GAP ANALYSIS & ESTABLISHING REQUIREMENTS FOR PRODUCT CERTIFICATION (SLS) ON JUJUBES (“GLUCORASA”)

Abstract

Product certification, which is popularly known as the SLS Mark Scheme", is a scheme that gives a third party guarantee on quality of a product. This scheme enables the SLS I to grant permits to local as well as overseas manufacturers producing goods conforming to Sri Lanka Standards to mark the "SLS" mark on their products.The Certification Mark on a commodity or product signifies that the commodity or product is consistently manufactured in accordance with the relevant Sri Lanka Standard Specification and could be purchased with a reasonable assurance of quality.Compliance with the requirements of the specification is assured through regular monitoring of the quality assurance system and audits carried out by qualified Auditors of the Institution. This study was focused on identification of gaps and establishing requirements for the product certificate on Jujubes (“Glucorasa”). Jujubes are a gelatin based product, which comes under sugar confectionary and marketed under the brand name “Glucorasa”. According to Sri Lanka Standards for gelatin based confectionary, there are three requirements, which need to be fulfilled by the manufacturer who wants to obtain the product certification as follows. (i.)The composition of the product should comply with the SLS requirements. (ii.)The manufactures who seek the SLS mark for their product should establish, document, implement and maintain the quality system comply with the twelve quality elements, which requires for product certification. (iii.)The product shall be processed, packed, stored & distributed in accordance with code of practice for general principles of food hygiene. During this project three gaps were identified to obtain the product certification. The analyzed composition of the jujubes was as follows. Moisture (percent by mass) 8.1, sulphated ash (percent by mass) 0.820, acid insoluble ash (percent by mass) 0.125, reducing sugar (calculated as dextrose) (percent by mass) 18.95, total sugar as sucrose (percent by mass) 69.06, gelatin content (percent by mass) 4.31 and SO2 content 85.3 mg/kg. Moisture and SO2 content of the product did not comply with the requirements for product certification. According to the standards, required level of moisture should be 10-15 (percent by mass) and maximum permitted SO2 level should be70 mg/ Kg.To maintain the quality system which complies with the twelve quality elements,documented details are required such as quality manual, quality plan & other supported documents. Quality manual, quality plan, procedures & other supported documents were prepared to fulfill the above gap. The product should be processed,packed, stored & distributed in accordance with code of practice for general principles of food hygiene. Procedures, work instructions, & schedules were established to guide the employees and to maintain the hygienic condition of the factory.