Food Safety Officer post is usually administrative at the district level in the Food Safety or Health Department of various State Governments. Food Safety Officer plays a vital role in analyzing that the food products which are consuming by consumers are safe or not. The inspection of food by a food safety officer to make sure that the authorities of a factory are following the guidelines issue by the Government. The essential duty of officer includes food processing facilities and which procedure is using by the company that ensures and applicable regulations are also following.
Career as Food Safety Officer – How to Become, Courses, Jobs
The students need to clear the state level entrance exam like SSC to become a food safety officer. Food safety officer suddenly visits the restaurant, hotels or food industries to check the safety of food and survey that all the rules and guidelines are followed by them or not.
Food Safety Officer is a professional who is responsible to analyze food samples collected from various places for inspection. Based on the results, the Food Safety Officer can issue a notice to the manufacturer, distributor or the seller of the food product for the usage of hazardous food products or raw material.
The functions of a Food Safety Officer include taking samples of various food items in the deployment district, seizing any food item, inspecting any suspicious site, destroying any harmful food item or material by giving notice, intoxicating / harmful substances, seize the goods and accounts of producers, distributors and sellers etc.
The post of a Food Safety Officer is of Group ‘B’ (Gazetted) level. In most cases, the candidates for the post of Food Safety Officer are selected by the Public Service Commission of the respective state. Recruitment to the post of Food Safety Officer is done through the state level civil services examination conducted every year by the State Public Service Commissions.
How to become a food safety officer?
A food safety officer is recruited by the State Government or Central Government. Candidates must have to appear in SCS examination to become a food safety officer. Candidates who are graduate or postgraduate can apply for this examination. Age limit is set by the government. Candidates who are from reserved categories will have given age relaxation.
Eligibility
- If a candidate who is willing to becoming a Food Safety Officer first they have a valid Bachelor’s degree in Food Technology / Dairy Technology / Home-Science / Biotechnology / Agriculture Science / Veterinary Sciences / Bio-chemistry / Microbiology from a recognized University.
- Candidates must hold a Master’s degree in Chemistry.
- Candidates who wants to do research work in Food Safety and become a scientist so they should have a Ph.D. degree in the relevant subject.
- For this they should have also some years in experience.
Age Limit
- Candidates must have crossed 21 years and must have not crossed 40 years.
- Candidates who are belonging to reserved category will have given the relaxation of five years in age at the time of recruitment. But for this they have to show the concerned certificate at the time of document verification.
Required Skills
- Food Safety Officer must have monitoring power to perform well in the organization so that they make improvements or take corrective action.
- They also need to be capable of understand the information so that they can solve problem and decision-making.
- They should meet deadlines effectively with independent work and time management skills.
- When a food safety officer meet with any investigation then their observation should be acute to take any action.
- Determining how a system should work so that changes may be applicable.
- If a Food Safety Officer produce any report and inform staff so that their communication skill should be strong.
- Identifying complex problems and solve them easily.
- A food safety officer must be good at taking rational judgements, even when one doesn’t have much time.
- One must also be aware of the latest analytical methodologies in and must be flexible in order to adapt with the changing times & technologies.
- One must think systematically in order to come to meaningful conclusions.
Selection Procedure
The selection of a candidate who are looking to become a Food Safety Officer will be done on the basis of performance in academic records, Preliminary Written examination (Objective type and multiple choice), Main Written Examination (Conventional type) and Personal Interview. In the written main examination questions are asked from the compulsory subject (General Hindi, General English, and General Knowledge) and optional subjects’ like- Agriculture, Chemistry, Engineering, Forestry, Horticulture, Physics, Veterinary Science, Botany, Zoology, Computer Applications, Environmental Science, Geology, Mathematics, and Statistics.
Career Path
After doing Graduation or Post graduation, a candidate apply for the post of Food Safety Officer. It’s an administrative post at different departments which is related to food safety and health of the government. Candidates please check the recruitment notification time-to-time which is released on the official website and also employment newspapers.
Apply on the website. Click on the new registration then fill the required details with the use of mobile number and mail id. After that fill the application form with correct details and upload passport size photograph, signature as per giving dimensions. Pay the application fee through online mode or through bank challan. Please click on the check box of declaration. Take a printout of application form and transaction receipt for future response.
