FAQs - Frequently asked questions
The QS certification mark represents QS. Quality Scheme for Food. Only foodstuffs that are made and marketed according to the criteria of the QS scheme for foodstuffs may carry the QS mark.
The QS scheme is a cross-stage quality assurance scheme for food. It symbolizes the comprehensive process and origin securing that extends from the production stage via processing and through to marketing. From the farmer to the shop.
The QS scheme is a voluntary initiative of the economy. It is an alliance to ensure active consumer protection and was founded in 2001 as a response to the BSE crisis.
The QS certification mark can be found on meat and meat products as well as on fresh fruit, vegetables, potatoes. Both German and foreign products may carry the QS certification mark. The decisive factor is whether the products are manufactured and marketed according to the criteria of the QS scheme. In addition, independent QS monitoring must be carried out and the participation in the QS scheme must be confirmed contractually.
QS. Quality Scheme for Food. has so far restricted itself to products in the meat and meat products sector as well as fresh fruit, vegetables, potatoes. Other products, for example, milk, fish and eggs, do not carry the QS certification mark.
Products with the QS certification mark can be found in German stores, for example, meat and deli-meats, as well as fresh fruit, vegetables, potatoes. The products can be recognized by the labeling on the product packaging or the identification at the counter.
QS. Quality Scheme for Food. has established itself in production and shops within the space of just a few years. Products with the QS certification mark are currently being sold in more than 23,000 markets in the food retail sector. Take note of the product notes in advertising brochures and newspaper advertisements issued by stores.
Products with the QS certification mark are not necessarily more expensive than products without the test mark. The QS scheme does not influence the setting of prices.
QS knows the history of your food. QS knows every company that has been involved in the manufacturing and marketing of the products. QS monitors every company regularly for the maintenance of QS criteria. Checklists and product accompanying documentation that enable conclusions to be drawn with regard to the manufacturing process and origins accompany the product to the shop. The entire manufacturing process is transparent and creates a high level of reliability.
The QS scheme takes sustainability into account. This is specified, among other things, in the statutes of the board of trustees and is thus decisive when it comes to our actions. The specifications are substantiated in the criteria and obligations of the QS scheme for animal welfare and environmental protection.
QS certified supermarkets are also regularly monitored by neutral certification bodies for the maintenance of the QS criteria. The topics of this monitoring process are criteria such as correct storage, the maintenance of hygienic measures and the training of employees.
Not all products tat you find in a QS certified supermarket are manufactured and marketed in accordance with the criteria of the QS scheme. QS. Quality Scheme for Food. is only able to make statements on the origin and production of products that carry the QS certification mark.
Despite controlled manufacture and marketing, the QS scheme is also not able to exclude a lack of quality in these products. In rare instances, it may be that products that appear on the outside to be perfectly good, actually display a lack of quality. Notifications of such problems are consistently investigated by QS.
The executives of QS Qualität und Sicherheit GmbH are associations and organizations in the agricultural and food industry that represent the individual manufacturing and marketing stages.
Feed
Deutscher Raiffeisenverband e. V.
Agriculture
Deutscher Bauernverband e. V.
Slaugthering/Deboning
Verband der Fleischwirtschaft e. V.
Meatindustrie
Bundesverband der deutschen Fleischwarenindustrie e.V.
Food Retail
Handelsvereinigung für Marktwirtschaft e. V.
All executives together act as an alliance for active consumer protection.
For the poultry and fresh fruit, vegetables, potatoes sectors, specialist societies were founded in 2004 in order to do better justice to the special requirements of these product sectors.
At the QS Fachgesellschaft Geflügel GmbH is beneath the QS Qualität und Sicherheit GmbH
Zentralverband der Deutschen Geflügelwirtschaft e.V.,
at the QS Fachgesellschaft Obst-Gemüse-Kartoffeln GmbH are QS Qualität und Sicherheit GmbH
der Bundesausschuss Obst und Gemüse (BOG)
die Bundesvereinigung der Erzeugerorganisationen Obst und Gemüse e. V.
der Zentralverband Gartenbau e. V.
die Union der Deutschen Kartoffelwirtschaft e. V.
der Deutsche Fruchthandelsverband (DFHV)
der belgische Verband der Erzeugerorganisationen (VBT)
and die niederländische Dutch Produce Association (DPA)
participated. All three societies have a common headquarters based in Bonn.
QS represents quality assurance, cross-stage, from the farmer to the shop It is a closed scheme with specified criteria and participation obligations for all stages of production and marketing. The farmer is, as a food and animal feed company, a central link in the chain. The participation is voluntary for farmers.
For the farmer, participation in the QS scheme is initially a sensible investment in the company organization. The guidelines made available to the farmer take account of all important legal requirements, the checklists and are, at the same time, limited to the essentials. QS pays attention to ensure regular updates in order to do timely justice to new legal regulations and new scientific knowledge. In addition, the implementation of the QS criteria is the basis for the validation of the premium demand (cross compliance). It doesn't matter whether it is an improvement to work processes, the correct documentation of feed and medicines, communication or hygiene, the QS scheme supports, informs and integrates the farmer.
The quality assurance in agriculture and the coordination of the production and marketing processes of all companies in the production supply chain are increasingly becoming more important to the consumers. The comprehensive process and origin securing is, for the consumer, a decisive purchasing criteria. If the farmer, with their participation in the QS. Quality Scheme for Food., pays attention to the secured origin of feed, piglets or seed, they also make a contribution to active consumer protection and secures the future of their own products!
The QS scheme defines and monitors strict manufacturing and marketing criteria at every stage of production and retail. Only foodstuffs that are manufactured and marketed according to the criteria of the QS scheme for foodstuffs at all stages may carry the QS mark.
