Lakhasly

Food quality and safety principles and practices are rooted in laws, regulations, customer, and consumer expectations. Since the 1970s, the food industry has been shaped by evolving consumer demands (nutrition, convenience, additives), food safety incidents, environmental concerns, regulatory changes, traceability advancements, technological innovations, biotech foods, irradiated and organic foods, economic factors, international trade, and bioterrorism concerns. Food quality and safety are addressed through quality management, assurance, control, HACCP, and GMPs. "Food" encompasses unprocessed, semi-processed, and processed items intended for consumption, including ingredients and food-contact substances. This broad scope covers existing and new/modified foods, requiring safety and quality considerations from conception. Responsibility is shared among the food industry (legal and moral obligation), government regulatory agencies, and consumers. Governments enact laws and regulations to protect consumers from unsafe foods and deceptive practices, enforcing these through various agencies. Customers ensure raw materials and packaging are safe, while consumers must be vigilant in assessing food safety and following handling instructions. Although often used interchangeably, food quality (meeting established requirements) and food safety (meeting requirements preventing harm) are distinct. Food safety is paramount, and non-conformity to safety requirements automatically implies non-conformity to quality requirements. Food safety is integrated into quality assurance/control programs and quality management systems, with HACCP providing a dedicated framework. Government agencies use HACCP-based programs (e.g., FDA Seafood and Juice HACCP, USDA Pathogen Reduction, CFIA Food Safety Enhancement) for monitoring and enforcement, though these may not encompass all quality aspects. Food quality includes characteristics like identity, quantity, components, appearance, flavor, aroma, texture, shelf-life, fitness for use, wholesomeness, adulteration, packaging, and labeling. Non-compliance with regulatory requirements or spoilage can represent quality failures. Codex Alimentarius defines food suitability (distinct from safety). Quality programs (activities ensuring requirements are met) and systems (integrated documented activities) are used in the food industry. Quality control programs involve inspection, testing, and monitoring of raw materials, processes, and finished products. Total Quality Management (TQM), incorporating management principles and quality concepts, aims for competitive advantage. Food safety ensures food doesn't cause harm under intended use. Harmful substances are food safety hazards, and safe food requires eliminating or reducing hazards to acceptable levels and adhering to GMPs. For decades, the industry relied on inspections, testing, and GMPs; since the late 1980s, HACCP has been widely used for prevention. GMPs are incorporated into HACCP prerequisite programs. Food laws and regulations (e.g., US FDCA, Canada’s Food and Drugs Act, US CFR Title 21, Canada’s Food and Drug Regulations) protect consumers from harm, adulteration, misbranding, and fraud. Enforcement involves inspections and analyses to ensure compliance. Food standards (e.g., Codex Standards) establish requirements but aren't legally binding unless incorporated into regulations. GMPs define minimum sanitary and controlled conditions for food processing, handling, and storage. Food safety hazards (biological, chemical, physical) can originate from naturally occurring substances, deterioration, or contamination. Acceptable levels are established by governments and Codex Alimentarius; some hazards (e.g., Salmonella) have zero tolerance. Risk analysis (assessment, management, communication) establishes food safety objectives (maximum acceptable hazard levels). Hazard analysis, the first HACCP principle, assesses health risks. Biological hazards include pathogenic bacteria (Salmonella, E. coli, Listeria, etc.), viruses (hepatitis A, E, Norwalk), and parasites. Chemical hazards include permitted food additives (potential hazards if exceeding levels), naturally occurring harmful compounds (oxalates, alkaloids, toxins), agricultural residues (pesticides, drugs), industrial contaminants (heavy metals, PCBs), chemical residues from processing, prohibited chemicals, and food allergens. Physical hazards are foreign objects; avoidable hazards include glass, plastics, metals, wood, stones, and personal articles. Other concerns include biotech foods, irradiated foods, and herbal supplements. Free radicals (oxidation) cause damage by initiating chain reactions. Antioxidants prevent or stop these reactions. Various quality programs and systems are used to achieve food quality and safety requirements. Quality control aims to detect unacceptable hazards or defects.

