Quality Terminology, Systems And Legislation

One can easily get lost in the different aspects of quality management. To explain where the terminology, systems and legislation fit in, look at this diagram:

Diagram of the relationship between quality systems

Food quality can be defined as a total of traits and criteria that characterise food with regards to its nutritional value, sensory value, convenience as well as consumer safety. Food safety is the most important feature of food quality, hence the legislative regulations.

In order to assure food quality, various safety and quality systems have been developed. Figure 2 below distinguish between legislative and voluntary systems:

Figure 2: Voluntary vs Obligatory Quality systems (Adapted from Sikora, T & Strada, A)

Let’s start to unpack the concepts...