Food Quality Programs and Systems
In general, these quality programs and systems are quality control, quality assurance and quality management.
They are generic in nature and are widely used by business organizations not only in the food industry, but in all industry sectors, as well as in some public sector organizations.
These programs and systems differ in their scope of activities and the complexity of their structure or framework.
Quality control programs are basics quality programs and quality management systems are more types of quality systems.
The term “quality management” describes a dynamic management perspective with an offensive and strategic vision.
In food industry, the objectives of these programs and systems is to achieve the food quality and food safety requirements.
In the food industry, a quality program is an activity or set of activities performed to ensure that the food quality and food safety requirements of a food are fulfilled.
Food quality requirements are established by laws and regulations and by customers and consumers.
A food industry quality system is an integrated set of documented food quality and food safety activities, with clearly established inter relationships among the various activities.
The objective of a quality system is to provide a food company with the capability to produce a food that fulfills all quality and safety requirements.
It also reduce a gap between customers’ risk perception and experts’ risk judgment and reach a level of risk perception where ‘distrust’ or unacceptable risk switches to ‘trust; or acceptable risk.
Quality control programs are common examples of quality programs; quality assurance systems and quality management systems are examples of quality systems.
Both quality programs and quality systems are used extensively in the food industry.
For any food company embarking on the adoption of a formal quality management system there are a number of avenues down which they might proceed.
The most obvious start is the introduction of a Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP system.
The food manufacturer is in business to make and sell good at a profit.
Consumers will only buy and make repeat purchase of the food is perceived as being good value for money and generally only if they can rely on the product being of a consistent standard.
A firm needs therefore to establish a reputation for making a product to a certain standard and to maintain it.
Food Quality Programs and Systems
