Food quality is the quality characteristics of food that is acceptable to consumers. This includes external factors as appearance (size, shape, colour, gloss, and consistency), texture, and flavour; factors such as federal grade standards (e.g. of eggs) and internal (chemical, physical, microbial).

Food quality in the United States is enforced by the Food Safety Act 1990. Members of the public complain to trading standards professionals, who submit complaint samples and also samples used to routinely monitor the food marketplace to Public Analysts. Public Analysts carry out scientific analysis on the samples to determine whether the quality is of sufficient standard.

Food quality is an important food manufacturing requirement, because food consumers are susceptible to any form of contamination that may occur during the manufacturing process. Many consumers also rely on manufacturing and processing standards, particularly to know what ingredients are present, due to dietary, nutritional requirements (kosher, halal

Halal

Halal is a term designating any object or an action which is permissible to use or engage in, according to Islamic law. The term is used to designate food seen as permissible according to Islamic law...

, vegetarian), or medical conditions (e.g., diabetes, or allergies).

Besides ingredient quality, there are also sanitation

Sanitation

Sanitation is the hygienic means of promoting health through prevention of human contact with the hazards of wastes. Hazards can be either physical, microbiological, biological or chemical agents of disease. Wastes that can cause health problems are human and animal feces, solid wastes, domestic...

 requirements. It is important to ensure that the food processing environment is as clean as possible in order to produce the safest possible food for the consumer. A recent example of poor sanitation recently has been the 2006 North American E. coli outbreak

2006 North American E. coli outbreak

The 2006 North American E. coli outbreak was an Escherichia coli O157:H7 outbreak from spinach. The outbreak occurred in September 2006 and its probable origin was an Angus cattle ranch that had leased land to spinach grower...

 involving spinach

Spinach

Spinach is an edible flowering plant in the family of Amaranthaceae. It is native to central and southwestern Asia. It is an annual plant , which grows to a height of up to 30 cm. Spinach may survive over winter in temperate regions...

, an outbreak that is still under investigation after new information has come to light regarding the involvement of Cambodian nationals.

Food quality also deals with product traceability

Traceability

Traceability refers to the completeness of the information about every step in a process chain.The formal definition: Traceability is the ability to chronologically interrelate uniquely identifiable entities in a way that is verifiable....

, e.g. of ingredient

Ingredient

An ingredient is a substance that forms part of a mixture . For example, in cooking, recipes specify which ingredients are used to prepare a specific dish. Many commercial products contain a secret ingredient that is purported to make them better than competing products...

 and packaging suppliers, should a recall of the product be required. It also deals with labeling issues to ensure there is correct ingredient and nutritional information.

Academic resources

• Food Quality and Preference
• Journal of Food Quality
• Sensing and Instrumentation for Food Quality and Safety, ISSN: 1932-7587 eISSN: 1932-9954

See also

• Adulterated food
  Adulterated food
  Adulterated food -- generally, impure, unsafe, or unwholesome food—has technical definitions in various United States laws. The Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act , the Federal Meat Inspection Act , and the Poultry Products Inspection Act Adulterated food -- generally, impure, unsafe, or...
  
  
• Food Administration
  Food Administration
  Food Administration may refer to various past and present organizations with responsibilities related to food in numerous countries and international organizations:- Argentina :...
  
  
• Food marketing
  Food marketing
  Food marketing brings together the producer and the consumer. It is the chain of activities that brings food from “farm gate to plate.” The marketing of even a single food product can be a complicated process involving many producers and companies. For example, fifty-six companies are involved in...
  
  
• Food safety
  Food safety
  Food safety is a scientific discipline describing handling, preparation, and storage of food in ways that prevent foodborne illness. This includes a number of routines that should be followed to avoid potentially severe health hazards....
  
  
• Food quality management system

• ISO 9001
• Quality management system
  Quality management system
  A quality management system can be expressed as the organizational structure, procedures, processes and resources needed to implement quality management.-Elements of a Quality Management System:# Organizational structure# Responsibilities# Methods...
  
  
• Validation
  Validation (drug manufacture)
  Validation in the pharmaceutical, medical device, food, blood establishments, tissue establishments, and clinical trials industries is defined as the documented act of demonstrating that a procedure, process, and activity will consistently lead to the expected results. It often includes the...
  
  
• Verification and validation
  Verification and Validation
  In software project management, software testing, and software engineering, verification and validation is the process of checking that a software system meets specifications and that it fulfills its intended purpose...
  
  
• Public analyst
  Public Analyst
  Public Analysts are scientists in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland whose principal task is to ensure the safety and correct description of food by testing for compliance with legislation. Most Public Analysts are also Agricultural Analysts who carry out similar work on animal...