Meat Standards Australia – Auditing
| Project start date: | 01 July 2010 |
| Project end date: | 30 June 2011 |
| Publication date: | 30 June 2011 |
| Project status: | Completed |
| Livestock species: | Sheep, Goat, Lamb, Grassfed cattle, Grainfed cattle |
Summary
Meat Standards Australia (MSA) is a beef and sheepmeat eating quality program designed to take the guesswork out of buying and cooking Australian red meat. MSA involves all sectors of the supply chain from paddock to plate. A wide range of cattle and sheep management practices, processing systems, cuts, ageing periods and cooking methods have been researched to determine the impact each has on eating quality.
MSA Auditing
MSA has developed stringent standards that through their design, offer the industry a high integrity grading model and a fully audited supply chain ensuring best practice to deliver to the consumer a consistent quality eating experience. The standards operate under the scrutiny of the Australian Meat Industry Language and Standards Committee (AMILSC) which is made up of industry representatives from respective Peak Councils, and have become an integral part of the AUS-MEAT language to ensure the integrity of the program.
To ensure the integrity of the program, independent audits against the MSA standards are conducted with approximately carried out 1,500 end-user audits per year. All participants in the program are licensed to use the MSA trademark, and certify products via an approved Quality Management System in accordance with the MSA Standards Manual. Licensees are subject to independent random audit programs for compliance to the Standards. MSA Standards are backed by independent audit to the AS/NZS ISO 9001/2008 Standard.
