FSSAI direct recruitment — Central Food Safety Officer, Technical Officer and Assistant Director (Technical) · India · Food Safety and Standards Authority of India
Original practice questions written to the published syllabus · not past papersThe work of a food safety officer or food inspector: national food control systems, risk-based inspection, licensing and registration checks, legal sampling procedures, laboratory referral and appeal, adjudication and prosecution, food-borne outbreak investigation, and education of food businesses.
In the exams: Core of FSSAI Central Food Safety Officer and state Food Safety Officer examinations (India), Punjab Food Authority Food Safety Officer (Pakistan) and similar civil-service posts
How our questions for FSSAI direct recruitment spread across the units of Food Safety Inspection, Sampling & Enforcement. Difficulty: 17 easy, 44 medium, 11 hard.
| Roles of food safety officers, designated officers and adjudicating officers | 7 | |
| Inspection of food businesses: premises, process and records | 7 | |
| Legal sampling procedure, sealing and dispatch | 7 | |
| National food control systems (FAO/WHO model) | 6 | |
| Risk-based inspection planning | 6 | |
| Unsafe, substandard and misbranded food: legal definitions | 6 | |
| Improvement notices, suspension and cancellation of licences | 6 | |
| Adjudication, penalties and prosecution | 6 | |
| Food-borne disease outbreak investigation | 6 | |
| Street-food vendors and small-business compliance | 5 | |
| Food laboratories, referral laboratories and appeal | 4 | |
| Rapid alert and recall systems | 4 | |
| Training and education of food handlers | 2 |
Choose an answer, then open the working. Each explanation says why the right answer is right and why the others are not.
During an inspection of a takeaway, staff cannot say which dishes contain peanuts, and there is no written allergen information. What is the main concern?
A. Allergic customers could be served food that harms them
Many laws require allergen information for non-prepacked foods too; staff ignorance can lead to fatal reactions. Peanuts are permitted; supply is irrelevant.
Further reading: FAO/WHO Guidelines for Strengthening National Food Control Systems; Codex CXG 82-2013
Why is a specimen impression of the official seal sent to the laboratory separately from the sample?
C. To let the laboratory verify the seal is genuine and intact
Comparing the seal on the container with the specimen shows that the sample has not been tampered with in transit. The laboratory records the condition of the seal on receipt.
Further reading: Codex CXG 50-2004; FAO/WHO Guidelines for Strengthening National Food Control Systems
To which standard are official food control laboratories commonly required to be accredited?
D. ISO/IEC 17025
ISO/IEC 17025 attests the competence of testing laboratories and is required for official laboratories in many jurisdictions. The others are management-system standards.
Further reading: Codex CXG 50-2004; FAO/WHO Guidelines for Strengthening National Food Control Systems
Why must the retained part of a formal sample be stored correctly by the authority?
D. It is needed for any referral analysis or court case
The retained part is the basis of the right to a referral analysis and may be produced as evidence; if it is lost or deteriorates, the business's right is compromised and the case may fail.
Further reading: Codex CXG 50-2004; FAO/WHO Guidelines for Strengthening National Food Control Systems
A food law allows a "due diligence" defence. What must the defendant show?
D. Reasonable precautions and due diligence were taken
Due diligence requires evidence of reasonable systems and checks, such as supplier controls and monitoring. Price, absence of complaints and the officer's qualifications are not defences.
Further reading: FAO/WHO Guidelines for Strengthening National Food Control Systems; Codex CXG 82-2013
Which body usually decides administrative penalties after hearing the business?
B. An adjudicator independent of the investigation
Penalties are decided after a fair hearing by an adjudicator independent of the investigation. Investigators, businesses and analysts provide evidence but do not decide.
Further reading: FAO/WHO Guidelines for Strengthening National Food Control Systems; Codex CXG 82-2013
Cases of diarrhoea begin about 8 to 16 hours after a large catered meal of stewed meat that was cooled slowly. Which organism is most likely?
B. Clostridium perfringens
C. perfringens spores survive cooking and germinate during slow cooling of large meat dishes, causing diarrhoea after about 8 to 16 hours. S. aureus causes vomiting within hours; hepatitis A takes weeks; cholera is waterborne and not linked to this pattern.
Further reading: WHO, Foodborne Disease Outbreaks: Guidelines for Investigation and Control (2008)
For which illness is a single case usually enough to be treated as an outbreak requiring investigation?
C. Botulism
Because botulism is rare and life-threatening, one case triggers an urgent investigation. Outbreaks of other food-borne illnesses are usually defined as two or more linked cases.
Further reading: WHO, Foodborne Disease Outbreaks: Guidelines for Investigation and Control (2008)
During an outbreak at a restaurant, what is a key task of the food safety officer in the environmental investigation?
A. Find contributing factors such as slow cooling
Officers inspect, interview handlers, review records, sample foods and trace supply to find how the food became hazardous. Clinical care, compensation and the business's communications are others' roles.
Further reading: WHO, Foodborne Disease Outbreaks: Guidelines for Investigation and Control (2008)
Why do businesses carry out mock recalls?
A. To test their tracing and retrieval of products
Mock recalls test traceability records, contact lists and procedures, revealing gaps before a real recall. They are not marketing or disposal exercises.
Further reading: FAO/WHO Guide for Developing and Improving National Food Recall Systems; Codex CXG 19-1995
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