*Harmless
*Edibility (acceptable flavor, ease of chewing and swallowing)
*Nutritiousness
*Ease of digestion and social acceptability
*Palatability or pleasantness draws both on factors related to edibility and on aspects of social acceptability.
Textural characteristics that render a food difficult to control in the mouth are likely to cause it to be rejected. Fish with many small bones, e.g herring, exemplify the problem. On the other hand the texture of cod, in which soft, juicy flakes of flesh come away easily from the cooked fish, is an example of a food for which oral control is easy.
Some of these quality characteristics are covered in food laws and regulations. For instance, failure of a food to meet regulatory requirements relating to a standard of identify, the declared quantity, declared ingredients or label claims, can be considered as misinterpretation, misbranding or fraud.
Unacceptable levels of foreign matter or extraneous materials that are not necessarily harmful to health or do not cause injury can also be considered as failure to meet food quality requirements.
Foods characteristics suitable for human consumption