The principles and practices identified with
safety and quality in the food industry. These
principles and practices are based on:
• laws and government regulations,
• as well as the requirements and expectations
of customers and consumers.
In addition to the basic need for food quality and food safety
activities, operations in the food industry have been
influenced by numerous factors since the 1970s, including:
• Consumer expectations relating to various aspects of food
(e.g., nutrition, convenience, additives)
• Incidents relating to food safety
• Environmental concerns
• Changes in government regulatory processes
• Traceability in food production and processing
• Technological changes
• Foods derived from biotechnology
• Irradiated foods
• Organic foods
• Economic factors
• Issues relating to international trade
• Food security concerns related to bioterrorism
Food quality and food safety requirements are
addressed through the use of systems and
programs that include:
• Quality management,
• Quality assurance,
• Quality control,
• The hazard analysis critical control point (HACCP)
system,
• And good manufacturing practices (GMPs).
Within a particular food company, the food quality
and food safety activities are likely to be covered by
some combination of these programs or systems.
Scope of food quality and food safety
• The term “food” covers any unprocessed, semi-
processed, or processed item that is intended to be
used as food or drink. This includes:
• any ingredient incorporated into a food or drink,
• and any substance that comes into direct contact with a
food during processing, preparation, or treatment.
• Therefore, food quality and food safety principles and
practices are applied to foods from farm produce and
livestock production; manufactured and processed food
products for consumers; and all raw materials,
ingredients, processing aids, food-contact packaging
materials, and food-contact surfaces that are used in
the preparation of food and beverage products.
• The scope of food quality and food safety covers
foods already in the marketplace and new or
modified foods.
• When new or modified foods are developed for the
marketplace, quality and safety must be considered
at the conception, design, and development stages.
Responsibility for food quality and food safety
The overall responsibility for food quality and food
safety is shared by all segments of the food system,
including the various food industry sectors,
government regulatory agencies, and consumers in
general.
• The food industry has both the legal and moral
responsibility for providing customers and
consumers with foods that meet all established
quality and safety requirements.
• Within a food company, overall responsibility for
the implementation and effective use of these
programs and systems rests with senior
management.
Government:
• Governments worldwide have enacted food laws
and regulations designed to ensure that foods are
fit for human consumption.
• Such laws protect consumers from harm resulting
from unsafe foods and from deception resulting
from misrepresentation or fraud relating to certain
established food quality characteristics.
• Governments have also established various
agencies that enforce these food laws and
regulations; this legal framework is intended to
provide consumers with confidence in the safety
and quality of foods.
Customers and consumer:
• Within the food supply chain, customers who
purchase raw materials, ingredients and food
contact packaging materials for manufacture of
consumer foods, must ensure that these materials
are safe and fit for use.
• When making purchases, consumers need to be
vigilant in their assessment of foods for safety and
quality.
• In particular, customers and consumers must pay
attention to the instructions for handling, storage,
preparation, and use of foods.
The distinction between food quality and food safety
• While the terms food quality and food safety are
often used interchangeably, it is important for the
food industry professional to distinguish between
them.
• Food quality: is the extent to which the all the
established requirements relating to the
characteristics of a food are met.
• Food safety: is the extent to which those
requirements relating specifically to characteristics
or properties that have the potential to be harmful
to health or to cause illness or injury are met.
• Some food quality characteristics (e.g., counts of total
bacteria, coliform bacteria) can be used as indicators of
food safety, although they are not considered
specifically as food safety characteristics.
• This distinction between food quality and food safety
needs to be made, primarily because of the much
greater importance that must be attached to protecting
consumers from food-borne illnesses or injuries.
• A food that does not conform to the food safety
requirements automatically does not conform to the
food quality requirements.
• On the other hand, a food can conform to the food
safety requirements, but not conform to the other
quality requirements.
Food safety as part of food quality
• In the food industry, food safety principles and
practices have always been integrated into activities
identified within quality assurance or quality control
programs, or within quality management systems;
therefore, these programs and systems can address
both food quality and food safety simultaneously.
• The more recent use of HACCP systems in some
food companies has resulted in a well-defined set of
activities that are specifically devoted to food
safety.
• The principles and practices of the HACCP system
are similar to those of quality systems and,
therefore, the specific activities required by the
HACCP system can be integrated within quality
systems.
• A food company that operates with a quality
management system can be expected to have an
HACCP system that is devoted specifically to food
safety as an integral part of its quality management
system.
• A food company that does not operate with the
HACCP system must continue to incorporate food
safety activities and GMPs within its existing quality
program or quality system.
• Government agencies that use HACCP-based programs
to monitor and enforce food laws and regulations are
essentially addressing food safety and fitness for use as
human food.
• The HACCP-based programs do not address some of
the quality aspects of food laws and regulations.
Nevertheless, it is common for the same government
agency to monitor and enforce both the food safety
and food quality aspects of those laws and regulations.
• Examples of HACCP-based programs that are used by
government regulatory agencies are the U.S. Food and
Drug Administration Seafood HACCP Regulation, and
Juice HACCP Regulation; the U.S. Department of
Agriculture Pathogen Reduction: HACCP System
Regulations; and the HACCP-based Food Safety
Enhancement Program of the Canadian Food
Inspection Agency.
Food quality
• Food quality is the extent to which all the established requirements relating
to the characteristics of a food are met.
• Common examples of quality characteristics of food, excluding the food
safety characteristics, are:
• Identity of a food in relation to a standard (e.g., standardized food)
• Declared gross or net quantity (e.g., weight or volume) of a unit of
the food or net fill of a food container
• Declared or claimed amount of one or more stated components of a food
• Appearance (e.g., size, shape, color)
• Flavor
• Aroma
• Texture
• Viscosity
• Shelf-life stability
• Fitness for use as human food
• Wholesomeness
• Adulteration
• Packaging
• Labeling
• Some of these quality characteristics are covered in
food laws and regulations. For instance, failure of a
food to meet regulatory requirements relating to a
standard of identity, the declared quantity, declared
ingredients, or label claims, can be considered as
misrepresentation, misbranding, or fraud.
• The spoilage, deterioration, or decomposition of
foods with the absence of any resulting harmful
substance that can lead to illness or injury, can be
considered as failure to meet food quality
requirements based on fitness for human use or
wholesomeness criteria.
• Unacceptable levels of foreign matter or extraneous
materials that are not necessarily harmful to health
or do not cause injury can also be considered as
failure to meet food quality requirements; in the
U.S., defect action levels have been established for
naturally occurring, unavoidable, extraneous
materials in many foods.
• The Codex Alimentarius defines the term food
suitability (distinct from food safety) as the
assurance that food is acceptable for human
consumption according to its intended use; food
suitability criteria include fitness for human use,
wholesomeness, and extraneous matter.
• In addition to the quality requirements established
by government regulations, numerous
requirements for food quality characteristics are
also established by customers and consumers.
• Purchases of food from a manufacturer or supplier
by customers and consumers depend on whether
the food meets the quality requirements
established by the customer or the expectation of
the consumer.

