Why quality assurance matters in food processing

As customers, we all want to receive quality when we make a purchase. However, when it comes to what we eat, this statement takes on a new level of importance.

In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, consumers are more concerned than ever about what they are putting into their bodies. Food processors who fail to deliver on quality run the risk of customer dissatisfaction and reduced demand, leading to falling profit and potential closure.

While quality control should rightfully take centre place in your operations to ensure that products go out in the right condition, this should not be prioritised over quality assurance. By implementing effective quality assurance protocols, you can prevent contamination to your food products before final checks and allowing for a more efficient process. With this comes great rewards for both you and your customers.

In this guide, we have detailed why quality assurance is vital in the food processing industry and the benefits that can be reaped for those who get it right.

• The post-pandemic focus on hygiene
• Reducing waste
• Meet compliance guidelines
• Increased customer satisfaction
• Enable faster turnaround

The post-pandemic focus on hygiene

Hygiene has always mattered in food. Customers rightfully demand products that are free from contamination and have been hygienically handled.

Following the COVID-19 pandemic, cleanliness – relating to employees, machinery, visitors, products, the environment – has come under the spotlight for food manufacturers.

The importance of excellent hygiene and cleanliness standards was further highlighted when a string of food manufacturers reported coronavirus outbreaks within their factories. This brought into sharp focus the necessity of establishing rigorous hygiene practices to help prevent further spread and to reassure food retailers and consumers that what they are eating is safe. The Food Standards Agency emphasises the critical role of hygiene protocol in enabling food manufacturers to adapt to the pandemic’s challenges, so they can show they are ‘COVID secure’ and thereby maintain and build trust among consumers.

The role of hygiene in reducing the spread of coronavirus coincides with the position it takes in reducing bacteria of all kinds, including the likes of e.coli, salmonella and other forms of food poisoning. This helps to keep customers and staff safe, reducing cases of illness stemming from your production.

While some forms of contamination can be detected during the quality control stages – particularly physical contaminants – this isn’t always the case for bacterial contamination. Instead, quality assurance is needed to ensure clean environments and appropriate practices that reduce the risk of bacteria getting into food.

Quality assurance may be created by having a regular and extensive cleaning plan for your production lines, delivering staff training that encourages personal responsibility during the workday, using hygienic and washable equipment in your production lines, and ensuring that the proper guidelines are followed. If you build an environment of quality assurance, you will undoubtedly benefit from the rewards – including a safer customer base who continue to buy your products in the new, post-pandemic normal.

Reducing waste

The benefit of quality assurance over quality control is that, by the time you reach the quality control stage, it is often too late. Any products that have been subject to contamination are already affected, leaving food processors to remove the compromised batches and start again. With quality assurance focused on preventing these issues from arising in the first place, it can help to reduce waste by ensuring contaminant-free products every time.

Waste at large levels is a problem for many reasons. Firstly, product waste usually translates into increase cost and lost time. Having to throw away materials that you would have otherwise sold on will lower your profit margins. Waste food from UK manufacturers amounts to £1.2 billion a year, so cutting your waste can have a substantial impact on your costs.

Similarly, having to reprocess lines means increasing your running costs, in terms of energy, supply and worker costs, compared to getting the intended results in the first instance. It also results in slower turnaround. By having less waste, you can ensure better management of your supplies and workflows, which will save both time and money.

Secondly, reducing waste helps to minimise your plant’s impact on the environment. Food waste releases greenhouse gases when it decomposes at landfill, across product and packaging – but preventing one tonne of food waste from going to landfill can save five tonnes of carbon dioxide. Businesses that play a role in reducing waste will be collaborating to an overall industry effort to reduce environmental detriment, which is particularly significant with the food production industry responsible for 25% of the world’s emissions.

With climate change a real and significant global problem, consumers are more considerate of the environment when making purchasing decisions and this has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. So, it is in the best interest of food processors to position themselves as ‘green’. Brands that are seen to be actively contributing to the effort, such as reducing their waste, will benefit from better customer sentiment and favourable publicity, which generates sales.

Every food processor will want to lower running costs and enjoy the benefits of being more eco-friendly through reduced waste. One of the simplest ways to achieve this is to implement quality assurance practices that enable you to process products correctly the first time more frequently and reduce the need to re-run lines.

