QM-systems and their implementation according to DIN EN ISO 9000 ff. - Terms, contents and aims

Preventive control systems for quality assurance in the food industry in general and therefore also in the meat industry are supposed to ensure that no health hazards arise and all requirements of the products concerning their nutritional and sensory value are met. In order to clarify facts which are often misinterpreted and misunderstood the relevant concepts are to be explained, defined and described according to their application in the field of food. In order to establish a quality management system each company has to develop its own individual program as only this can be adjusted to all of the conductions prevailing in the enterprise in question, the structure of its organization and the products concerned. In industrial enterprises dealing with obtaining and processing meat and even in larger artisans' workshops this systematic way of thinking is for the most part already accepted. At the time being already more than 50 meat and poultry slaughtering and processing enterprises have an ISO certificate, in the dairy industry even more milk-processing companies have joined a quality management system.