 DEAS 1059 : 2021  
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© EAC 2021                                                                                                                               First Edition 2021  
 DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  
Processed edible cultivated edible mushrooms  — Specification  
EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY  DEAS 1059 : 2021  
ii © EAC  2021  – All rights reserved  
 Copyright notice  
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© East African Community  2021  — All rights reserved  
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Reproduction for sales purposes may be subject to royalty payments or a licensing agreement.  
Violators may be prosecuted . DEAS 1059 : 2021  
© EAC 2021  – All rights reserved  iii 
 Contents  Page 
Foreword  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................  iv 
1 Scope  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ......................  1 
2 Normative references  ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................  1 
3 Terms and definitions  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........................  1 
4 Requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .........  3 
4.1 General requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........................  3 
4.1.1  Raw materials  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ........  4 
4.1.5  Mushrooms Styles  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ . 4 
4.1.6  Other mushrooms st yles ................................ ................................ ................................ ......................  4 
4.1.7  Composition  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........  4 
4.2 Specific requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........................  4 
5 Food additive s ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ....... 6 
6 Hygiene  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...................  6 
7 Contaminants  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .........  6 
7.1 Pesticide residues  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ . 6 
7.2 Heavy metals  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ..........  6 
7.3 Mycotoxins  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .............  6 
8 Sampling  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ................  7 
9 Packaging  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...............  7 
10 Labelling  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .................  7 
Bibliography  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ........................  8 
 DEAS 1059 : 2021  
iv © EAC  2021  – 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. It is envisaged that through 
harmonized standardization, trade barriers that are encountered wh en goods and services are exchanged 
within the Community will be removed.  
The Community has established an East African Standards Committee  (EASC)  mandated to develop 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 African Standards are developed through  Technical Committees that are representative of key 
stakehol ders including government, academia, consumer groups, private sector and other interested parties. 
Draft East African Standards are circulated 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 the Principles and procedures for develop ment of East African Standards.  
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 .  
The committee responsible  for this document is Technical Committee EASC/TC 016/02, Processed and fruits 
and vegetable 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 rights.  
 