• Main objectives of quality control in food
industry

Ten basis element of a food quality assurance
program:

Systems and programs for food quality
• The food industry, like many other industries, has used
basic quality control programs, and more complex
quality assurance programs and quality management
systems, in its efforts to achieve food quality;
• some food companies use the ISO 9000 Quality
Management System Standard.
• These programs and systems can include components
that are devoted specifically to food safety.
• For instance, GMPs and the HACCP system can be
integrated into a food industry, quality management
system, or inspection and monitoring of materials,
products, and processes for food safety hazards can be
part of a quality control program.

Food safety
• Food safety is the assurance that food will not
cause harm to the consumer when it is
prepared and eaten according to its intended
use.
• All requirements relating to the safety
characteristics of a food must be met; there
must be no unacceptable health risk
associated with a food.
• The assurance that a food will not cause harm, injury,
or illness is determined by:
• (1) whether all harmful substances present in the
food have been eliminated, reduced to an established
acceptable level, or prevented from exceeding the
acceptable level; and
• (2) the food has been prepared, handled, and stored
under controlled and sanitary conditions in
conformance with practices prescribed by
government regulations.
• The harmful substances in foods are food safety
hazards.
• The prescribed conditions and practices for preparing,
handling, and storing food are considered GMPs.
Systems and programs for food safety
• For decades, the food industry has depended on the
use of quality programs based on inspection and
testing of food products for hazards, and on GMPs for
addressing food safety.
• Since the late 1980s, there has been widespread use of
the HACCP system specifically to achieve food safety;
the system addresses food safety primarily on the basis
of prevention or elimination of unacceptable hazard
levels.
• The GMPs, which were used to address food safety
requirements prior to the use of the HACCP system,
have been incorporated into prerequisite programs for
the HACCP system.
• A food company that does not operate with the HACCP
system must continue to use the GMPs.
Food laws and regulations
• The legal requirements for food safety and food
quality have been established by many national
governments, with the objective of protecting
consumers and ensuring that foods are fit for
human consumption.
• These requirements are contained in food laws and
regulations, the scope of which varies from one
country to another. In the U.S. and Canada, food
laws and regulations govern all aspects of food
safety and some aspects of food quality.
• It is essential that food industry professionals be
familiar with the laws and regulations that govern
their specific industry sectors in their countries.
• The legal framework of food laws and regulations
of a particular country depends on the overall
government regulatory system of that country.
• In the U.S. and Canada, the federal or national
food laws are statements of government policies
that cover both the general and specific aspects
of adulteration and misbranding of foods, while
the food regulations deal with the enforcement
of government policies that are embodied in the
food laws.
• These food laws and regulations are intended to
ensure that foods do not cause harm, illness, or
injury; are not adulterated or misbranded; and
are wholesome and fit for human consumption.
• Food laws and regulations apply to all foods produced
domestically, as well as all foods imported into a
country; foods cannot be imported if they do not
conform to the food laws and regulations of the
importing country.
• Examples of food laws are the U.S. Federal Food, Drug,
and Cosmetic Act (FDCA), which is the primary law
governing the safety and quality of most foods in the
U.S., and Canada’s Food and Drugs Act, which is the
primary food law in Canada.
• The U.S. Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Title 21 and
Canada’s Food and Drug Regulations are examples of
food regulations that address food safety and food
quality.
• Food laws protect consumers from illnesses
and injury by prohibiting the presence of any
poisonous or harmful substance in foods that
are intended for human consumption.
• For example, adulterated food is regulated
primarily under a food act , which covers all
aspects of food safety and certain aspects of
food quality.
• In addition, food laws protect consumers from
fraud and deception by prohibiting false or
misleading information relating to foods.
Enforcement of food laws and regulations
• The responsibility for enforcing food laws and
regulations is assigned to government regulatory
agencies.
• These enforcement activities fall into two categories.

