Lesson 1: Quality Assurance Role in Sanitation Programs, Auditing, and Verification
Learning Objectives
By the end of this lesson, you should be able to:
- Explain the difference between Quality Control and Quality Assurance
- Define what is a Regulatory Body in relation to food safety systems
- Define a Certification Body in relation to food safety systems
- Define an Auditor’s role in a Certification Body
- Define an Accreditation Body in relation to food safety systems
- Explain the difference between the three different bodies
- Explain the importance of these bodies to the food safety systems
What is Quality Assurance?
- Quality is the degree of acceptability; it should be measurable and controllable.
- Quality Assurance (QA) programs have evolved from Quality Control (QC) programs.
- The goal is to prevent problems, not respond to them.
- QA programs provide a way to establish checks and balances in the areas of:
- Food safety
- Public health
- Technical expertise
- Legal matters affecting manufacturing firms
- An effective QA program should be available to monitor each phase of the operation.
- QA programs are vital to the growth of a food establishment.
Components of a Quality Assurance Plan
All three levels of an organization must be committed to the QA program. Click each level to learn more:
Quality Control vs. Quality Assurance
Quality Assurance aims to prevent problems while quality control identifies problems.
Goals of a Sanitation QA Program
- Identify raw material suppliers that provide a consistent and wholesome product
- Establish a sanitary program with:
- Program management
- Monitoring
- Verification
- Regulatory compliance
- Audit compliance
- Make possible stricter sanitary procedures in processing to achieve a safer product, within given tolerances
- Segregate raw materials on the basis of microbial quality to allow the greatest value at the lowest price.
The ultimate goal of a sanitation QA program is to ensure the production of safe food, improve food quality, and increase shelf life.
Major Components of a QA Program
- Clear delineation of objectives and policies
- Establishment of sanitation requirements for processes and products
- Implementation of an inspection system that includes procedures
- Development of microbial, physical, and chemical product specifications
- Establishment of procedures and requirements for microbial, physical, and chemical testing
- Development of a personnel structure, including an organizational chart for a QA program
- Development, presentation, and approval of a QA budget for required expenditures
- Development of a job description for all positions
- Setup of an appropriate salary structure to attract and retain qualified QA personnel
- Constant supervision of the QA program with written results in the form of periodic reports
- Compliance with the requirements of FSMA – Food Safety Modernization Act
- Food defense plan and implementation
Major Responsibilities of a Sanitation QA Program
The major responsibilities of a sanitation and QA program are to:
- set criteria for measuring acceptability (e.g. microbial levels);
- select appropriate control checks;
- determine sampling procedures (e.g. times, numbers to be sampled, measurements to be taken);
- set analysis methods;
- communicate the above to all levels of the company;
- determine if the Sanitation manger and the QA manager are separate positions
- if they are two positions, ensure they work together.
Major Responsibilities of Sanitation QA
You just looked at the responsibilities of a sanitation QA program. Now look at the responsibilities of the individual responsible for carrying out this program.
- Perform facility and equipment sanitation inspections at least daily
- Prepare sanitation specifications and standards
- Develop and implement sampling and testing procedures
- Implement a microbial testing and reporting program for raw products and manufactured products (more on this later)
- Evaluate and monitor personnel hygiene practices
- Evaluate compliance of the QA program with regulatory requirements, company guidelines and standards, and cleaning equipment
- Inspect production areas for hygienic practices
- Evaluate performance of cleaning compounds, equipment, and sanitizers
- Implement a waste product handling system
- Report and interpret data for the appropriate area of management so that corrective action, if necessary, can be taken
- Incorporate microbial analyses of ingredients and the finished product
- Educate and train plant personnel in hygienic practices, sanitation, and quality assurance
- Collaborate with regulatory officials on technical matters when necessary
Considerations and Definitions in Sanitation QA Programs
The following are important items to consider when creating Sanitation QA programs. Click through the tabs for more information.
Examples of Definitions:
