Identification of quality programs applied to some dairy industries in the west of Santa Catarina

Milk is considered one of the most complete foods and consumed by a large part of the population. In recent years the demands of legislation and the consumer market for improving quality in the dairy sector have been constant. Dairy products are increasingly investing in the adoption of standards and tools focused on food quality and safety management, guaranteeing their survival and competitiveness in the globalized market. The present work aimed to identify the situation of the implementation of quality management systems in dairy industries located in the West of Santa Catarina state and to analyze the initiatives to guarantee the quality of processed products. A case study was carried out, and the survey method was used to collect data through a questionnaire applied to four dairy products. The dairy products under study apply the basic tools of the quality management system required by current Brazilian legislation, such as Good Hygiene Practices, Good Manufacturing Practices, Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points and Internal Pest Monitoring, concern to maintain and adapt the quality system of its products, providing food safety, standardization and organization of processes, which ensures the competitiveness and safety of products.