Food Safety in 100 Questions

Foreword

Nutrition is a fundamental element of healthy living, and everyone involved in the food chain is responsible for ensuring that foods are safe and of high quality. Food safety includes the production, transportation, storage, sale, and delivery of food and beverages in a manner that does not harm health.

Throughout the process from food production to consumption, foods can become harmful to health through various means or may acquire harmful properties even without any change. The modern concerns of humans seeking healthier and longer lives, and the anxiety of keeping natural or artificial harmful agents away from people, have led the entire world to new searches and regulations.

The concept of quality in the final product has shifted to a cycle that returns from the table to the field, encompassing the change and development of total quality management understanding. The aim of ensuring food safety is to deliver foods that contain nutritional elements, comply with legal regulations, and do not contain harmful substances to consumers.

In this context, Total Quality Management (TQM), ISO 9001, ISO 22000, HACCP, ISO 14001, OHSAS 18001, and SA 8000 applications are extremely important for the sector, and the full integration of these systems will result in improving service and product quality to produce healthy and safe food.

When I planned to write the book in your hands, I wanted to create a practical handbook on Food Quality. While preparing the book, I started from common problems and conflict issues experienced in institutions wanting to establish a food quality system. This book is written for "everyone" interested in food quality concepts. Therefore, the book is not only aimed at professionals. For this reason, technical and academic explanations were avoided as much as possible. Additionally, I thought the question-and-answer method applied in the book would provide practicality for the reader.

This learning material will help you acquire the necessary basic information about the Food Safety Management System.

Prof. Dr. Mustafa TAYAR

Contents

  • Foreword
  • Food Safety (General Concepts)
  • Quality Concept and Food Quality Elements
  • Food Safety Quality Management Systems
  • Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP)
  • Other Quality Systems Related to Food

Chapter 1: Food Safety (General Concepts)

1) What is Food?

It refers to all kinds of substances consumed or expected to be consumed by humans, processed, partially processed, or unprocessed, excluding live animals not directly offered for human consumption, feed, unharvested plants, medicinal products used for treatment, cosmetics, tobacco, and tobacco products. Foods can be processed, partially processed, or unprocessed. Food is broadly defined as everything eaten and drunk.

However, the term food should not include the following:

  • Feed; products containing additives that are processed, semi-processed, or unprocessed intended for feeding animals,
  • Live animals unless prepared for human consumption in markets,
  • Plants before harvest,
  • Medicinal products,
  • Cosmetics,
  • Tobacco and tobacco products,
  • Narcotic and psychotropic substances,
  • Residues and contaminants.

2) What is Food Safety?

Food that does not pose a danger to human health and is suitable for consumption is Safe Food.