Blessed Assurance

BLESSED ASSURANCE: After the election, the Reverend Bob Jones III, president of Bob Jones University, wrote President Bush to affirm his divine mandate: "In your reelection, God has graciously granted America--though she doesn't deserve it--a reprieve from the agenda of paganism. You have been given a mandate....

Don't equivocate. Put your agenda on the front burner and let it boil. You owe the liberals nothing. They despise yon because they despise your Christ.... Undoubtedly, you will have opportunity to appoint many conservative judges and exercise forceful leadership with the Congress in passing legislation that is defined by biblical norm regarding the family, sexuality, sanctity of life, religious freedom, freedom of speech, and limited government. You have four years--a brief time only--to leave an imprint for righteousness upon this nation that brings with it the blessings of Almighty God ..." (New York Review of Books, January 13).

Assurance Pollicy

When it comes to sending dairy products out the door and ultimately into the mouths of consumers, it takes more than just some faith and finger crossing that the items are the best possible quality. Any number of defects - harmful microbes, shards of metal or incorrect chemical composition - can mean the difference between satisfied, returning customers and losses or lawsuits.

A standard dictionary may not have a working definition of the term, but in most manufacturing circles, quality assurance means certain steps are taken to ensure a company's goods or services are of sufficiently high quality. Those concrete actions, which involve extensive planning and a fair investment in various tools and techniques, are standard business practice today.

In the dairy industry, quality assurance is taken seriously by global dairy corporations and small processors alike.

There are dozens of validation, tracking and testing tools designed for dairy products, including tests for physical, chemical and microbiological contents. Quality-assurance programs can fall under various umbrellas within an operation and are considered part of many people's responsibilities.

Over the past several years, dairy processors have demonstrated a willingness to go to great lengths to ensure product integrity, consistency and safety through formal quality-assurance programs. Suppliers of diagnostic equipment and services have noted the increased interest. "Before, it was really a sales job to convince them they needed it. Now that it has become more the norm, people are realizing the value proposition and that it is really a way of protecting your brand," says Viggo Nielsen, president of Tampa, Fla.-based Safeline Metal Detection.

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Assurance Services

Assurance services are a class of services provided by certified public accountants (CPAs) in public practice. While the term is sometimes used inconsistently among individual CPA firms, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) Special Committee on Assurance Services defined assurance services as "independent professional services that improve the quality of information, or its context, for decision-makers."
Assurance services are rooted in the CPA's tradition of independent verification of data prepared by others. They differ from many services historically provided by CPAs in that they represent an expansion of the information and forms of reports provided. Indeed, they represent an evolution in the nature of services provided by CPAs, as CPAs have begun to provide services not just on accounting information but on many other types of information that people need in order to make decisions.