DEAS  831: 2021 
ICS 67.120.30  
© EAS 2021                                                                                                                               Second  Edition  
DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  
Frozen fish fillets — Specification  
EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   
  DEAS  831: 2021  
ii © EAC  2O21 – All rights reserved  
 Copyright notice  
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© East African Community  2021  — All rights reserved  
East African Community   
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Reproduction for sales purposes may be subject to royalty payments or a licensing agreement.  
Violators may be persecuted  DEAS  831: 2021  
© EAC 2021  – All rights reserved  iii 
 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 when goods and services are exchanged 
within the Community will be removed.  
In order to achieve this objectiv e, the Community established an East African Standards Committee mandated 
to develop and issue East African Standards.   
The Committee is composed of representatives of the National Standards Bodies in Partner States, together 
with the representatives from the private sectors and consumer organizations. 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 procedures 
of the Community.  
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 th e standards 
they are implementing .  
FDEAS  831 was prepared by the Technical Committee EASC /TC 003, Fish and Fishery Products . 
 
 DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  DEAS  831:2021  
 
© EAC 2021  – All rights reserved  1 
 Frozen fish fillets — Specification  
1 Scope  
This Draft East Africa n Standard specifies requirements and methods of sampling and test for frozen fish 
fillets 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 refere nced 
document (including any amendments) applies.  
AOAC 952.13, Arsenic in food – Silver diethyldibocarbamate method  
AOAC 972.23, Lead in fish – Atomic absorption spectrophotometric method  
AOAC 973.34, Cadmium in food – Atomic absorption spectrophotometric method  
AOAC 977.13, Histamine in sea food – Fluorometric method  
AOAC 983.20, Mercury (methyl) in fish and shellfish – Gas chromatographic method  
AOAC 2015.01, Heavy metals in food  
CAC/GL 50 -2004 , General guideline on sampling  
CAC/RCP 52 -2003, Code of practice for fish and fishery products  
EAS 12, Drinking (potable water) — Specification  
EAS 38, Labelling of pre -packaged foods — Requirements  
CODEX STAN 192 -1995 , General standard for  food additives  
EAS 827:2015 , Fresh and frozen whole fin fish — Specification  
ISO 4833 -1, Microbiology of the food and chain  — Horizontal method for the enumeration of microorganisms 
— Colony -count at 30 degrees C  by the pour plate technique  
ISO 6579, Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal method for the detection of Salmonella 
spp. 
ISO 6888 (all parts) , Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal method for the enumeration 
of coagulase -positive staphylococci (Staphylococcus aureus and other species)  
ISO 7251, Microbiology of food a nd animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal method for the detection and 
enumeration of presumptive Escherichia coli — Most probable number technique  DEAS  831: 2021  
2 © EAC  2O21 – All rights reserved  
 ISO 7937, Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal method for the enumeration of 
Clostridium perfringens — Colony -count technique  
ISO 11290 (all parts) , Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal method for the detection 
and enumeration of Listeria monocytogenes  
ISO/TS 21872 (all parts) , Microbiology of food and animal feeding st uffs — Horizontal method for the 
detection of potentially enteropathogenic Vibrio spp.  
3 Terms and definitions  
For the purpose of this standard the following te rms and definitions shall apply.  
3.1  
fillet  
slice of fish flesh of irregular size and shape r emoved from the fish by cuts made parallel to the backbone  
3.2 
frozen fillet  
fillet that  has undergone the freezing process  (see 3.3)  
3.3 
freezing  
process of heat removal from fish rapidly such that the temperature falls to -18 °C or below  
3.4 
food grade material  
packaging material, made of substances which are safe and suitable for their intended use and which will not 
impart any toxic substance or undesirable odour , colour  or flavour to the product  
4 Requirements  
4.1 General requirements  
4.1.1  Raw material  
4.1.1.1  Frozen fish fillets shall be prepared from whole fin fish  that conforms to FDEAS 827 . 
4.1.1.2  Water used during fish processing shall be potable comply ing with EAS 12.  
4.2 Finished products  
4.2.1  Frozen fish fillets shall be;  
i. free from foreign matter,  
ii. free from discolouration,  
iii. intact,  and  
iv. free from off odour.  
4.2.2  Frozen fish fillets shall  be maintained at a temperature of -18 ºC or lower.  Fillets may be presented as 
boneless , boneless with the pin bone in , skin -on, skinle ss, glazed, provided that deboning has been 
completed including the removal of pin -bones . DEAS  831: 2021  
© EAC 2021  – All rights reserved  3 
  
