Food quality and food safety

The essentials

Food quality covers the attributes that make food acceptable: appearance, flavour, texture, nutritional value and safety. Food safety means assurance that food will not harm the consumer when prepared and eaten as intended. Hazards in food can be biological (bacteria, viruses, parasites), chemical (pesticide residues, toxic adulterants, cleaning agents) or physical (stones, glass, hair, metal pieces).

Adulteration is the addition, substitution or removal of something that lowers the quality of food. In India, the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 brought earlier food laws under one law and set up the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).

Key points

• Common adulterants: papaya seeds in black pepper; brick powder in chilli powder; metanil yellow (a non-permitted dye) in turmeric or dals; argemone seeds/oil in mustard oil; chicory in coffee; starch or water in milk.
• Simple test: starch in milk turns blue with iodine solution.
• Standards and marks: ISI mark (Bureau of Indian Standards, industrial products); Agmark (agricultural produce); FSSAI licence number on packaged food.
• Codex Alimentarius Commission: international food standards body set up by FAO and WHO.
• ISO 22000: international standard for food safety management systems.
• HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) has seven principles: conduct hazard analysis, identify critical control points, set critical limits, monitor, take corrective actions, verify, keep records and documentation.
• Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) and Good Hygienic Practices (GHP) form the base of food safety systems.
• Food infection is caused by eating live pathogens; food intoxication by toxins produced by microbes (e.g. Clostridium botulinum, Staphylococcus aureus).

Exam tips

Learn the HACCP principles in order. Match adulterant to food and mark to product type.

Common mistakes

Agmark is for agricultural produce, not for electrical goods; ISI covers industrial products.