• First, they include inspection and audit of
  establishments that process, handle, and store food
  to ensure that the required sanitary and controlled
  conditions are followed; audits are used by some
  regulatory agencies that enforce HACCP-based
  regulations.


• Second, they include inspection and analysis of
  foods for harmful substances to ensure that there is
  conformance to established limits and tolerances.
  • Despite efforts of government agencies to enforce food laws
  and regulations, misbranded foods or foods that cause harm
  or have the potential to cause harm sometimes enter the
  food distribution chain or the consumer market.
  • Whenever a misbranded food is detected, a harmful
  substance or agent is detected in a food, it is determined that
  there is a likelihood for a harmful substance or agent to be
  present in a food, or an actual food-borne illness or injury
  occurs, food companies and government regulatory agencies
  take the necessary action to protect consumers against these
  violations.
  • These situations often result in the food being recalled from
  the marketplace. In addition, if it is determined that
  adulterated or misbranded food has been produced as a
  result of negligence on the part of a food company, legal
  action can be taken against the company.
  Food standards
  • In addition to food laws and regulations, food standards also
  establish requirements for the safety and quality of foods;
  however, unless a food standard is part of food regulations, it
  is not a legal requirement.
  • The Codex Standards are the best examples of food
  standards. The Codex Alimentarius Commission has the
  mandate to implement the joint Food and Agricultural
  Organization (FAO)/ World Health Organization (WHO) Foods
  Standards Program.
  • This has resulted in the Codex Alimentarius, a collection of
  standards for food quality, food suitability, and food safety.
  These food standards have been adopted by countries
  worldwide and are intended primarily to protect consumers
  and to facilitate international food trade. They include codes
  of practice such as The Codex General Principles Of Food
  Hygiene, standards for maximum residual levels (MRL) for
  pesticides and for veterinary drugs in foods, and standards for
  specifications for food additives.
  Food quality, food safety, and good manufacturing
  practices (GMPs)
  • Government regulatory agencies have established minimum
  requirements relating to the sanitary practices and controlled
  conditions for processing, handling, and storage of foods.
  
  • These requirements are commonly referred to as GMPs, and
  are some of the basic food quality and food safety activities in
  food companies.
  • If a food is prepared, handled, or stored under conditions
  that are unsanitary, or if certain required practices or
  operations are not followed, the food can be considered to be
  potentially unsafe, unfit, or unsuitable for consumption.
  • Food companies that operate with the HACCP system,
  incorporate the GMPs within the HACCP prerequisite
  programs.
  Food safety and hazards in foods
  • The safety of a food can be related directly to certain
  harmful substances that are present in the food;
  these substances are food safety hazards.
  • Any substance that is reasonably likely to cause
  harm, injury or illness, when present above an
  established acceptable level, is a food safety hazard.
  • An unacceptable level of a food safety hazard in a
  food presents a health risk to the consumer.
  • Food-borne illnesses from food safety hazards occur
  frequently; each year a relatively large number of
  deaths attributed to these hazards occur among
  North American consumers.
  • There are three recognized categories of food
  safety hazards: biological hazards, chemical
  hazards, and physical hazards.
  