 DRAFT EAST  AFRICAN STANDARD  DEAS 1059 : 2021  
 
© EAC 2021  – All rights reserved  1 
 Processed cultivated edible mushrooms  — Specification  
1 Scope  
This draft East Africa Standard specifies the requirements, sampling and test methods for processed 
cultivated edible mushrooms intended for human consumption or for other use in the food industry.  
2 Normative references  
The following documents are ref erred 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 document (including any amend ments) applies.  
CODEX STAN 192, Food — Permitted food additives — Schedule   
EAS 38 , Labelling of pre -packaged foods — General requirements  
ISO 948, Spices and condiments — Sampling  
ISO 2447, Fruit and vegetable products — Determination of tin  
ISO 4833 -1, Microbiology of the food chain — Horizontal method for the enumeration of microorganisms — 
Part 1: Colony count at 30 degrees C by the pour plate technique  
ISO 4833 -2, Microbiology of the food chain — Horizontal method for the enumeration of microorganisms — 
Part 2: Colony count at 30 degrees C by the surface plating technique  
ISO 6633, Fruits, vegetables and derived products — Determination of lead content — Flameless atomic 
absorption spectrometric method  
ISO 6579 , Microbiology of food and animal feeding s tuffs — Horizontal methods for the detection of 
Salmonella spp.  
ISO 16649 -2, Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal method for the enumeration of 
beta-glucuronidase -positive Escherichia coli — Part 2: Colony -count technique at 44 degre es C using 5 -
bromo -4-chloro -3-indolyl beta -D-glucuronide  
3 Terms and definitions   
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.  
ISO and IEC maintain terminological databases for use in standardization at the following addres ses: 
— ISO Online browsing platform: available at http://www.iso.org/obp  
 DEAS 1059 : 2021  
2 © EAC  2021  – All rights reserved  
 3.1  
cultivated edible mushrooms  
Fruit bodies of the fungi group which are domesticated as opposed to those which grow naturally and are 
suitab le for use as human food.  
3.2  
processed mushrooms  
mushrooms (3.1) process ed in several forms i.e. Dried , salted, fermented, mushrooms in plant oils(preserve), 
quick frozen, canned , mushroom extracts, mushroom concentrate, smoked   
3.3  
freeze dried mushr ooms  
Mushrooms obtained by low temperature dehydration tha t involve freezing the product and lowing the 
pressure and removing the ice by sublimation under vacuum   
3.4 
dried mushrooms  
mushrooms obtained by drying of edible mushrooms of one species, either whole or sliced  
3.5  
mushroom grits  
coarsely ground dried edible mushrooms of one spe cies 
3.6  
mushroom powder  
dried edible mushroom of one species ground so finely as to allow the powder to pass through a sieve having 
a 200 -micron mesh.  
3.7  
salted mus hrooms  
fresh edible mushrooms of one species, either whole or sliced, preserved in brine after previous c leaning, 
washing and blanching  
3.8  
fermented mushrooms  
fresh edible mushrooms of one species preserved by salt and by lactic acid ferment ation  
3.9  
quick frozen mushrooms   
fresh edible mushrooms of one species which, after cleaning, washing and blanching are subjected to a 
freezing process in appropriate equipment and comply with the conditions laid down hereafter in this section 
and in clause 4.9. 4 of this Tanzania Standard. This freezing operation shall be carried out in such a way that 
the range of temperature of maximum crystallization is passed quickly.  The quick -freezing process shall not 
be regarded as complete unless and until the product tem perature has reached -18 0C (00F) at the thermal 
centre after thermal stabilization.  
3.10  
mushroom extract/concentrate  
products concentrated from fresh or dried edible mushroom juice of one or more mushroom species with the 
addition of salt and which is  concentrated to 7  % of salt less extract  
3.11 
dried mushroom concentrate  
the dried product obtained from mushroom extract or mushroom concentrate.  DEAS 1059 : 2021  
© EAC 2021  – All rights reserved  3 
 3.12 
sterilized mushroom  
edible mushroom, fresh, salted or frozen, of one or more species, whole or slice d, packed in air tight 
containers in water and salt, and heat treated to a degree guaranteeing the resistance of the product to 
spoilage.   
3.13 
mushroom in olive oil and other plant oils   
Edible mushrooms either fresh or previously salted, of one species , whole or sliced, packed in airtight 
containers in olive oil or other plant oil and heat treated to a degree guaranteeing the resistance of the product 
to spoilage.  
3.14 
whole dried mushroom   
the product obtained from whole clean ed and dried edible mushr ooms  
3.15 
Whole caps without stems   
The product obtained from whole caps with t heir stems having been removed  
3.16 
cut dried mushrooms  
mushrooms obtained from whole edible mushrooms sliced and dried; the thickness of the i ndividual slices 
being 1 -4 mm  
3.17  
damaged mushroom  
mushroom with more t han quarter of the cap missing  
3.18  
carbonized mushrooms  
whole or dried mushrooms with traces of carbo nization on their surface  
3.19  
maggot damaged mushrooms  
mushrooms having holes caused by maggots  
3.20  
organi c impurities   
admixture of other edible mushrooms, parts of plants such as leaves and other tree stalks.  
3.21 
insect damaged mushrooms  
mushroom that have holes caused by insects.  
3.22 
spoiled mushrooms  
mushrooms which are brownish or rotten as a resul t of attack by mould and other micro -organisms  
4 Requirements  
4.1 General requirements  
Processed mushrooms shall include a wide range of products specified under sub clause 3.2; and their form 
being described as provided under their definition in clause 3  DEAS 1059 : 2021  
4 © EAC  2021  – All rights reserved  
 4.1.1  Raw materials  
Only fresh edible mushrooms which have been treated or processed immediately after they have been picked 
before deterioration sets in shall be used in the preparation of processed mushrooms.  Both the raw and 
preserved mushroom shall b e healthy clean, undamaged, free as practicable of maggots and other insect 
damages and shall possess the flavour and taste characteristic to the species.  
4.1.2  The only permitted ingredient in mushroom extract, mushroom concentrate and dried mushroom 
concentrate is salt as sodium chloride. Other m ushroom products may contain salt (sodium chloride), vinegar, 
spices and herbs, sugars, refined edible plant oil, butter, milk, milk powder, cream water and wine.  
4.1.3  All processed edible mushrooms shall be sa fe and of good quality but not limited to the following 
species:   
a) White mushrooms or common mushrooms and brown    mushrooms ( Portabellas and criminis) of the 
Agaricus spp )  
b) Shiitake mushrooms ( Lentinula edodes)   
c) Oyster mushrooms ( Pleurotus ostreatus ) 
d) Enoki mushrooms ( Flammulina velutipes)   
e) Maitake mushrooms (Grifola frondosa)  
f) Beech mushrooms ( Hypsizygus tesellatus)   
4.1.4  For all categories of mushrooms described in 4.1, shall in all cases be free from toxic ingredients; and 
shall not be a mixture of mor e than one species, unless clearly labelled as specified in clause 9.2.1(a).  
4.1.5  Mushrooms Styles  
Processed mushrooms may be presented in various styles, e.g. whole with stalks, whole caps (buttons) 
without stalks, slices, pieces and stalks, grits, pow der or concentrate.  
4.1.6  Other mushrooms styles   
Any other presentation of the product shall be permitted provided that the product is sufficiently distinctive 
from other forms of presentations described in this standard and meet the requirements of this  standard. Also 
such product shall be adequately described on the label to avoid confusing or misleading the consumer.  
4.1.7  Composition  
Except in the case processed mushrooms consisting entirely of caps or where the addition of stalks is stated 
on the l abel as provided under 9.2.a (i) the number of stalks shall not exceed the number of caps.  
4.2 Specific requirements  
Dried mushrooms shall conform to the requirements set in table 1 below when tested with the test method 
specified therein . DEAS 1059 : 2021  
© EAC 2021  – All rights reserved  5 
  
