CC BY
125
UDC 005.6:664
CONTEMPORARY QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM ELEMENTS IN THE FOOD INDUSTRY
Bojkovska K., Tomovska J., Researchers University «St. Kliment Ohridski», Bitola, Republic of Macedonia
Mohammad Ali Shariati*, Researcher Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
*E-mail: [email protected]
ABSTRACT
This paper describes several quality management systems in the food industry. The systems are applied in the quality assessment of all business subjects in the food industry, with the primary objective of protecting consumers and gaining their trust in safe food production and distribution. The adoption of food management systems also gives businesses in the food industry the security and the competitiveness they need on the market. Quality management systems keep up with market globalization and are consequently applied as standard worldwide.
KEY WORDS
Quality management systems, safe food.
Quality management systems (QMS) are indispensable in each sector of the food industry, to ensure safe, quality food for the consumer [9].
The number of businesses in the food industry which adopt QMS in order to enhance their competitiveness on the global market is continually rising [2]. The most important quality management systems in the food industry are: Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI), International Food Standard (IFS), British Retail Consortium (BRC), Safe Quality Food (SQF) 2000 and International Organization for Standardization - ISO 22000:2005 [1].
Global food safety initiative (GFSI). The Global Food Safety Initiative was launched in 2000, coordinated by CIES - The Food Business Forum, an association of the largest retailers worldwide. The mission of the GFSI is to continually advance food safety management systems, so as to gain the trust of the consumers in safe food delivery. The objectives of the Initiative are: 1. to ensure consumer protection and to build up and maintain consumer trust, 2. to increase cost efficiency in the entire food supply chain through common acceptance of GFSI recognized standards by retailers worldwide, 3. to provide a unique international platform for networking and the exchange of knowledge, information and best food safety practices. The basic principle the GFSI rests on is the fact that ensuring food safety is not a competitive process, since each potential problem may affect the entire sector, due to market globalization. The GFSI does not provide accreditation or certification [5]. The fifth edition of the GFSI guidelines (GSFI Guidance Document) was released in September 2007. It contains the commonly agreed upon criteria for food safety standards, by which standards may be compared and evaluated. The GFSI has thus acknowledged four standards: BRC, IFS, Dutch HACCP and SQF. Each of these food safety schemes meets the criteria defined jointly by food safety experts, with the objective of making food production as safe as possible. The main results are cost reduction in the food supply chain and fewer audits. The GFSI vision of 'once certified, accepted everywhere' has become a reality. Carrefour, Tesco, Metro, Migros, Ahold, Wal-Mart and Delhaize have all agreed to reduce audits by accepting any of the four GFSI recognized standards [6].
British retail consortium (BRC). The due diligence principle formulated in the UK Food Safety Act in 1990 made retail chains in Great Britain responsible for the food they sold as their products.
Retailers, as well as all other sectors of the food industry, were obliged to take all appropriate measures to avoid any problem which could threaten the health of consumers. The application of this principle included technical check-up of the supplier's production process by each retailer they supplied. For years retailers did this separately, depending on their standards and internal control. Consequently, the producers had great costs, since they had to meet various requirements set by each retailer they supplied food to and were assessed at meeting each of the requirements. Retailers also had more costs, since they had to expand their quality control departments in order to set standards by which their suppliers would be controlled [3].
As a way round these problems, in 1998 the British Retail Consortium (BRC), an association of the largest British retailers (Tesco, Safeway,
Somerfield, Sainsbury etc.), published the BRC Food Technical Standard, a list of requirements suppliers had to comply with. This standard enabled retailers to fully meet their legal obligations regarding consumer protection. It also set up common criteria to control all companies supplying retailers with brand products, by requiring a plan for the implementation of HACCP, a documented quality management system and control of factory environment, products, processes and personnel. Finally, there is only one standard in Great Britain and consequently one certificate acknowledged by all retailers [1,3]. After the original version, the BRC Standard has been regularly revised to include new trends in food safety. Although the initiative was British, the Standard has been used in other countries as well. The latest, 5th issue, has thus been published with the purpose of its application worldwide, and the BRC has renamed it Global Standard for Food Safety - GSFS [4].