Job Opportunities as Food Safety Officer
There are various Job Opportunities of Food Safety Officer. A candidate can choose any one of them as per their choices which are given below;
- Health Inspector – A Health Inspector is an officer who examines food items. The Health Inspector is in every districts of every state which check the food items in the food stores eg. Restaurants, Food manufacturing Industries, Bakeries etc. to check the hygiene and quality of food.
- Food Scientist – A Food Scientist research, study, develop and test different ingredients and foods and also check the microbiological, physical and chemical properties of food and ingredients. They know the methods of production of food, processing and packaging.
- Food Technologist – The work of a Food Technologist is to research, and develop the production of food stuffs. They do their work with great responsibility by checking quality and safety of a product which consumes by thousands of people eat every day. Mostly they work for food manufacturing organizations, laboratories, offices and factories.
- Food and Drug Administrator – Food and Drug Administrator ensures to protecting and promoting public health through the control of food safety and dietary supplements. If they find any deficiency or harmful products so that they reduce these harmful effects and regulated food products.
Food Safety Officer Salary Structure
A Food Safety Officer can get salary according to job roles and responsibilities. So there’s different pay scales according to job roles given in the following;
|
Job Role |
Starting Pay Scale |
Mid Level Pay Scale |
Highest Pay Scale |
|
Health Inspector |
Rs. 2.40 Lakhs |
Rs. 3.00 Lakhs |
Rs. 6.00 Lakhs |
|
Food Scientist |
Rs. 4.00 Lakhs |
Rs. 7.50 Lakhs |
Rs. 20.00 Lakhs |
|
Food Technologist |
Rs. 3.00 Lakhs |
Rs. 4.50 Lakhs |
Rs. 7.00 Lakhs |
|
Food and Drug Administrator |
Rs. 3.00 Lakhs |
Rs. 4.00 Lakhs |
Rs. 5.00 Lakhs |
Employment Sector
- Central Government
- State Government
- Agriculture Sector
- Pharma Industry
Top Recruiting Companies
- Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI)
- State Public Service Commission (SPSC)
- Department of Food Safety and Health
Books & Study Material
- Food Science and Safety Standards (Objective)
- A Competition book for Food Safety Officer
- Food Safety and Quality Control (Objective)
- Dairy and Food Technology (Question Bank)
- Food Microbiology
- Short Notes on Food Safety Officer
Pros of Becoming a Food Safety Officer
- It is an administration level job with reputed job role.
- Salary is quite attractive.
- As an Officer, a candidate has the rights and responsibilities to take decisions.
Cons of Becoming a Food Safety Officer
- A candidate who is seeking to be a food safety officer one should have to clear central or state level examination.
- Candidates who have quite experience in the relevant field so that they can eligible for Officer Job.
- Because a Food Safety Officer has to take some instant decisions so the role is also challenging.
- Coordination among organizations, consumers, and authorities to take acute decisions.
Top Colleges to pursue career as Food Safety Officer
- Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee
- Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi
- Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur
- SRM University, Amravati
- Amity University, Noida
- Lovely Professional University, Phagwara
- Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani
- Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur
- Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore
FAQs about Food Safety officer
Q – Is there age limit for a Food Safety Officer?
ANS – Yes, age should be between 21 years to 40 years.
Q – What is the level of the post of Food Safety Officer?
ANS – It is Group B level Administrative post at the different department of Food Safety and Health, government of India.
Q – What are the advantages if a candidate wants to become Food Safety Officer?
ANS – This job has great pay scale and also a responsible job to making decisions accurately.
Q – How to become a Food Safety Officer?
ANS – A candidate must have qualified for state level examination after that interview will be occur then a candidate can be a Food Safety Officer.
Q – What is the pay scale of Food Safety Officer?
ANS – The range of Pay scale of the Officer between 20,000 to 45,000 per annum.
Q – What is the eligibility criteria to pursue a career as a Food Safety Officer?
ANS – Candidates must have a valid Bachelor’s degree in Food Technology / Dairy Technology / Biotechnology / Agriculture Science / Biochemistry / and also Master’s degree in the relevant subject from a recognized University.
