Total Quality Management (TQM) is a continuous method of improving production processes to ensure a quality finished product. Every organisation needs to focus on TQM in order to bring about effective quality enhancement in its products. In view of the rising instances of food contamination all over the world, it is high time TQM is adopted by the country’s F&B sector.
Hygiene, safety and quality are the primary concerns of customers globally. India is among the leading food product exporters, and considering that Indian food is feted and savoured across the globe, F&B manufacturers and exporters need to be careful.
In the recent past there have been several instances of food scares, leading to some prominent recalling of ingredients, seafood, fresh vegetables, beef and even milk. With global F&B players turning to India and other Asian nations for sourcing food, including grains, seafood and milk products, these countries have to focus on improving quality. Implementing TQM will go a long way in enabling this process.
Noted food technologist, Dr VH Potty, opines, “It is important that a ‘farm-to-fork-approach’ is adopted by F&B manufacturers and exporters in the country. This will ensure that the food product is tested and certified at each stage, right from the farm where it is procured, till it reaches the consumer’s plate. Such a TQM system will enable the producers and marketers to adopt a long term strategy of food safety and quality, which will be eventually ingrained in the entire system of food production and packaging.”
Food quality and safety in India have received a further boost due to the entry of the corporate sector in the F&B space. Today, leading retail giants are engaged in manufacturing and selling their individual F&B brands. This has shifted the focus of food safety to the retailers, since they are engaged in the production and packaging as well. Increasing awareness levels about food safety among consumers has ensured that these retailers focus on a TQM programme to implement a supervising system to ensure all food products meet safety standards.
“The F&B sector in India faces many restrictions, including lack of infrastructure and R&D participation, limitations in government policies and ineffective marketing strategies. The presence of 13 different laws concerning food safety and quality, imposed by nine different ministries, is another big obstacle. The recently formulated Food Safety and Standards Authority is expected to address these concerns and evolve a common food law. If the existing food laws are integrated with the TQM system and implemented in a simpler manner, food safety can be monitored and regulated efficiently,” points out Seema Garcha, a lecturer in the Department of Biotechnology at Punjabi University in Patiala.
The F&B industry needs to adopt the food safety and quality assurance mechanism of TQM which can include safety standards and certifications including ISO 9000, ISO 14000, ISO 22000, Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP), Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), Good Hygienic Practices (GHP), British Retail Consortium Global Standards (BRC) and Global Partnership for Good Agricultural Practice (GlobalGAP) at the earliest. TQM should not be viewed as a one-time audit exercise, but should be adopted as a routine procedure that can be put into practice in order to make food safety a habit rather than a stipulation.
Rohini Biswas Chandrasekhar |
