Quality Assurance

Quality assurance (QA) is the overall system a food business uses to make sure every product is safe and meets its specifications, through planning, written procedures, training, checks, records and audits.

  • Food safety
  • Ingredients & quality

Quality assurance is the management side of quality: the planned, systematic actions that give confidence a product will meet its requirements. A University of California training module frames QA as the overall system and quality control (QC) as the testing and measurement inside it. QA covers written specifications and standard operating procedures, supplier approval, raw-material, in-process and finished-product checks, records, training and internal audits. FAO separates food safety, meaning hazards that can make food injurious, from quality, meaning every other attribute that affects a product's value to the consumer, such as flavor, color and texture.

Many quality standards are also safety standards, such as limits on aflatoxin, so a strong QA system supports food safety directly. U.S. CGMP rules require appropriate quality control operations so food is suitable for human consumption. They define a quality control operation as a planned, systematic procedure for taking all actions needed to prevent adulteration, and they require food makers to keep natural defects as low as currently feasible. QA helps catch problems early, before they reach customers.

Key facts

QA vs. QC
QA is the system; QC is the testing within it
CGMP definition
QC operation: planned, systematic procedure to prevent adulteration
Defect standard
Lowest level currently feasible (21 CFR 117.110)
FAO positive quality attributes
Origin, color, flavor, texture, processing method

In a bakery or commercial kitchen

  • Write specifications for each ingredient and finished product, and train staff on the procedures that meet them
  • Approve suppliers and request a certificate of analysis for critical ingredients
  • Test raw materials, in-process product and finished goods for microbiological, chemical and sensory quality
  • Keep training, cleaning and sanitizing records, and verify that procedures are actually followed
  • Run internal audits and involve line workers in routine inspections

For home and cottage bakers

  • Write down each recipe's key specs, such as weights, bake temperature and time, so batches turn out consistent
  • Cottage sellers: note ingredient lot numbers and bake dates so you can trace any problem later
  • Judge quality by flavor, color and texture, but treat safety as a separate, non-negotiable question

Related entries

Sources

Written by VanillaGoods in our own words from these sources. Last reviewed October 17, 2026.

  1. Module 1.1: Overview of Quality Assurance, University of California, Davis (UC Food Safety)
  2. Assuring Food Safety and Quality: Guidelines for Strengthening National Food Control Systems, Section 3.1, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and World Health Organization
  3. 21 CFR 117.3 Definitions, Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School (Code of Federal Regulations)
  4. 21 CFR 117.80 Processes and controls, Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School (Code of Federal Regulations)
  5. 21 CFR 117.110 Defect action levels, Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School (Code of Federal Regulations)