Regulatory bodies in charge of promoting food safety and quality work towards protecting people’s health and promoting fair trade practices. Rules and regulations aim at standardizing quality standards that reduce product loss and foodborne diseases. 

Food safety and quality depends on both the manufacturing companies and the authorities in charge of assessing and supervising actions that prevent product contamination along the supply chain.

Food can be exposed to contaminants–foreign materials, toxic substances or microorganisms–that, if present in an amount over permissible limits, represent a great risk to the health of the consumer. Since food processes may fail, there is a risk that a physical, chemical, or biological element causes harm to health. 

To guarantee safety of food products, there should be an assessment of risks related to the dangers said products might be exposed to–both the raw materials and the end product. In order to minimize said risks, the industry uses devices and processes that make compliance with quality standards easier. Listing potential risks in each step of the process–transportation, storage, distribution–would help taking measures to keep identified risks under control. 

The Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) enables risk control to prevent or eliminate threats to safety. It is mandatory to follow the general recommendations on food hygiene as to establish an HACCP system.  

Good hygiene practices and training of food industry operators are imperative to lay the foundations needed prior to the HACCP implementation.

In addition to the HACCP, there are international certifications which help assess compliance with standards set forth in applicable regulation to guarantee product quality and safety. Some examples are Safe Quality Food (SQF), Global Good Agricultural Practice (Global GAP), and the ISO 9000 Series of Standards–which establish a quality framework that is to be periodically monitored and has a two- to three-year validity.

The Codex Alimentarius is a global regulatory body which aims at standardizing criteria to make safe food trade easier with defined quality characteristics, basing its recommendations on scientific evidence, to ensure the hygienic management of products. These guidelines are acknowledged by the international scientific community on public health.

Same as the Codex, the World Trade Organization advances fair trade practices via international benchmarks as to guarantee food quality. Regulations and recommendations prioritize programs that ensure quality and safety, food export certification, and contaminant monitoring. Additionally, it organizes seminars and workshops related to food control.

Almost all quality and safety systems are based on prevention programs, whose basic principles are set forth in the Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) standards. Monitoring and validation of plague control, sanitation, employee hygiene, hygienic plant and equipment design systems ensure safety of raw materials and end products.

On another note, the use and implementation of new technologies make targeted inspections possible to reduce contaminant occurrence without applying destructive tests or assessments in which the packaging might be an obstacle.

General recommendations on good hygiene practices revolve around employee hygiene and dress code. Furthermore, given the need of raw materials supply for the production of foods and beverages, the World Health Organization developed a simple tool to foster food hygiene–the Five Keys to Safer Food Manual. 

This manual has been translated into more than forty languages and tries to prevent foodborne diseases through the following recommendations:

• Keep Cleanliness
• Separate Raw and Cooked Foods
• Cook Food Thoroughly
• Keep Food at Safe Temperatures that Prevent Bacteria Proliferation
• Use Safe Water and Raw Materials

Quality standards do not only answer to legal and commercial requirements companies have to follow as to guarantee their products’ safety. Ever more, consumers demand more information on the products they buy. For that reason, international quality regulations protect product designation of origin providing consumers with information on where the product was produced, processed, and prepared. 

Said products, for example, have to show on their label the logo certifying their protected designation of origin. These registers disclose product quality and authenticity, and also contribute to a sustainable rural development. 

In conclusion, regulatory standards can be used to support health policies and enable quality and bioavailability assessment of nutrients which impact nutritional needs, mainly those of the most vulnerable population groups. 

Written by Mónica Basave