Food quality is the quality
characteristics of food that is acceptable to consumers. This includes external
factors as appearance (size, shape, colour, gloss, and consistency), texture,
and flavour; factors such as federal grade standards (e.g. of eggs)
and internal (chemical, physical, microbial).
Food quality in the United States
is enforced by the Food Safety Act 1990. Members of the public complain to
trading standards professionals, who submit complaint samples and also samples
used to routinely monitor the food marketplace to public
analysts. Public analysts carry out scientific analysis on the samples to
determine whether the quality is of sufficient standard.
Food quality is an important food
manufacturing requirement, because food consumers are susceptible to any form
of contamination that may occur during the manufacturing process. Many consumers
also rely on manufacturing and processing standards, particularly to know what
ingredients are present, due to dietary, nutritional requirements (kosher, halal, vegetarian),
or medical conditions (e.g., diabetes, or allergies).
Besides ingredient quality, there
are also sanitation
requirements. It is important to ensure that the food processing environment is
as clean as possible in order to produce the safest possible food for the
consumer. A recent example of poor sanitation recently has been the 2006 North American E. coli
outbreak involving spinach, an outbreak that is still under investigation after
new information has come to light regarding the involvement of Cambodian
nationals.
Food quality also deals with
product traceability,
(e.g., of ingredient,
and packaging
suppliers), should a recall of the product be required. It also deals with labeling issues to ensure there is correct
ingredient and nutritional information.
There are many existing
international quality institutes testing food products in order to indicate to
all consumers which are higher quality products. Founded in 1961 in Brussels, The
international quality institute Monde
Selection is the oldest one in evaluating food quality. During the degustations,
the products must meet the following selection criteria, required by the
Institute: sensory analysis, bacteriological and chemical analysis, the
nutrition and health claims, and the utilisation notice. In short, the
judgements are based on the following areas: taste, health, convenience,
labelling, packaging, environmental friendliness and innovation. As many
consumers rely on manufacturing and processing standards, the Institute Monde
Selection takes into account the European Food Law.
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