Food Standards and Quality Control

Food Standard and Quality Control

Lesson 04 : Specifications for raw materials

Establishing specifications

Standard specifications provide criteria to characterize the nature of a commodity, usually on a pass or fail basis. Most countries have a national standards institution which may issue specifications for commodities as well as methods of testing. Many countries adopt or modify international standards, e.g. International Organization for Standardization (ISO), into their national system. Another source is the Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex) which operates various committee to formulate standards for various commodities.