ICAR AICE-JRF/SRF (PhD) — Agricultural Engineering subjects 38–43 · India · National Testing Agency for ICAR
Original practice questions written to the published syllabus · not past papersMeasuring and assuring food quality, the food-safety systems regulators expect, and laying out a processing plant.
In the exams: ICAR AICE subject 41 Units 8 and 10; ICAR AIEEA-PG Unit VI (plant layout, feasibility reports); NCEES PE food safety
ICAR AICE-JRF/SRF (PhD) — Processing and Food Engineering (41)
PG-depth questions on quality evaluation and SQC (control-chart constants, OC curves, ICMSF plans), HACCP terminology and the Codex principles, ISO 22000 and OPRPs, hygienic design rules, plant location and layout methods, feasibility indicators (NPV, IRR, break-even, DSCR) and effluent treatment and by-product utilisation.
How our questions for ICAR AICE-JRF/SRF spread across the units of Food Quality, Safety & Process Plant Design. Difficulty: 9 easy, 54 medium, 33 hard.
| Quality attributes and their measurement | 15 | |
| HACCP | 10 | |
| Equipment sizing | 10 | |
| Hygienic design of equipment | 9 | |
| Waste and by-product utilisation | 9 | |
| FSMA and HARPC concepts | 8 | |
| Feasibility reports | 8 | |
| Food law: FSSAI, FDA and Codex | 7 | |
| Plant location and layout | 7 | |
| Process flow sheets | 7 | |
| GMP and hygiene | 6 |
Choose an answer, then open the working. Each explanation says why the right answer is right and why the others are not.
During a shift the chart recorder shows the pasteuriser holding temperature fell below the critical limit for 20 minutes without flow diversion. The correct corrective action includes
A. Restoring control, holding product made in that period and deciding its disposition
Corrective action has two parts: bring the process back under control and deal with the product produced during the deviation (hold, evaluate, reprocess or destroy), with records. Releasing it, waiting for weekly review or altering records are failures.
Further reading: Codex CXC 1-1969 (rev. 2020), General Principles of Food Hygiene
An ATP bioluminescence swab of a slicer after cleaning gives a high reading. The correct interpretation is
A. Organic residue remains and the surface needs re-cleaning
ATP swabs detect organic residue, from food or microbes, within minutes; they are a cleanliness indicator, not a count or identification of pathogens.
Further reading: Marriott, Principles of Food Sanitation
A worker in a salad plant reports diarrhoea and vomiting. Under GMP, the supervisor should
B. Exclude the worker from food handling until medically cleared
Food handlers with symptoms of gastrointestinal illness must be excluded from food-handling areas until fit. Gloves, sanitiser or moving to raw areas do not remove the risk of transmitting pathogens.
Further reading: Codex CXC 1-1969 (rev. 2020), General Principles of Food Hygiene
Which expert body provides risk assessments of food additives and contaminants to Codex?
D. JECFA
JECFA (Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives) covers additives, contaminants and veterinary drug residues; JMPR covers pesticide residues; EFSA is the EU agency; IPPC is the plant-protection convention.
Further reading: Codex Procedural Manual
Why do flour mills often remain multi-storey when most new food plants are single-storey?
A. Gravity flow between milling stages saves conveying
Grain and stock are lifted once and then flow down through the milling and sifting stages by gravity, saving conveying energy and space. The other reasons are not true.
Further reading: Lopez-Gomez and Barbosa-Cánovas, Food Plant Design
A line needs 3000 kg/h of sorting. Each sorter is rated 450 kg/h and achieves 85 % efficiency in practice. How many sorters are required?
D. 8
Effective capacity = 450 × 0.85 = 382.5 kg/h; 3000/382.5 = 7.84, rounded up to 8. Ignoring efficiency gives 6.67 → 7 (and 6 if rounded down). 10 applies the efficiency twice (3000/(450 × 0.85²) = 9.2, rounded up).
Further reading: Peters, Timmerhaus and West, Plant Design and Economics for Chemical Engineers
A food plant has annual fixed costs of 1.2 million, a selling price of 60 per unit and variable cost of 36 per unit. Installed capacity is 80000 units per year. The break-even point is
C. 50000 units, 62.5 % of capacity
BEP = 1200000/(60 − 36) = 50000 units = 50000/80000 = 62.5 %. Dividing by the price alone gives 20000; dividing by the variable cost gives 33333; 37.5 % is the margin of safety, not the break-even utilisation.
Further reading: Peters, Timmerhaus and West, Plant Design and Economics for Chemical Engineers
A food project's net profit after tax is 30, depreciation 10, interest 15, and the year's principal repayment 25 (all in lakh). The debt service coverage ratio is
C. 1.38
DSCR = (PAT + depreciation + interest)/(principal + interest) = (30 + 10 + 15)/(25 + 15) = 55/40 = 1.375. Using PAT alone over principal + interest gives 0.75; the reciprocal of the correct ratio is 0.73; 1.00 omits interest from the numerator.
Further reading: Project appraisal practice
A plant uses 4 m³ of water per tonne of product and produces 20 t/day. Storage for two days of supply interruption requires
B. 160 m³
Daily demand = 4 × 20 = 80 m³; two days = 160 m³. 80 m³ covers one day only. 8 m³ forgets the production rate (4 × 2).
Further reading: Peters, Timmerhaus and West, Plant Design and Economics for Chemical Engineers
Dissolved-air flotation is used in food effluent treatment chiefly to remove
A. Fat, oil, grease and fine suspended solids
Fine air bubbles float fat, oil and grease and light suspended solids to the surface for skimming. Dissolved organics need biological treatment; pathogens need disinfection.
Further reading: Metcalf & Eddy, Wastewater Engineering
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