4.3 Specific requirements  
When tested in accordance with  AOAC 977.13 , the level of histamine in fish such as scromboids  species shall 
not exceed 10  ppm. 
5 Food additives  
Food additives may be used in the preparation and processing of frozen fish fillets  in accordance with CODEX 
STAN 192 . 
6 Hygiene  
The product shall be prepared  and handled in a hygienic manner in accordance with EA S 39 and CAC/RCP 
52 and shall com ply with the microbiological limits given in Table 1. 
Table 1 — Microbiological limits for frozen fish fillets  
S/No  Micro -organisms  Maximum  limits  Methods of test  
i Salmonella  spp, per 25 g  Absent  ISO 6579  
ii Escherichia coli,  MPN/g  10 ISO 7251  
iii Listeria monocytogenes , per 25 g  Absent  ISO 11290 -1 
iv Staphylococcus aureus , CFU/g  103 ISO 6888 -1 
v Vibrio Spp  Per 25  g Absent  ISO 21872 -1 
vi Total viable count , CFU/g  105 ISO 483 3-1 
 
7 Contaminant s 
7.1 Heavy metal  
Frozen fish fillets shall comply with  the heavy metal  limits given in Table 2.  
Table 2 — Heavy metal  limits for frozen fish fillets  
S/No  Heavy metal  Maximum limit , 
mg/kg  Test m ethod  
i Lead  0.3 AOAC 972.23  
ii Cadmium  0.3 AOAC 973.34  
iii Mercury  0.5 AOAC 2015.01  
 
 
7.2 Veterinary drug residues  
Frozen fish fillets shall comply with those maximum veterinary  drug residue limits established by the Codex 
Alimentarius Commission . DEAS  831: 2021  
4 © EAC  2O21 – All rights reserved  
 7.3 Pesticide residues  
Frozen fish fillets  shall comply with those maximum pesticides residue limits established by the Codex 
Alimentarius Co mmission.  
9 Packaging  
Frozen fish fillets shall be packaged in food grade containers which will safeguard the hygienic, nutritional, 
and organoleptic qualities of the product . 
10 Labelling  
10.1 General  
In addition to the requirements in EAS 38, the following specific labelling requirements shall apply and shall be 
legibly and indelibly marked:  
a) name of the product as "Frozen fish fillets ”; 
b) common name /species name or family of the fish used;  
c) mode of presentation, example skin on or skinless;  
d) storage and transportation conditions declaring the temperature to be -18 °C or lower ; 
e) name and physical address of proce ssor; 
f) net weight in grams or kilograms ; 
g) date of  production ; 
h) batch number ; 
i) expiry date ; 
j) instruction for use ; and  
k) country of origin . 
10.2 Labelling of non-retail containers  
10.2.1  Information on the above provisions shall be given either on the container or in accompanying 
documents, except that the name of the product, lot identification, and the name and address of the processor 
or packer as well as storage instructions, shall appear on the container.  
10.2.2  However, lot identification, and the name and address of the processor or packer may be replaced 
by an identification mark provided that such a mark is clearly identifiable with the accompanying documents.  
11 Sampling  
Sampling shall be done in accordance with CAC/GL 50 -2004 . 
    
DEAS  831: 2021  
© EAC 2021  – All rights reserved  
  
  