FSSAI Food Analyst Examination (and Junior Analyst Examination) · India · Food Safety and Standards Authority of India
Original practice questions written to the published syllabus · not past papersHow a food laboratory measures what is in a food: sampling, proximate analysis, official methods, and the instruments — spectroscopy, chromatography, mass spectrometry and electrophoresis — that a food analyst runs. It is the core of the food analyst qualification in countries that license analysts.
In the exams: ICAR AIEEA-PG Code 18 Unit I (modern analytical techniques in food analysis); ICAR AICE 35.b Unit 6 (research techniques); core of food analyst examinations
FSSAI Food Analyst Examination (and Junior Analyst Examination)
This exam row is not yet verified in Laisha's map, but qualifying examinations for food analysts centre on exactly this subject: sampling and legal procedures, proximate analysis calculations (moisture, ash, acid-insoluble ash, Kjeldahl protein, fat by Gerber and Soxhlet, sugars by Lane–Eynon), oil constants, titratable acidity, instrumental principles (AAS, ICP, GC, HPLC, ELISA) and method validation and laboratory quality systems. Practical examinations test the same methods at the bench.
How our questions for FSSAI Food Analyst Examination spread across the units of Food Analysis: Proximate, Chemical & Instrumental Methods. Difficulty: 16 easy, 27 medium, 10 hard.
| Method validation and quality control in the analytical laboratory | 7 | |
| Official methods and method compendia: AOAC, ISO and national manuals | 5 | |
| Protein: Kjeldahl and Dumas methods | 5 | |
| Fat: Soxhlet, Mojonnier and Gerber methods | 5 | |
| Physical tests: pH, titratable acidity, refractometry and colour | 5 | |
| Sampling and sample preparation | 4 | |
| Moisture and total solids | 4 | |
| Ash and mineral analysis | 4 | |
| Carbohydrates, sugars and dietary fibre | 3 | |
| Chromatography: TLC, GC and HPLC | 3 | |
| Vitamin analysis | 2 | |
| Atomic absorption and ICP spectroscopy | 2 | |
| Mass spectrometry and hyphenated techniques | 2 | |
| UV-visible, fluorescence and infrared spectroscopy | 1 | |
| Electrophoresis and immunoassays: SDS-PAGE and ELISA | 1 |
Choose an answer, then open the working. Each explanation says why the right answer is right and why the others are not.
Coning and quartering is used to
A. reduce a granular sample representatively
The heaped sample is flattened, divided into quarters and opposite quarters kept, repeating until the size is suitable.
Further reading: Nielsen (ed.), Food Analysis
In the Codex classification of methods, a Type I (defining) method is one that
D. defines a value obtainable only by that method
Type I defines the value (e.g. some empirical methods); Type II is reference; Type III alternative approved; Type IV tentative.
Further reading: Codex CXS 234, General Standard for Methods of Analysis and Sampling
A 5.000 g sample weighs 4.350 g after oven drying. Its moisture content is
D. 13.0 %
(5.000 − 4.350)/5.000 × 100 = 13.0 %. 87.0 % is total solids; 15.0 % divides by the dry mass; 6.5 % is a decimal slip.
Further reading: Nielsen (ed.), Food Analysis
A sample has 13.0 % moisture. Its total solids content is
D. 87.0 %
Total solids = 100 − moisture = 87.0 %.
Further reading: Nielsen (ed.), Food Analysis
The specific nitrogen-to-protein factor commonly used for milk and dairy products is
D. 6.38
6.38 for milk; 5.7 for wheat; 5.46 for peanuts; 6.25 is the general factor.
Further reading: Nielsen (ed.), Food Analysis
The Röse–Gottlieb (Mojonnier) method for fat in milk uses
C. ammonia, ethanol and ethers
Ammonia dissolves casein, ethanol aids separation, and diethyl and petroleum ethers extract fat gravimetrically.
Further reading: Nielsen (ed.), Food Analysis
In the Lane–Eynon method for reducing sugars, the indicator is
C. methylene blue
Methylene blue is decolorised when all copper in Fehling's solution has been reduced at boiling.
Further reading: Pomeranz and Meloan, Food Analysis: Theory and Practice
10 g of orange juice requires 12.0 mL of 0.1 N NaOH to the phenolphthalein end-point. Titratable acidity as citric acid (meq wt 0.064 g) is
A. 0.768 %
TA = 12.0 × 0.1 × 0.064 × 100/10 = 0.768 %. 0.077 % omits the ×100/mass; 1.080 % uses lactic acid; the last inverts the mass factor.
Further reading: Nielsen (ed.), Food Analysis
A blank's standard deviation is 0.02 absorbance units and the calibration slope 0.5 absorbance per mg/L. Using LOQ ≈ 10σ/S, the limit of quantification is
C. 0.40 mg/L
LOQ = 10 × 0.02/0.5 = 0.40 mg/L. 0.132 is the LOD (3.3σ/S); 0.01 multiplies σ by S; 2.50 inverts.
Further reading: Eurachem, The Fitness for Purpose of Analytical Methods
In a proficiency test, a laboratory reports 54 mg/kg; the assigned value is 50 mg/kg and the standard deviation for proficiency 2.5 mg/kg. Its z-score and its classification are
C. 1.6, questionable
z = (54 − 50)/2.5 = 1.6; 2 < |z| < 3 is questionable. 4.0 omits the standard deviation; 0.6 inverts the ratio.
Further reading: Eurachem, The Fitness for Purpose of Analytical Methods
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