  • The origin of these hazards in foods can be from
  naturally occurring substances or agents in foods,
  from deterioration or decomposition of foods, or
  from contamination of the foods with the hazard
  at various stages of their production, harvesting,
  storing, processing, distribution, preparation, and
  utilization.
  • For many hazards, government regulatory
  agencies have established an acceptable level of
  the hazard in a food; the Codex Alimentarius has
  also established acceptable levels of certain
  hazards as part of its Food Standards Programme.
  • For some hazards, such as pathogenic bacteria
  (e.g., Salmonella spp.), there is zero tolerance;
  this means that the presence or the detection of
  the hazard in the food is unacceptable.
  • The strategies used to address hazards in foods
  include the prevention or elimination of hazards,
  or the reduction of hazards to acceptable levels.
  These strategies are employed in the HACCP
  system.
  Food safety and hazards in foods
  • The safety of a food can be related directly to
  certain harmful substances that are present in the
  food; these substances are food safety hazards.
  • Food safety hazard: is any substance that is
  reasonably likely to cause harm, injury or illness,
  when present above an established acceptable
  level.
  • An unacceptable level of a food safety hazard in a
  food presents a health risk to the consumer.
  • Food-borne illnesses from food safety hazards occur
  frequently; each year a relatively large number of
  deaths attributed to these hazards occur among
  North American consumers.
  • There are three recognized categories of food safety
  hazards:
  -biological hazards,
  -chemical hazards, and
  -physical hazards
  • The origin of these hazards in foods can be from
  naturally occurring substances or agents in foods,
  from deterioration or decomposition of foods, or
  from contamination of the foods with the hazard at
  various stages of their production, harvesting,
  storing, processing, distribution, preparation, and
  utilization.
  • For many hazards, government regulatory agencies
  have established an acceptable level of the hazard in a
  food; the Codex Alimentarius has also established
  acceptable levels of certain hazards as part of its Food
  Standards Programme.
  • For some hazards, such as pathogenic bacteria (e.g.,
  Salmonella spp.), there is zero tolerance; this means
  that the presence or the detection of the hazard in the
  food is unacceptable.
  • The strategies used to address hazards in foods include
  the prevention or elimination of hazards, or the
  reduction of hazards to acceptable levels.
  • These strategies are employed in the HACCP system.
  Food safety hazards and health risk
  • For a known food safety hazard, the extent of the
  harmful effects of the hazard on the health of the
  consumer is established by risk analysis and by hazard
  analysis.
  • Risk analysis is usually conducted by a national food or
  health regulatory agency and addresses a public
  health concern regarding a particular food safety
  hazard associated with a sector of the food industry.
  • A risk analysis is comprised of risk assessment, risk
  management, and risk communication.
  • A primary objective of risk analysis is to establish a
  national food safety objective for a hazard in a food.
  • The food safety objective for a hazard is the
  maximum frequency and concentration of a
  hazard in a food at the time of consumption that
  provides the appropriate level of protection from
  the hazard.
  • The food safety objective can be considered as
  the maximum acceptable level for the hazard in a
  food.
  • At the level of production, processing, handling, or
  storage, a food company performs hazard analysis
  as part of the development of an HACCP plan for
  the food.
  • Hazard analysis is the first of the seven HACCP
  principles, and is performed to determine the
  health risk associated with a hazard present in a
  food when it is produced, processed, handled, or
  stored, according to an established sequence of
  steps at a particular location.
  • Once a food safety objective for a hazard has been
  established by risk analysis, it must be considered
  during the hazard analysis step of HACCP plan
  development.
  Biological hazards in foods
  • Pathogenic bacteria
  More than forty different pathogenic bacteria are
  known; however, a large proportion of the reported
  cases of food poisoning can be attributed to the
  following pathogenic bacteria:
  -Salmonella spp.,
  -Eschericha coli 0157:H7,
  -Lysteria monocytogenes,
  -Clostridium perfringens,
  -Clostridium botulinum,
  -Staphylococcus aureus, and
  -Campylobacter jejeuni.
  • Food poisoning from these organisms occur
  frequently, with symptoms that include headache,
  muscle pain, nausea, fatigue, chills or fever,
  stomach or abdominal pain, vomiting, and diarrhea.
  • Numerous severe and fatal illnesses occur as a
  result of food poisoning from pathogenic bacteria;
  infants and the elderly are particularly vulnerable.
  • The foods that are commonly involved in these food
  poisoning incidents include meat and poultry and
  their products, seafood and seafood products, egg
  and egg products, milk and dairy products, fruits
  and vegetables and their products, low-acid canned
  foods, and water.
  • Viruses
  Foods can be the medium for transmission of
  certain viruses. Examples of viruses that are known
  to be food safety hazards are the hepatitis A and E
  viruses, the Norwalk group of viruses, and rotavirus.
  • Parasites
  Several human parasites can be transmitted by
  foods.
  The most common human parasites include
  parasitic protozoan species (e.g., Entamoeba
  histolytica, Giardia lambia, Cryptosporidium
  parvum), and parasitic worms(Ascaris lumbricoides,
  Taenia solium, Trichinella spiralis).
  Chemical hazards in foods
  • Permitted food additives
  -Government regulations permit numerous chemical
  and biochemical substances to be added to foods at
  specified maximum levels.
  -These substances are intended to impart some
  improved nutritional effect (e.g., vitamin fortification)
  or some specific technical function (e.g., preservative
  action, sensory attribute, stabilizing effect, etc.).
  -Permissible food additives with their established
  levels for use can be found listed in government food
  regulations.