The core of the QS scheme and the prerequisite for the award of the QS certification mark is the monitoring of manufacturing and marketing in a three stage monitoring program. At the first stage, companies set up and implement their own monitoring scheme according to QS criteria. The daily work within the companies is designed in accordance with the requirements of the internal monitoring scheme. At the second stage, this internal company monitoring scheme is monitored by neutral certification bodies. Laboratory tests on product samples (e.g. for salmonella and feed monitoring as well as residue monitoring of fruit and vegetables) are also carried out.
At the third stage is the monitoring of the work of neutral certification bodies and laboratories with ring trials, sample monitoring and traceability checks.
If monitoring detects violations against the criteria of the QS scheme, an independent sanction board is called upon. Warnings, fines or the exclusion from the QS scheme can be ordered by the sanction board. In serious cases, the company can be blocked immediately after monitoring and the products that carry the QS certification mark can be removed from the stores.
The manufacturing and marketing process in the meat and meat products sector starts with the manufacturing of the feed. The feeding of animals within the QS scheme may only be carried out using QS tested and permitted feed. At the agricultural stage, controlled animal husbandry is given particular attention. Criteria from animal welfare, feed, keeping and use of medicines form the focus of the scheme requirements. QS test criteria in the field of abattoirs and deboning affect, among other things, questions with regard to livestock transportation and slaughter hygiene whereas the processing stage, among other thing, refers to the maintenance of hygiene and the cold chain. In the food retail trade, temperature specifications, personal hygiene, employee training, goods control and traceability are in the forefront.
The manufacturing and marketing process in the fruit, vegetables, potatoes sector starts with production. At this stage, criteria for soil processing, plant protection products, fertilization as well as the securing the origin determine the test criteria. At the wholesale/fruit trade stage, criteria for storage and transportation conditions, hygiene, securing origin and traceability are relevant. In food retail, goods control also plays a role. Current information for the criteria of the QS scheme, can be found on the Internet under www.q-s.de.
The criteria of the QS scheme takes, at the very least, those legal regulation into account that apply to manufacturing and marketing of foods in all stages of the scheme. In some instances, QS even goes above and beyond the legal requirements, in particular in reference to food safety. Thus the QS scheme covers, among other things, the systematic monitoring of individual product groups within the framework of monitoring programs, for example, the feed and salmonella monitoring as well as residue monitoring for fresh fruit and vegetables.
With the QS scheme, the consumer is offered food that has been produced in a cross-stage quality assurance scheme. The feed industry, farmers, abattoirs and deboning companies, meat processing companies, wholesalers and food retailers – all the stages involved in the manufacturing and marketing process are included in the scheme. For these stages, the scheme prescribes stage-specific fixed criteria that must be adhered to. With the three-stage QS scheme, QS offers comprehensive monitoring of the entire food chain from the field and the stall through to the shop. This is what makes QS different to other quality assurance schemes.
The core of the QS scheme and the prerequisite for the award of the QS certification mark is the monitoring of manufacturing and marketing in a three stage monitoring program.
In the meat and meat products sector, the three-stage monitoring scheme is completed by QS salmonella monitoring. In this process, blood or meat samples are tested for salmonella antibodies. The results of these examinations are entered into a central QS salmonella database and evaluated there.
The aim of QS salmonella monitoring is the identification of pig producers that display an increased risk of salmonella entry into the meat production.
These companies are obliged to, along with the relevant veterinarian, to carry out measures to reduce salmonella. The implementation of these measures will be examined in the independent QS audits. Every quarter, a new assessment of the pig producers sorts them into high, medium and low salmonella entry risk groups.
Animal welfare and animal health issues are strictly monitored within the QS scheme. Thus, maintenance of the legal animal welfare regulations is an essential prerequisite for participation in the QS scheme.
Thanks to the consistent and documented monitoring of all agricultural companies and of abattoirs, QS makes a considerable contribution towards the implementation of animal welfare. The physical state of stalls, the feeding and care of animals, the specific conditions for keeping animals, the education of the transporters, the maintenance of hygienic regulations, the care of livestock by a contracted veterinarian and the correct use of medication are some of the few QS criteria to be mentioned at this point.
The QS scheme participants from the meat and meat products sector are incorporated via controls, monitoring programs and random sampling into a scheme that is transparent from all sides. In the event that irregularities in documentation, traceability and labeling occur, fines of up to 30,000 euros and the exclusion from the QS scheme are potential consequences.
Meat and goods stored too long and of unclear origin or quality may thus not occur within the QS scheme. In the incidents that have taken place in the past, QS goods were not affected at all. In the event of suspicion, QS immediately and fully investigates notifications and triggers special examinations as well as checking the traceability and documentation.
The core of the QS scheme and the prerequisite for the award of the QS certification mark is the monitoring of manufacturing and marketing in a three stage monitoring program.
In the fresh fruit, vegetables, potatoes sector, the three-stage monitoring scheme is completed by QS residue monitoring.
This tests fresh fruit, vegetables and potatoes at all stages of production and marketing for the maintenance of legally prescribed maximum residue levels of plant protection products and nitrates.
QS requires their scheme participants to participate in QS residue monitoring. QS recognized laboratories examine the goods for the maintenance of the legally prescribed maximum residue levels for plant protection products and nitrates. Precise specifications regarding the testing methods secure scheme-wide comparable results. Thanks to this systematic approach, excesses can be quickly determined and in the event of emergency, the products can be removed from the market early.
Scheme participants that violate the specifications of the QS scheme will be subject to warnings, fines or exclusion from the scheme.
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