KEEPING THE QUALITY OF FOOD

Food quality is defined as the sum of all properties and attributes of

food items that are acceptable to the customers. The attributes of food
quality are:
1. Appearance (Size, Shape, Colour, Consistency and Gloss)
2. Texture
3. Flavour
4. Nutritional content
5. Ethical and sustainable production
Food safety and adhering to the standard set out in legislation can also
add to food quality as they contribute to consumer acceptance of a food
product and can be used as marketing tools to trade product in
countries with high food safety standards.
By following these simple tips, you can help ensure the quality of your
food supply.
1. Check freshness rate on all ingredients and prepare them as close
to service as possible.
2. Keep all kitchen area clean.
3. Cook to the proper temperature to kill Bacteria.
4. Store food properly to prevent contamination.

SUMMARY
In any food industry, quality control is critical to success. Ensuring the
kitchen is clean and your food is fresh can help remove the risk of food
borne diseases and ensure a positive experience for your customers.
Here are four tips for quality control in your restaurant or commercial
kitchen:
1. Check freshness date on all ingredients and prepare them as close
to service as possible.
2. Keeps all kitchen area clean including walls, floors, utensils,
surfaces and hands
3. Cook food thoroughly to the proper temperature to kill Bacteria.
4. Store food properly to prevent contamination.
The one thing that can make food business successful is only food
quality. You can have the best location, a great atmosphere and
1|Page
marketing strategy, but if your food is sub-par, your door of business
won’t open for long.
Food quality can suffer for many reasons but there are many ways to
improve it. Your Menu may have the best flavour but how fresh they are
determines patronization.
A great menu can be transformed into an unbelievable one, simply by
upgrading your ingredients.
Quality of food is also important from a business standpoint e.g; which
do you think customers would prefer; a dish make with fish frozen
weeks ago and shipped to your restaurant, or a dish made with freshly
caught local fish that was delivered this morning? The quality you prefer
will shape your food business reputation and image in the community.
Improving your menu can breathe new life into your business and bring
in new loyal customers.

HOW TO IMPROVE FOOD QUALITY

1. MAKING FRESHNESS A PRIORITY:

Ever wondered what makes food taste good? It is the freshness of the
ingredients. Flavour additions are certainly important but fresh
ingredients provide richer flavour and more nutrients. Like freshly
picked tomatoes or strawberry taste better and different in flavour
compared to its grocery-bought counterpart. The customers will
definitely notice the difference in the quality of food if you start
focusing on using fresh ingredients.

2. ELIMINATE ARTIFICIAL INGREDIENTS:

This is an effective way of improving the quality of food. Customers
prefer natural food with higher quality. It may not be possible to
eliminate artificial ingredients but you can certainly limit them e.g; using
fresh herbs and spices (saint leaves and curry leaves can limit the use of
processed food). Cook food with natural products and promote the use
of natural ingredients.

2|Page
3. USE AND PROMOTE BRANDED INGREDIENTS:
Promoting branded ingredients give customers a reference point of
quality. If your restaurant is located in an area where customers are
conscious of local ingredients, be sure to promote the names of any
local farm or brands you use in your dishes. A simple mention of the
brand name can automatically shift customers perception to your
restaurant due to food quality.
4. WORK ON QUALITY CONTROL:
Focusing on ingredient quality control will ensure you servicing your
customers with better meals. Implement standards to ensure that the
freshest ingredients possible is used when preparing your dishes e.g;
when the ingredients was delivered, the look, feel and smell of the
ingredients. Establish a system for checking ingredients and removing
the unwanted or bad ones to maintain standard. Make sure your staff
understand the system and train them to manage the ingredients
properly. Make sure you re-assess your food storage because storage is
very important to achieving high quality food.
5. FEATURE LOCAL AND SEASONAL FOOD:
Demand for local and seasonal food is high when many customers
prefer to eat at restaurants that work with local farms and offer
changing menus with food that are fresh and in season. These food tend
to be fresher because of they don’t have to go far distance to get to the
restaurant. Fresher ingredients take meals to high quality food. Be sure
that local ingredients and seasonal items are used in preparing your
menu if you want to give your customers quality food.
6. WORK ON THE PREPARATION OF MEALS:
Restaurant food taste better because the chef has been trained to use
the right equipment and the best ingredients in preparing their meals.
Food quality depends on the preparation and serving. The quicker the
food gets to the table, the better.
7. OFFER UPSCALE INGREDIENTS:
Customers want to see premium options of meals in a restaurant. They
are then willing to make a choice and pay for it. What kind of premium
options can you offer? e.g; organic vegetables, sourced seafood, organic
pasture – reared meat e.t.c. instead of plantain with stew, you may offer

3|Page
 smoked plantain with saint leaves and otazi leaves, tomato sauce with
palm oil. This will enhance your food quality.
8. FOCUS ON HEALTHY INGREDIENTS:
Today’s consumers are health conscious. They prioritize food menus that
are natural, low sugar, low cholesterol and sodium, probiotic and anti-
oxidant. Research has shown that consumers prefer food rich in anti-
oxidants e.g; a roasted chicken can be prepared with kale or arugula to
improve the quality of food.

QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

This is the system that documents a food business’ organizational
structure, responsibilities, processes, procedures and resources which
direct and control how products are produced. For food quality control,
there are three important tools used. These are:-
1. GOOD AGRICUTUARAL PRACTICIES
Good agricultural practices are based on limiting biological, chemical and
physical hazards from the field to distribution. These includes the farm
sites, land used, wild life and habitat protection, water, fertilizers,
pesticides, worker hygiene, field and facilities sanitation, cooling and
transportation.
2. GOOD MANUFACTURING PRACTICIES:
This dictates that all persons working in direct contact with food
surfaces and packaging materials, conform to sanitation and hygiene
practices to the extent of protecting food against contamination from
direct or indirect sources. It is stated in legislation on how the
manufacturing industries should be run or otherwise risk closure.
3. HAZARD ANALYSIS CRITICAL CONTROL
This is a preventive management tool which enable food manufacturers
to identify critical conditions in food e.g; (samovita chemical e.g
pesticides and other contaminants). There is a monitoring system that
identifies the condition of products, and analyzes potential risks before
using such products to ensure quality assurance on food safety. This
also affects food quality.

4|Page
For food quality assurance, standard will includes: -
a. Employee training
b. Ingredients specifications
c. Traceability
d. Quality manual
e. Standard operation procedures
f. Critical control point
g. Sampling and analytical schedules
h. Repairing systems
i. Review processes

AUDITING
Audits are conducted in other to assess food businesses over all
compliance to regulations and internal policies. The audit process
involves documentation reviews and conduct of checks and interviews to
confirm the standard. The auditing is done by the owner of the food
business, external body or a licensing body to ensure compliance to
standard or otherwise, the certification is withdrawn and business
closed.

5|Page