• The Codex Alimentarius contains specifications of
  permitted food additives.
  -Although food additives are permitted by
  government regulations, many can be harmful if they
  are present in the food at levels above the maximum
  established, and are therefore, potential chemical
  hazards.
  -In some instances, a permitted food additive present
  below the maximum allowable level in a food can be a
  health hazard for specific segments of the population.
  For example, sodium bisulfite is a permitted food
  additive in some foods; however, individuals who are
  asthmatic could be at risk from foods containing
  sodium bisulfite.
  -The labels on the containers containing the foods
  must clearly indicate the presence of the additives for
  the benefit of individuals who may be at risk from
  these additives.
  • Naturally occurring harmful compounds
  -It is well known that many foods contain as their
  normal or inherent components naturally occurring
  substances that can be harmful if they are present in
  excess of certain levels;
  examples are:
  oxalate in rhubarb,
  alkaloids (solanine) in potatoes,
  toxins in mushrooms and in shellfish histamine in fish
  (Tuna, sardine) .
  -it is considered that foods containing these naturally
  occurring substances to be adulterated only if the
  harmful substance is present in sufficient quantity that
  is likely to cause illness.
  • Agricultural residues
  -Agricultural residues are a group of residual chemical
  or biochemical substances found in foods and are
  directly attributable to certain substances that have
  been approved for use in the production of crops and
  livestock for food.


• They include residues of permitted pesticides,
  herbicides, fungicides, drugs, hormones, and
  antibiotics.
  -Some of these residues are considered as added
  harmful substances attributable to human actions and
  are regulated by governments.


