abstract
- Quality control and assurance are critical and essential roles of the various types of snack industries especially today where the sales of these products are increasing, and end-products should fulfill certain standards given by domestic and international regulatory agencies. These operations should minimize fluctuations in product quality and guarantee that the packaged food is safe for the consumer within the expected shelf life. The implementation of hazard analysis and critical control points (HACCP), good manufacturing practices (GMP), and International Organization for Standarization (ISO) programs are fundamental to assure quality and safety of snack foods. The quality control and assurance of the different categories of snacks covered in this book differ because of the composition of raw materials, their susceptibility to microbial deterioration and their functionality for further processing into intermediate and finished products. The four major groups of foods (grains, fruits/vegetables, dairy, and meat/marine) require different quality control measurements in terms of raw materials, intermediate products, and finished products. Special emphasis is made on quality control of oils since most snacks are deep-fat fried or covered with oil-based flavorings and products prone to develop pathogenic bacteria or toxicological compounds that harm human health. This chapter focuses in the importance and main quality control measurements applied by snack food processors. © 2022 CRC Press.