How we ensure quality
Delivering safe, high-quality food starts with a robust quality assurance system. From the moment animals enter our supply chain until products reach our customers, every step is subject to strict quality controls and continuous monitoring. Through a comprehensive quality management system, internationally recognised standards and thousands of inspections, audits and laboratory tests each year, we work every day to ensure safe, reliable and high-quality products. On this page, we explain how our quality assurance system is organised and how it helps us maintain the highest standards throughout our operations.
Quality assurance in the chain
Quality assurance is based on a comprehensive system of internal controls that is applied across all Vion production locations. It starts on the farm, where independent quality schemes such as IKB in the Netherlands and QS Qualität und Sicherheit in Germany monitor hygiene, animal welfare and compliance with defined standards.
Additional programmes, including the Beter Leven quality mark and organic certification, build on these requirements with more stringent criteria. Our quality management is guided by scientific insights, customer requirements and internationally recognised standards such as DIN ISO 9001.
Daily controls, using a multi-stage system
All processes are internally monitored day in day out, using a multi-stage system.
- Daily checks with standardised hygiene checklists before the start of production and during the work.
- More far-reaching inspections related to slaughtering hygiene, and during the transport of products.
- Animal welfare inspections by trained employees and the head of animal welfare during unloading, in the waiting stable and during slaughter.
Every internal inspection is based on a fixed cycle of checks in accordance with the four eyes principle. At regular intervals, a second employee looks over the shoulder of the person responsible for the checks. We call this “shadow checks”. These ensure that the checks are performed as planned.
Specially trained auditors from another Vion location visit twice a year to perform internal audits. They check whether the inspections are performed as intended. If any abnormalities are found, corrective measures are taken. At Vion locations where animals are slaughtered, an additional audit is carried out every year, focused on animal welfare.
Every year, over 100,000 blood samples from pig carcasses are taken at Vion, and over 150,000 microbiological tests are conducted.
The blood samples are taken immediately after slaughter. We use these blood samples to determine which companies run risks in relation to certain food safety criteria. Further on in the process, meat samples are taken, such as from the carcass, organs, a pork chop, etc. These meat samples are examined microbiologically. The microbiological tests enable us to monitor hygiene levels during the different steps of the production process. That way, we can continuously monitor whether the efforts during the first three stages of our quality systems are effective.