• The Codex Alimentarius establishes maximum residual
  levels (MRL) for various harmful pesticides and
  veterinary drugs.
  • Industrial contaminants
  -Several harmful chemicals that enter the
  environment as a result of industrial activity have
  been shown to be present in foods.
  -These substances include heavy metals (lead,
  mercury, arsenic), organo-chlorinated compounds
  such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and are
  considered as industrial or environmental
  contaminants.
  -In the U.S., the CFR Title 21 considers PCBs as
  unavoidable environmental contaminants because
  of their widespread occurrence in the environment,
  and provides tolerances for PCB residues in several
  foods (e.g., milk, dairy products, poultry, eggs, etc.).
  • Chemical residues
  -In food processing operations, some chemical
  compounds that are not permitted substances in
  food are used during certain operations and care
  must be taken to prevent unintentional
  contamination.
  -These substances include chemical compounds
  used for cleaning and sanitizing food contact
  surfaces of processing, handling, and storage
  equipment, and for lubricating certain parts of food
  processing equipment.
  • Prohibited chemicals
  -No chemical substance is permitted for use in a
  food unless it meets all of the requirements that
  are covered in the applicable food laws and
  regulations.
  • In addition, some chemical substances are
  specifically prohibited from direct addition to food
  or from indirect addition to food through food
  contact surfaces.
  • Food allergens
  -Certain foods are known to contain inherent
  components that cause serious immunological, allergic
  responses in a relatively small proportion of food
  consumers.
  -These foods are entirely safe for most consumers who
  are not sensitive to the allergens.
  -The following foods and some of their products are
  generally considered to be the most common food
  allergens: peanuts, soybeans, milk, eggs, fish,
  crustacea, tree nuts, and wheat.
  -Some other foods (e.g., sesame seeds) are also known
  to cause allergenicity occasionally.
  • In addition, sulfites (including bisulfites and
  metabisulfites) used as ingredients in certain foods can
  produce nonimmunological allergic reactions in certain
  sensitive individuals.
  • Physical hazards in foods
  -Physical hazards include organic or inorganic
  substances, commonly referred to as foreign
  objects, foreign matter, or extraneous materials.
  -Hard and sharp physical hazards are of particular
  concern. Depending on their size and dimensions,
  hard and sharp physical hazards can cause injury to
  the mouth or teeth, or can cause serious injuries if
  swallowed.
  -In addition, some physical hazards, depending on
  their size, shape, and texture, have the potential to
  cause choking if swallowed. Physical hazards in
  foods can be particularly harmful to infants.
  -Certain hard and sharp foreign objects that are
  natural components of food (e.g., prune, date or
  olive pits; fish bones nutshells) are not considered
  physical hazards since it is expected that the
  consumer will be aware that these objects are
  natural components of the foods.
  -However, if the food carries a label stating that the
  hard and sharp object has been removed(e.g., pitted
  prunes), the presence of the hard and sharp object
  in the food represents a hazard, since it is not
  expected by the consumer.
  -The common hazards considered as avoidable
  physical hazards in foods include broken glass,
  pieces of hard or soft plastic materials, stones,
  pieces of metal, pieces of wood, and personal
  articles.
  • Broken glass
  -In a food plant, the common potential sources of
  broken glass include light bulbs, glass containers,
  and gauges with glass covers.
  -Every effort must be taken to protect or eliminate
  these sources of broken glass, and to protect food
  from contamination with this hazard.
  -In addition, many foods are packaged, distributed
  and sold in glass containers. For these foods, the
  glass packaging itself can be a source of broken
  glass.
  • Plastic
  -Both hard and soft plastic foreign objects are
  sometimes found in foods.
  -In some food plants, some utensils and tools used
  for cleaning of equipment are made from hard
  plastic material; this type of plastic can become
  brittle from use over an extended period of time,
  and pieces can adulterate foods.
  -The common sources of soft plastic foreign objects
  in food are plastic material used for packaging food
  and gloves used by employees who handle food.
  • Metal pieces
  -The most common sources of metal pieces in a
  food plant are food processing equipment,
  metallic cleaning tools, and equipment
  maintenance activities.
  -In many food plants, magnets are used to
  eliminate some metals from foods, and metal
  detectors are used to detect the presence of
  metals in foods.
  • Wood pieces
  -The most common sources of wood pieces in a
  food plant are wood structures and wood pallets.
  The presence of these sources should be avoided
  whenever possible in food processing and
  production.
  • Stones
  -Many plant foods and particularly field crops such
  as peas and beans can contain small stones that
  become incorporated with the foods during
  harvesting.
  -In addition, in food processing plants, a common
  source of stones is concrete structures, particularly
  concrete floors.
  • Personal articles
  -A variety of personal articles can become foreign
  objects in foods, resulting from unintentional
  adulteration by employees during preparation,
  handling, processing, and packaging.
  -Personal articles that have been found in foods
  include jewelry, pens or pencils or their parts,
  Band-Aids, and ear plugs.
  • Other food safety concerns
  -In addition to the known food safety hazards that can
  be classified as biological, chemical and physical
  hazards, there are several other specific food safety
  concerns.
  -These include concerns relating to the safety of foods
  from biotechnology and particularly from genetically
  modified organisms, the safety of irradiated foods, and
  the safety of some herbal supplements and botanical
  products.
  -The safety of these foods, like all other foods, is
  covered by food laws and regulations.
  -In the food industry, the established food safety
  principles and practices must also be applied to these
  food safety concerns.
  • Free Radicals (Oxidation)
  Free radicals may be also called oxidation,
  reactive oxygen species (ROS), as a result of
  chemical contaminants, Oxidation may involve
  lipids, proteins, vitamins, or pigments, and
  more specifically, oxidation of lipids may
  involve triacylglycerols in one food or
  phospholipids in another.
  • For many years the existence of free radicals in
  biological systems was dismissed as either non-
  existent or unimportant curiosity.
  • More recently due to improved investigational
  techniques, this view has changed dramatically.
  • Currently, free radicals have found a place in the
  etiology of many diseases & unexplained disease
  phenomena.
  • Free radicals have found a role in the rheumatoid
  arthritis, Alzheimer’s disease, hypertension,
  myocardial infarction, liver cell injury, &
  carcinogenicity.
  
  Definition of free radicals:
  • An atoms or molecules containing unpaired
  electrons in its outer orbital.
  • The presence of unpaired electrons in a
  molecule makes it unstable because the
  unpaired electron wants to form an electron
  pair.

