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FSSAI Food Analyst and Junior Analyst Examinations Dairy Analysis & Instrumental Methods: practice questions

FSSAI Food Analyst and Junior Analyst Examinations · India · Food Safety and Standards Authority of India

Original practice questions written to the published syllabus · not past papers
10worked here, free
29written to this exam in this subject
11syllabus units

What this subject covers

Testing milk and dairy products: platform tests, reference methods, adulterant detection and modern instruments.

In the exams: ICAR AICE subject 34 Units 4 and 10; ICAR AIEEA-PG group 16 (tests for milk, butter, ghee, powder; adulterants, neutralisers and preservatives); FSSAI Food Analyst examination (dairy portion)

What FSSAI Food Analyst and Junior Analyst Examinations asks from it

FSSAI Food Analyst and Junior Analyst examinations (dairy portion)

Sampling and legal procedure, platform tests, Gerber and Röse-Gottlieb fat, Kjeldahl protein, total solids, adulterant tests and their reagents and colours, ghee constants (BR, RM, Polenske, saponification) and sterol tests, residue and aflatoxin M1 methods, and principles of AAS, GC, HPLC and ELISA.

Where the 29 questions fall

How our questions for FSSAI Food Analyst and Junior Analyst Examinations spread across the units of Dairy Analysis & Instrumental Methods. Difficulty: 11 easy, 14 medium, 4 hard.

Detection of adulterants: water, starch, urea, neutralisers, detergent, vegetable fat7
Sampling of milk and dairy products4
Platform tests: organoleptic, COB, alcohol, sediment, lactometer4
Ghee and butter fat adulteration: BR reading, Reichert-Meissl and Polenske values, sterol tests4
Fat determination: Gerber, Babcock and Rose-Gottlieb2
Protein: Kjeldahl and dye-binding; total solids and SNF2
Antibiotic, pesticide and heavy-metal residue testing2
Infrared milk analysers and their calibration1
Aflatoxin M1 detection1
Electrophoresis and immunoassays: SDS-PAGE, ELISA and lateral-flow tests1
Method validation, reference materials and proficiency testing1

10 practice questions, worked

Choose an answer, then open the working. Each explanation says why the right answer is right and why the others are not.

1 · Sampling of milk and dairy products · medium

How should a milk sample for microbiological testing be handled?

  1. Heated to 63 degrees Celsius to stabilise the sample before transport
  2. Kept at room temperature so that bacteria remain active until testing
  3. Aseptically, in a sterile container, at 0 to 4 degrees Celsius, unpreserved
  4. Taken in any clean bottle and preserved with formalin to stop bacterial growth
Answer and working

C. Aseptically, in a sterile container, at 0 to 4 degrees Celsius, unpreserved

Preservatives and heat would kill the organisms to be counted; cold storage without preservative is required, with testing usually within 24 h.

Further reading: FSSAI Manual of Methods of Analysis of Foods: Milk and Milk Products

2 · Platform tests: organoleptic, COB, alcohol, sediment, lactometer · hard

A milk shows a low corrected lactometer reading and a normal fat content at the platform. What does this suggest, before confirmation?

  1. Added water
  2. Added sugar
  3. Partial skimming only
  4. Added urea
Answer and working

A. Added water

Water lowers density; sugar and urea raise it; skimming raises it and lowers fat.

Further reading: FSSAI Manual of Methods of Analysis of Foods: Milk and Milk Products

3 · Fat determination: Gerber, Babcock and Rose-Gottlieb · medium

What is the role of amyl alcohol in the Gerber test?

  1. It neutralises the excess sulphuric acid
  2. It dissolves the casein completely
  3. It aids clean separation of the fat and prevents charring
  4. It colours the fat column so that the meniscus is easy to read
Answer and working

C. It aids clean separation of the fat and prevents charring

Amyl alcohol helps the fat separate and prevents charring of fat and sugar; the acid dissolves the protein.

