Food Safety and Quality Assurance

This chapter focuses on producing food under sanitary conditions, and product quality assurance. It covers the sanitary design of plants and equipment, and the prerequisite programs important for food safety during processing. Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) involves a specific process for defining critical parameters about the food, identifying potential hazards, and determining control measures for those hazards that are reasonably likely to occur in the food processing system. The chapter also discusses development of total quality management (TQM), which incorporates improving both the organization and people involved with producing the product. For serious complaints involving foreign material, illness, injury, or allergic reaction, it is common to involve the company's risk management department or insurance company. These groups are best equipped to handle the liability risk to the company. Quality "hazards" should be identified and once again, they should include biological, chemical, and physical factors.