• Normally, bonds don’t split in a way that
leaves a molecule with an odd, unpaired
electron.
• When weak bonds split, free radicals are
formed.
• Free radicals are very unstable and react
quickly with other compounds, trying to
capture the needed electron to gain stability.
• Generally, free radicals attack the nearest
stable molecule, “stealing” its electron.
• Radicals are highly reactive, short lived.
• When the ‘attacked” molecule loses its
electron, it becomes a free radical itself,
beginning a chain reaction.
• Once free radicals are initiated, they tend to
propagate by becoming involved in chain
reactions with less reactive species.
• The chain reaction compounds generally have
longer half live, therefore extend the potential
for cell damage.
• Once the process is started, it can cascade,
finally resulting in the disruption of living cell.
• If for instance, water is exposed to radiation
such as X-rays or gamma rays, the two-electron
bonds between the oxygen and hydrogen atoms
can briefly split, leaving one electron on the
hydrogen and one on the oxygen, thus creating
two radicals, both electrically neutral but both
having only one spare electron.
• The general terminology for radicals is R*, where
R. represents radical & (*) represents the
unpaired electron.
• Normally, the body can handle free radicals by
antioxidants, but if antioxidants are
unavailable, or if the free-radical production
becomes excessive, damage can occur. Of
particular importance is that free radical
damage accumulates with age.
Type of free radicals:
-Primary oxidants:
• Super oxide *O2
• Free transition metals *Fe+2, *Cu+.
• Nitric oxide *NO
-Oxidizing agents formed of interconversion of
primary oxidants:
• Hydrogen peroxide H2O2.
• Hydroxyl radical *OH
• Peroxynitrate
Free radicals and human diseases:
1- Coronary Heart Disease
• Lipid peroxidation through damage to low density
lipoproteins (cholesterol carrying particles).
• Damaged particles are carried by WBC
(macrophages).
• Macrophages collect in the artery wall forming
plaques.
• These cholesterol filled cells attract other cells
causing grouts in the inside of the artery.
• Slowing or blocking of blood flow to the heart.
• Heart attacks results.
2- Stroke:
• Same as heart disease, but arteries supplying the brain are
affected.
3- Cancer:
• Free radicals react with cell’s DNA causing mutations.
• DNA sequence change
4-Arthritis:
• Excess free radicals lead to activation of WBCs & macrophages.
• Active WBC damage the cartilage of the joint causing pain &
swelling.
5- Alzhimers:
• Free radicals damage proteins in the brain.
• Damaged proteins build up in specific areas in the brain.
• Various neurons begin to die.
6- Cataracts:
• UV light and iron possibly generates free
radicals.
• Free radicals oxidize lens proteins.
• Oxidized proteins react with sugar molecules &
other compounds in the eye.
• This leads to formation of color compounds that
block the passage of light through the lens.
• Mechanisms for protection against radicals
Antioxidant: is any substance that retards or prevents
deterioration, damage or destruction by free radicals.
Antioxidants function in one of these ways:
1- Preventing the formation of free radicals.
2- Chain breaking: stopping the free radical chain reaction
once it has started by scavenging free radicals.
3- Attenuating the catalysis of reactive oxygen species via
binding to metal
• When free radicals are generated in living system, a
wide variety of antioxidants come to play:
• The tocopherols, ascorbic acids, super oxide dismutase,
glutathione peroxidase, catalase, flavonoids, and
carotenes.

Quality programs and quality systems for the
food industry
• In general, 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 basic quality programs, and
quality management systems are more complex types of
quality systems.
• In the food industry, the objective of these programs and
systems is to achieve the food quality and food safety
requirements.
The distinction between quality programs and quality systems
• A food industry 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.
• 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.
Quality control programs
• Quality control program activities consist of:

• Inspecting


• Testing


• monitoring
  • Associated with:


• Raw materials control


• Process control


• Finished products control
  • The main objective of food industry quality control programs
  is to determine whether the quality and safety requirements
  are fulfilled by detecting whether unacceptable levels of
  hazards or defects exist in foods.
  • If an unacceptable level of a hazard or defect is detected, the
  food might be repaired or reworked to remove the hazard or
  defect so that it fulfils the requirements, or it might be
  rejected entirely and scrapped.
  • The goal of a food company’s quality control
  program is to ensure that all requirements are
  fulfilled so that only safe foods of acceptable quality
  are sent to its customers or to consumers.
  • In companies that operate with quality systems, the
  
  quality control activities are integrated into the
  quality systems.
  Total quality management
  • The TQM approach embodies both management
  principles and quality concepts, including customer
  focus, empowerment of people, leadership,
  strategic planning, improvement, and process
  management.
  • Businesses adopted the TQM approach and
  developed the framework for its use in their quality
  management systems, with the objective of
  achieving competitive advantage in the global
  marketplace.
  • The most widely recognized are the 14 points for
  quality management proposed by W. Edwards
  Deming.