International Labour Organizations (ILO) for maximum package weight of 50kg 
where human loading and offloading is involved. 
 v) the declaration “Food for Human Consumption’’; 
 
vi) storage instruction as “Store in a cool  dry place away from any contaminants’’; 
 
vii) Date of manufacture; 
 
viii) expiry date; 
 ix) instructions on disposal of used package; 
 
x) country of origin; 
 
10 Methods of sampling  
 
Sampling shall be done in accordance with the ISO 13690.  EAS 1:2011  
 
 
 
  
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
  
 
  
 
  
 
  
 
  
 
 
 
  
 
  
 
  
 
  
 
  
 
© EAC 2011 — All rights reserved