Meet compliance guidelines

Assuring quality means having to have the right practices in place in terms of hygiene and safety. It’s therefore no surprise that quality assurance often goes hand in hand with compliance.

Food production in the UK must meet a whole host of regulatory requirements imposed by the Food Standards Agency and British Retail Consortium Global Standards (BRGS), the Groceries Supply Code of Practice (GSCOP), as well as  global standards such as the Global Food Safety Initiative. There may also be local laws and requirements that are relevant to the sector you operate within, such as HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) and GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice).

Under these guidelines, processors must meet rigid rules regarding how they produce and handle their products. This usually involves meeting hygiene levels and having processes that safeguard customers from any harm resulting from consumption.

Operators in breach of the rules and guidelines may be subjected to fines and enforced closure and this can lead to incalculable reputational damage. These less careful establishments are also unlikely to pass inspections or get favourable hygiene ratings, which will deter customers – not to mention the increasing likelihood that their lack of attention to detail and hygiene will ultimately compromise the health of the public.

However, manufacturers that insist on quality assurance and compliance substantially reduce the risk of product recalls, where goods are found to breach standards after they have already gone out to the public. As product recalls can be even more costly and reputationally damaging, this will be welcome to every food processor.

Quality assurance is a vital part of the food manufacturing process. By establishing an environment where quality is delivered every time, you will be meeting – and perhaps even exceeding – existing guidelines, resulting in a credible reputation and safe production.

Increased customer satisfaction

We have all heard horror stories about food processors failing to deliver the expected quality. One of the most famous examples is the horsemeat scandal of 2013, where horse meat was discovered in some meat products. Companies embroiled in the scandal lost valuable contracts with well-known suppliers at cost to their business.

The lesson to be learnt from this scandal is that meeting expectations is key to customer satisfaction. In order to meet these expectations, you need to be able to assure quality every time.

Providing safe, high-quality products will naturally lead to satisfied customers, which in turn translate into favourable reviews, increased demand, more sales and higher profits. Alternatively, low quality could lead to complaints and irreversible reputational damage.

Being able to assure quality continually will significantly reduce the risk of your business falling victim to scandals, negative press attention and complaints. Instead, you will enjoy the rewards of a satisfied market who return to purchase with you again and again. 

Enable faster turnaround

By now, it should be evident that achieving quality assurance means setting up the right processes in your factory, in terms of cleanliness, handling, production and so on. Having these essential practices in place in an effective manner will also support your staff to do their jobs efficiently and quickly, resulting in faster turnaround.

With rigorous quality assurance processes in place, you’ll increase the likelihood that tasks will be done correctly every time, following the given guidelines. This will reduce the occurrence of unwanted events such as line closures or the need to reprocess whole batches if something has gone wrong.

Under the quality assurance remit, you may find it helpful to follow protocols with regards to equipment maintenance and cleaning. Both of these will substantially reduce the risk of error, by allowing your machines to operate at optimal levels, reducing downtime and increasing speed. These kinds of preventive protocols also help prevent critical production issues such as contamination or other faults, leading to loss of time due to repair or restarting production.

Quality assurance should work in conjunction with quality control so that all products get a final check before they leave your factory. However, adequate assurance can reduce the time spent on these checks and result in a better success rate before the quality control stage. Again, this will speed up your turnaround times, allowing you to lower production costs and improve productivity across your respective projects.

In summary

Alongside quality control, quality assurance plays a vital part in every food processing plant. Without it, factories leave themselves wide open to all manner of production issues – including recalls and slower turnaround times, failure to meet compliance guidelines, customer complaints and higher costs.

By implementing effective protocols, training staff and utilising the best and most appropriate equipment in your production line, it is relatively easy to create an environment of quality assurance, providing you stick to it continually. This will allow you to reap the advantages of producing high-quality products, reliably, with less time wasted trying to right the wrongs retrospectively.

COVID-19 has imposed another layer of operational difficulty upon food manufacturers, with all operators having to adapt to a new normal. However, those that prioritise quality assurance will be well placed to enjoy the added benefits of satisfied customers, lower costs and increased sales.

If you need assistance in incorporating quality assurance into your production lines, we are here to help. We offer many solutions to support food processing, dependent on your plant’s unique needs, including hygienic and efficient machinery, workforce training, and machine maintenance contracts.

Get in touch today to find out how more.