Further reading: FSSAI Manual of Methods of Analysis of Foods: Milk and Milk Products

4 · Infrared milk analysers and their calibration · hard

How is an infrared milk analyser calibrated?

  1. By measuring the specific gravity of milk with a lactometer and entering it
  2. By comparing it once with another infrared analyser of the same model
  3. By setting the reading to zero with water and assuming all milks behave alike
  4. By matching its readings to reference-method results on samples
Answer and working

D. By matching its readings to reference-method results on samples

Calibration uses samples analysed by Röse-Gottlieb, Kjeldahl and gravimetric methods across the expected range.

Further reading: Nielsen (ed.), Food Analysis

5 · Detection of adulterants: water, starch, urea, neutralisers, detergent, vegetable fat · medium

In the Hehner test for formalin, what indicates a positive result?

  1. A yellow precipitate on standing
  2. A violet ring at the junction of acid and milk
  3. A red colour on turmeric paper
  4. A blue colour throughout the milk
Answer and working

B. A violet ring at the junction of acid and milk

Concentrated sulphuric acid with a trace of ferric chloride gives a violet ring with formaldehyde.

Further reading: Nielsen (ed.), Food Analysis

6 · Detection of adulterants: water, starch, urea, neutralisers, detergent, vegetable fat · easy

Turmeric paper turns red and then greenish blue with ammonia. Which preservative is present?

  1. Formalin
  2. Salicylic acid
  3. Boric acid or borax
  4. Hydrogen peroxide
Answer and working

C. Boric acid or borax

Borates give this characteristic reaction with turmeric.

Further reading: FSSAI Manual of Methods of Analysis of Foods: Milk and Milk Products

7 · Ghee and butter fat adulteration: BR reading, Reichert-Meissl and Polenske values, sterol tests · hard

Two grams of fat need 9.0 millilitres of 0.5 normal hydrochloric acid in the saponification value back-titration, against 24.5 millilitres for the blank. What is the saponification value?

  1. About 435
  2. About 111
  3. About 8.7
  4. About 217
Answer and working

D. About 217

SV = (24.5 - 9.0) x 0.5 x 56.1/2 = 217. 435 omits division by the 2 g sample; 111 uses N = 0.25.

Further reading: Nielsen (ed.), Food Analysis

8 · Ghee and butter fat adulteration: BR reading, Reichert-Meissl and Polenske values, sterol tests · easy

The butyro-refractometer reading of ghee is measured at what temperature?

  1. 20 degrees Celsius
  2. 100 degrees Celsius
  3. 40 degrees Celsius
  4. 60 degrees Celsius
Answer and working

C. 40 degrees Celsius

BR readings of ghee are standardised at 40 C.

Further reading: FSSAI Manual of Methods of Analysis of Foods: Milk and Milk Products

9 · Method validation, reference materials and proficiency testing · medium

Laboratory accreditation for testing is granted against which standard?

  1. ISO 22000
  2. ISO 9001 only
  3. ISO/IEC 17025
  4. ISO/IEC 17043
Answer and working

C. ISO/IEC 17025

ISO/IEC 17025 covers testing laboratories; 17043 covers PT providers.

Further reading: FSSAI Manual of Methods of Analysis of Foods: Milk and Milk Products

10 · Detection of adulterants: water, starch, urea, neutralisers, detergent, vegetable fat · medium

Which test detects added glucose in milk?

  1. Rosalic acid
  2. Modified Barfoed's reagent followed by phosphomolybdic acid
  3. Turmeric paper
  4. Iodine solution added to the boiled and then cooled milk sample
Answer and working

B. Modified Barfoed's reagent followed by phosphomolybdic acid

Reduced copper reacts with phosphomolybdic acid to give a blue colour.

Further reading: Nielsen (ed.), Food Analysis

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Dairy Analysis & Instrumental MethodsThe full study manual, free FSSAI Food Analyst and Junior Analyst ExaminationsFormat, sections and how it has changed

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