CDC 10 (443) DTZS   
 
© TBS 2022                                                                                                 1st Edition  
  
TANZANIA STANDARD 
 
 
Bamboo drinking straw — Specification 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
TANZANIA BUREAU OF STANDARDS 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
© TBS – All rights reserved 
 0 Foreword 
This draft Tanzania Standard was developed under the direction of Stationery and Paper Products 
Technical Committee under supervision of the Chemical Division Standards Committee and it is in 
accordance with the procedures of Tanzania Bureau of Standards. 
This draft Tanzania Standard is the first edition for bamboo drinking straws. It lays down the essential 
requirements to which such straw must conform. 
In the preparation of this Tanzania Standard assistance was drawn from: 
GS 218: Plastics - Specification for plastic drinking straw, published by Ghana Bureau of 
Standards  
CD/K/09/2018- EAS- Paper and board food contact material – Specification 
The assistance obtained from the above source is hereby acknowledged with thanks. 
In reporting the results of analysis of a test if the final value is to be rounded off, it shall be done in 
accordance with TZS 4, Rounding off numerical values. 
  CDC 10 (443) DTZS 
© TBS – All rights reserved  
DRAFT TANZANIA STANDARD                                   CDC 10 (443) DTZS 
 
 
Bamboo drinking straw- Specification                    
 
1 Scope 
 
This Draft Tanzania Standard specifies the requirements, methods of sampling and test for bamboo 
drinking straws. It applies to naturally grown bamboo species. 
 
2 Normative references 
 
The following referenced documents are indispensable for the application of this Tanzania Standard. 
For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references, the latest edition of the 
referenced document (including any amendments) applies. 
 
 
TZS 83: -ISO 287; Paper and board — Determination of moisture content of a lot — Oven-
drying method 
 
TZS 118 /ISO 4833, Microbiology of the food chain — Horizontal method for the enumeration 
of microorganisms — Colony-count technique at 30 °C 
 
TZS 125-1/ISO 6888-1 Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs – Horizontal method for 
the enumeration of coagulase-positive staphylococci (Staphylococcus aureus and other 
species) – Part 1: Technique using 
 
TZS 730-1: 2020 / ISO 16649-1:2018 Colony count technique at 44 0C using membranes and 
5-Bromo-4-Chloro-3-Indolyl b-D-glucuronide 
 
ISO 4046: Paper, board, pulps and related terms- Vocabulary 
 
ISO 8784-1, Pulp, paper and board — Microbiological examination — Part 1: Total count of 
bacteria, yeast, mould based on disintegration 
 
ISO 13302, Sensory analysis — Methods for assessing modifications to the flavour of 
foodstuffs due to packaging 
ISO 13914, Soil quality — Determination of dioxins and furans and dioxin-like polychlorinated 
biphenyls by gas chromatography with high-resolution mass selective detection (GC/HRMS) 
3 Terms and definitions 
 
For the purpose of this standard, the following terms and definitions shall apply. 
 
3.1 defective 
pack of bamboo drinking straws that fails in one or more respects to comply with the requirements of 
this specification 
 
3.2 drinking straw     
drinking straw is a prepared small pipe or tube used to suck a beverage out of a container. A straw 
may be made of a thin tube of paper, bamboo, stainless steel, plastic or other material is used by 
placing one end in the mouth and the other in the beverage    
 
3.3 bamboo drinking straw 
drinking straw made entirely from natural bamboo plant  
 
 
CDC 10 (443) DTZS   
 
© TBS – All rights reserved 
 3.4 nominal thickness 
theoretical desired thickness of a bamboo drinking straw 
 
 
3.7 lot 
aggregate of drinking straws of a single kind of specified characteristics produced under conditions 
that are presumed uniform and available for inspection at one time 
 
4 Requirements 
 
4.1 General requirements 
 
4.1.1 The material used for the manufacturing of the bamboo drinking straws shall be from naturally 
grown bamboo plant. 
 
4.1.2 Bamboo drinking straw shall not affect the organoleptic qualities of the food that it comes in 
contact with. 
 
4.1.3 Bamboo drinking straw shall be free from any chemical additives and grown free from 
agricultural chemical residues. 
 
4.1.4  
The bamboo drinking straw shall have smooth surface, be free from surface holes, dirt, dust and off 
odours.  
 
 
 
4.2 Specific requirements  
 
4.2.1 Moisture content 
The moisture content of drinking straws shall be below 15%.  
4.2.3 Dimensional requirements 
 
4.2.3.1 Length 
 
4.2.3.1.1 The length of the drinking straw shall be as agreed between the customer and the 
manufacturer. The tolerances on the length shall be ± 3 mm. 
 
4.2.3.1.2  The length of long drinking straw shall be 200 to 220 mm or as agreed between the 
customer and the manufacturer. 
 
4.2.3.1.3  The length of short drinking straw shall be 110 to 120 mm or as agreed between the 
customer and the manufacturer. 
 
 
4.2.3.2 Thickness  
 
The thickness of the drinking straw shall be measured at four points using a suitable linear measuring 
gauge to the nearest 0.01 mm and shall be between 1 to 3 mm. The lowest of the four measurements 
shall not be less than 0.2 mm. 
 
 
4.2.3.2.2   
 
4.2.3.3 Outer diameter  
When the outside diameter of the drinking straw is determined by using a suitable gauge, it shall lie 
within the range of 3.0 mm – 10 mm for long and short drinking straws.  CDC 10 (443) DTZS 
© TBS – All rights reserved 4.2.4 Microbiological examination  
 
4.2.4.1 When the bamboo straw is tested in accordance with clause 4.2 it shall comply with 
microbiological limits given in table 1.  
 
Table 1 –microbiological limits 
 
S/N Characteristic 
 Limit Test method 
i) Total aerobic plate 
count,cfu/g,max. 
 102 
  
TZS 118 
 
ii) Faecal coliforms E. colli, cfu/g  
 Absent TZS 730  
iii) Staphylococcus aureus , cfu/g 
 Absent TZS 125 
iv) Salmonella spp,per 25 g Absent TZS 125 
 
 
5 Packaging and marking 
 
5.1 Packing 
The drinking straws shall be packed in a suitable package that withstands normal handling and 
transportation. and that will prevent damage to the product. 
 
5.2 Marking 
 
Each package shall be indelibly and legibly marked with the following information:  
a) name and physical address or registered trademark of the manufacturer; 
b) batch code; 
c) name of product; 
d) country of origin, 
e) size of the straw, 
f) name of all additives and processing aids used. 
g) instruction of use 
h) number of straws per pack  
 
6 Sampling 
6.1 Scale of sampling 
 
6.1.1 Tests for determining the conformity of a lot to the requirements of the specification shall be 
done on each lot separately. The number of package shall be selected at random and shall be in 
accordance with table 1. 
 
6.1.2 From each outer package (see 6.1.1) select at random the number of the straws in accordance 
with table 2.  
 
Table 2 – Scale of sampling 
Number of 
package in 
the lot 
 Number of  
package to  
be selected 
 Number of  
straws to  
be selected 
 
Up to 10 
 1 10 
11 to 50 
 2 15 
More than 50 
 3 20 CDC 10 (443) DTZS   
 
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