Every year, World Quality Day is celebrated in November. The goal of this holiday is increasing the significance of high quality goods and services as well as stepping up work related to attracting attention to issues of quality. After all, this includes not just the safety of humans and the environment, but also the level of satisfying consumer demands and expectations.
The Department of Food and Biotechnology in the SUSU School of Medical Biology trains students in commodity science and examination of goods. Lina Tsirulnichenko, Associate Professor of this Department, told us about quality control of goods and services and about how serious the issue of quality control is in Russia.
– How is quality control for goods and services carried out? Who controls quality?
– Both state bodies and authorities and businesses themselves deal with issues of assuring and controlling the quality of goods and services. Today’s key demands are for safety, which are mostly determined by technical regulations. For example, the safety of food products shall meet the requirements of TR TS 021/2011 On Safety of Food Products. There are also requirements for verifying goods in the form of certifications and declarations.
– How serious is the issue of quality control for goods and services in Russia?
– That depends on the industry and sector. Without a doubt, there are industries, where Russian goods are totally competitive, but there are also industries which should use the experience of international partners. In my opinion, the optimal relationship between price and quality will be achieved by collaboration between Russian companies and international manufacturers.
This will make it possible to create quality products which are accessible for the consumer.
– How have quality standards changed over the last few years?
– In the last few years, safety requirements have become the top priority. Besides that, quality systems such as ISO, HACCP, GMP, and others have become more widespread. These quality systems have a complex approach to ensuring the quality of goods and services and offer higher assurance of the safety of goods. You can identify such products by a special mark on packaging.
– Is it possible to determine quality independently?
– A common consumer can use posts and the available organoleptic methods – that is, use their own sense organs. But to do this, you must know some theory for sure. There are, of course, various quality reactions and tests, many of which are on the internet. However, they are not always reliable.
– How are students of your Department taught to be professionals in this field?
– Students of our Department listen to lectures and attend laboratory lessons where they use specific product samples to complete research and determine quality levels.