Food safety and food quality terminology may sometimes be confusing. Quality includes all product attributes that influence a products’ value to consumers.
This can include positive attributes such as flavor or pleasing appearance. It is also includes such negative attributes as spoilage contamination with nontoxic and noninfectious filth, discoloration, and odors.
If all quality attributes were detectable to consumers, then markets would determine the quality supplied.
The term quality has become a focus point in all discussion regarding the production and provision of food products to markets and consumers – quality in the broad sense of serving the consumers’ needs by producing them with the right product at the right time and with the right service.
The distinction between safety and quality has implication for public policy, Safety refers to hazards to human health in food. Quality refers to all attributes and thus might include safety.
Food safety is an inherent element of quality. It receives special attention by policy and legislation because of its key importance for consumers’ health and the responsibility for food safety by private and policy alike.
Food safety is the extent to which those requirements relating specifically to characteristics or properties that have potential to be harmful to health or to cause illness or injury are met,
It is convenient to separate food safety from more general quality issues. Public efforts should focus in health hazards and quality issues can be left to private industry management.
One reason why distinction is difficult in practice is that many quality attributes are not detectable. Market failure occur for quality attributes other than food safety.
Quality grades and standards can be voluntary or mandatory, When they are mandatory they can be a disguised means of limiting supply and increasing producer profits.
The distinction between food quality and food safety needs to be made primarily because of the much greater importance that must be attached to protecting consumers from food borne illness or injuries.
Defining Food Quality and Food Safety