International food standard (IFS). In 1999 the association of German retailers, Bundesvereininung Deutscher Handelsverbande (BDH), started developing a standard by which suppliers would be controlled for products with their labels (declarations), in an effort to provide a norm with a single assessment and control system. The standard was supported by French retail chains and consequently it became significant for the entire Western Europe. The fifth version, issued in 2007, was developed in cooperation with Italian experts and interest groups. The content of the IFS is based on the BRC Standard and the structure on ISO 9001:2000. The IFS is in fact a list of requirements that businesses in the food industry have to fulfill in order to be certified. The fulfillment of each requirement is evaluated and scored as:
A. full compliance with the IFS criteria,
B. nearly full compliance with the IFS criteria, apart from minor irregularities,
C. partial application of the IFS criteria,
D. no application of the IFS criteria.
The fifth version eliminates the earlier three levels (basic, higher and recommendations on good practice) and offers a single set of requirements. Furthermore, it introduces more requirements regarding risk analysis, as well as a new evaluation system, which facilitates the comparison of results [7].
Safe quality food (SQF 2000). The Australian government and several farmers' associations developed in 1995 a system which could control the entire agro-food chain, the Safe Quality Food system - SQF. It was later renamed SQF 2000. This standard is based on the requirements set by Codex Alimentarius and those of ISO 9000. Since farmers' representatives were directly involved in developing it, SQF is applicable in the primary production as well. Since 2003, the Food Marketing Institute (FMI) in Washington manages SQF.
Due to differences in size, processes and products and the impracticability of using a single standard for all businesses in the food industry, several standards have been developed: SQF 1000 for primary production and smaller businesses, SQF 2000 for bigger food enterprises and SQF 3000 for retail and restaurants [11].
HACCP certification. The initiative to develop a standard for certifying the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point system (HACCP) was launched by the Dutch food-processing industry. The first version, 'Criteria for the assessment of an operation HACCP-system', was introduced in 1996. Six years later it was renamed 'Requirements for a
HACCP-based food safety system'. The structure of the standard is based on the 7 basic principles and the 12 steps of HACCP, with additional requirements for a quality management system [10].
International organization for standardization (ISO). ISO 15161:2001 - 'Guidelines on the application of ISO 9001:2000 for the food and drink industry' is a document which illustrates the interaction of the norm ISO 9001 and HACCP and gives directives on the implementation of ISO 9001 in the food industry. According to this standard, food safety is considered part of quality. However, certification by ISO 15161:2001 was not possible and businesses in the food industry were certified according to ISO 9001:2000 instead (the only difference being the specific interpretation of each single requirement in ISO 15161). The standard was later revised by ISO 22000.
ISO 22000:2005. Since the national initiative for the certification of HACCP in the Netherlands and Denmark did not achieve international success, Denmark suggested a new international standard. Thus in 2001 the International Organization for Standardization started working on a standard with requirements for a food safety management system based on the HACCP principles [1]. ISO 22000:2005 was published in September 2005. It offers a practical framework for coordinating different requirements and norms in a single global standard.
The standard encompasses requirements for prerequisite programs, including good production practice, and the requirements for the implementation of HACCP and a quality management system. It also includes HACCP according to Codex Alimentarius, so that it can be easily applied in companies worldwide. Its objective is to establish a single food safety standard, applicable by any business in the food industry, by integrating the existent food quality and safety management systems, and thus to offer a firm basis for consumer trust. ISO 22000:2005 'Food safety management systems - requirements for any organization in the food chain' can be used by different subjects in the food chain, from animal feed producers, plant and cattle breeders, to food manufacturers, transport and storage operators, retailers, to suppliers of additives and ingredients, food processors, producers of packages, chemicals, sanitary and other material. ISO 22000 was developed by experts in the food industry, retail and services, representatives of international trade associations and other experts in related fields, in cooperation with the Codex Alimentarius Commission.
This standard represents a model for the improvement of food industry business management, which is based on risk management. The standard is applicable on its own, but it is also in full accordance with ISO 9001:2000, so that companies which already operate according to the ISO 9001 system can simply expand that norm to ISO 22000. The ISO 22000 set of standards includes ISO 22001 - 'Guidelines on the application of ISO 9001:2000 for the food and drink industry', which has replaced ISO 15161:2001.
Conclusion. The implementation of contemporary quality management systems is motivated primarily by the need of gaining additional competitive advantage and better business results. All other reasons for implementation such as: precondition for new jobs (the case of suppliers), marketing effect, improving the satisfaction of customers and employees etc. should be reflected in the business result. Unfortunately the situation is not that simple because many studies have shown failures in quality management systems try to accomplish these goals.
Quality management systems are created with aim of mass application of a large number of their supporters exactly with the number or mass usage as a measurement of their success. The number of food companies that have applied quality management systems evaluated at 10-20% had a sense because they are so certain food companies really distanced than others and thus exercised a certain competitive advantage.
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