Table 1 — Chem ical and physical requirements for processed edible mushrooms   
 
Type of processed 
mushroom  Requirements  
Salt 
(sodium 
chloride)  
% m/m, 
max.  Moisture 
% m/m, 
max.  Acid 
insoluble 
ash,% 
m/m, 
max.  Organic 
impurities,% 
m/m, max.*  Maggot and 
other pest 
damaged 
mushroom 
% m/m, 
max.*  
Dried (other than freeze  
dried)    
N/A  
12  
0.2  
0.02  
1.0 
Freeze dried  N/A 6 0.2 0.02 1.0 
Dried Shiitake (other than 
freeze dried)   
N/A  
13  
0.2  
1.0  
1.0 
Mushroom  
grits  N/A 13 - - N/A 
Mushroom powder  - 9 0.2 - N/A 
Fermente d mushrooms  3 - 6 N/A 0.2 0.1 - 
Quick frozen   - - 0.2 0.02 2.0 
Mushroom in  
olive oil and other plant oils   
1.0 -  
0.1  
0.02  
2.0 
Salted  
mushrooms   15-18 
  
- 0.3 
 0.03 
  
- 
Canned  
mushrooms   
<  2  
-  
0.2  
0.02  
1.0 
Mushroom  
extract and mushroom  
concentrate   
20.0 
  
N/A  
- 
  
NIL 
  
N/A 
 
Dried  
mushroom  
concentrate   
5.0 
  
-  
NIL 
  
NIL 
  
9.0 
Test method  AOAC 
971.27  ISO 1026  ISO 763    
* Organic impurities, maggot and other pest damaged mushrooms shall be determined by normal 
count under normal visio n of a naked eye or by magnifying lense of X10, if necessary  
 
 DEAS 1059 : 2021  
6 © EAC  2021  – All rights reserved  
 5 Food additives  
Food additives when used in processed edible mushrooms shall be in accordance with CODEX STAN 192.  
6 Hygiene  
6.1 Processed mushrooms shall be produced, prepared and handled under hygienic conditions in 
accordance with EAS 39.  
6.2 Processed mushrooms shall comply with microbi ological limits given in table 2  when tested in 
accordance with the methods specified therein.  
Table 2  — Microbiological limits  
S/No.  Type of microorganis ms Limits  Test method  
i)  Total plate count, cfu/g max  1 x 103 ISO 4833  
ii)  Coliforms, Cfu/g  <10 ISO 4832  
iii)  Staphylococcus aureus , cfu/ g max  1 x 101 ISO 6888 -1 
iv)  Salmonella, 25 g  Absent  ISO 6579  
v)  E-coli, cfu/ g  Absent  ISO 16649 -2 
7 Contaminants  
7.1 Pesti cide residues  
Processed mushrooms shall c omply with  the pesticide residue limits prescribed by the Codex Alimentarius 
Commissio n of the respective commodity.  
7.2 Heavy metals  
Processed mushrooms shall not contain  heavy metal contaminants in excess of the limits specified in Table  3 
when tested in accordance with the methods specified therein.  
7.3 Mycotoxins  
Processed mushrooms shall not contain mycotoxins exceeding 5 ppb for aflatoxin B1 and 10 ppb for total 
aflatoxins (B1, B2, G1, and G2) when tested in ac cordance with ISO 16050.  
Table 3  ─ Limits for metal contaminants  
 
 
 
 
 S/N 
Heavy metal  Maximum limit  
mg/kg  Test method  
i.  Tin (Sn) 250 ISO 2447  
ii.  Lead (Pb)  0.1 ISO 6633  DEAS 1059 : 2021  
© EAC 2021  – All rights reserved  7 
 8 Sampling  
Sampling shall be  done  in accordance with ISO 948. 
9 Packaging  
Processed mus hroom shall be packaged in food grade material that ensures the integrity and safety of the 
product.  
10 Labelling  
In additio n to the requirements of EAS 38,  the following specific labelling requirements shall apply and shall be 
legibly and indelibly marked : 
a) The name of the product  
i) The name of the product shall comply with the definitions and other requirements of this Standard 
with a designation that shall indicate the true nature.  The genus such as Agaricus  shall be 
provided including its scientific name  of the species.  The method of processing to which the 
product has been subjected shall be included e.g. “dried, sterilized, salted, and fermented”.  
ii) In the case of processed mushrooms consisting of more than one species, such fact as “mixed” 
shall form p art of the designation; including the style as per clause 4. 1.5 and 4.1.6.  
b) List of ingredients in descending order of proportion except for the dried mushrooms.  
c) Name, physical and postal address of the producer/packer or distributor.  
d) Country of origin, d istrict and region   
e) Net mass in SI units  
f) Batch number in code or in clear  
g) Brand or trade mark, if any.  
h) Storage condition  
i) Instruction for use  
j) Date of production and expiry  
 
 DEAS 1059 : 2021  
8 © EAC  2021  – All rights reserved  
 Bibliography  
[1] ISO ##### -#, General title  — Part #: Title of part  
[2] ISO ##### -##:20##, General title  — Part ##: Title of part  
. DEAS 1059 : 2021    
 
© EAC 2021  – All rights reserved  
  
  