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ICAR AIEEA-PG / PGS Food Safety Management Systems: HACCP, PRPs, ISO 22000 & GFSI Schemes: practice questions

ICAR AIEEA-PG / PGS — Code 18 Food Science Technology · India · ICAR through the National Testing Agency

Original practice questions written to the published syllabus · not past papers
10worked here, free
46written to this exam in this subject
14syllabus units

What this subject covers

Building, running and auditing a food safety management system: prerequisite programmes and good manufacturing practice, the seven HACCP principles applied in depth, preventive controls, ISO 22000 and the GFSI-benchmarked certification schemes, food defence, food safety culture, traceability and recall, and auditing practice.

In the exams: GATE XE-G Section 3 (HACCP); ICAR AICE 35.a Unit 4 and 35.b Unit 1; core of FSSAI FoSTaC, FSPCA PCQI, BRCGS, SQF and lead-auditor courses

Where the 46 questions fall

How our questions for ICAR AIEEA-PG / PGS spread across the units of Food Safety Management Systems: HACCP, PRPs, ISO 22000 & GFSI Schemes. Difficulty: 22 easy, 20 medium, 4 hard.

HACCP: preliminary steps and hazard analysis6
Codex General Principles of Food Hygiene5
HACCP: critical control points, critical limits and monitoring5
Operational prerequisite programmes and preventive controls4
Good manufacturing and good hygiene practices3
Prerequisite programmes3
HACCP: corrective actions, verification, validation and records3
ISO 22000 food safety management system3
Food defence and vulnerability assessment3
Traceability, withdrawal and recall3
Allergen management programmes3
Food safety culture2
Internal and third-party auditing2
GFSI-benchmarked schemes: FSSC 22000, BRCGS and SQF1

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 · Prerequisite programmes · easy

Which ISO document gives prerequisite programmes for food manufacturing?

  1. ISO/TS 22002-1
  2. ISO 14001
  3. ISO/IEC 17025
  4. ISO 9001
Answer and working

A. ISO/TS 22002-1

ISO/TS 22002-1 covers food manufacturing PRPs; ISO 9001 is quality management, ISO/IEC 17025 laboratory competence, ISO 14001 environmental management.

Further reading: ISO/TS 22002-1

2 · Codex General Principles of Food Hygiene · easy

Under Codex, a critical limit is defined as a criterion that:

  1. States the minimum number of staff on each production shift
  2. Sets the maximum number of samples tested per production lot
  3. Separates acceptability from unacceptability of the food at a CCP
  4. Defines the shelf life printed on the label of the product
Answer and working

C. Separates acceptability from unacceptability of the food at a CCP

A critical limit is an observable or measurable criterion relating to a control measure at a CCP that separates acceptable from unacceptable food.

Further reading: Codex CXC 1-1969 (rev. 2020)

3 · Codex General Principles of Food Hygiene · medium

According to the 2020 Codex text, some good hygiene practices need greater attention. This means they:

  1. Must always be redesignated as CCPs with critical limits and continuous monitoring
  2. They are monitored and verified more closely but remain GHPs
  3. Apply only to primary production and not to manufacturing or catering
  4. Can be ignored by small businesses because they are optional recommendations
Answer and working

B. They are monitored and verified more closely but remain GHPs

Examples include cleaning of a slicer for ready-to-eat meat; such GHPs get closer monitoring and verification but remain GHPs.

Further reading: Codex CXC 1-1969 (rev. 2020)

4 · Codex General Principles of Food Hygiene · medium

Under Codex, which statement correctly distinguishes validation from verification?

  1. Validation is done by auditors; verification is done by the competent authority
  2. Validation: evidence the control is capable; verification: evidence it is operating as intended
  3. Validation applies only to PRPs; verification applies only to CCPs in the plan
  4. Validation is daily record review; verification is the initial scientific study of the control measure
Answer and working

B. Validation: evidence the control is capable; verification: evidence it is operating as intended

Validation gives evidence of capability before implementation or after change; verification uses audits, record review, calibration and testing to confirm operation.

Further reading: Codex CXC 1-1969 (rev. 2020)

5 · HACCP: critical control points, critical limits and monitoring · easy

Which step is most often a critical control point in a cooked meat process?

  1. Washing of the floors at shift end
  2. Receipt of packaging materials
  3. The cooking step with a time-temperature critical limit
  4. Storage of cleaning chemicals
Answer and working

C. The cooking step with a time-temperature critical limit

Cooking is designed to eliminate pathogens and is the classic CCP; the others are PRPs.

Further reading: Codex CXC 1-1969 (rev. 2020), chapter 2; US FDA Food Code

6 · HACCP: critical control points, critical limits and monitoring · hard

Raw chicken may carry Salmonella at receipt, and the product is later cooked. Using the Codex decision tree, is receipt a CCP for Salmonella?

  1. No, because the later cooking step is designed to eliminate the hazard
  2. Yes, because the hazard is first introduced at the receipt step
  3. Yes, because every step with a hazard must be a CCP
  4. No, because Salmonella is not a significant hazard in chicken
Answer and working

A. No, because the later cooking step is designed to eliminate the hazard

If a subsequent step will eliminate or reduce the hazard to an acceptable level, the current step is not a CCP for it; cooking is the CCP.

Further reading: Codex CXC 1-1969 (rev. 2020), chapter 2; US FDA Food Code

7 · HACCP: corrective actions, verification, validation and records · easy

Which tool is commonly used for root cause analysis after a deviation?

  1. The Codex decision tree
  2. A flow diagram
  3. A three-class sampling plan
  4. The five whys
Answer and working

D. The five whys

Asking 'why' repeatedly, and fishbone diagrams, help find the cause; the decision tree identifies CCPs.

Further reading: Codex CXC 1-1969 (rev. 2020); Codex CXG 69-2008

8 · Operational prerequisite programmes and preventive controls · easy

Which is a type of preventive control named in the FDA preventive controls rule?

  1. Supply-chain control
  2. Marketing control
  3. Shelf-display control
  4. Price control
Answer and working

A. Supply-chain control

Preventive controls include process, food allergen, sanitation and supply-chain controls, plus a recall plan.

Further reading: ISO 22000:2018; 21 CFR Part 117

9 · Food defence and vulnerability assessment · medium

TACCP and VACCP are approaches to assess, respectively:

  1. Threats of deliberate attack and vulnerability to food fraud
  2. Temperature and viability at critical control points
  3. Taste and visual acceptability of consumer products
  4. Traceability and validation of critical control points
Answer and working

A. Threats of deliberate attack and vulnerability to food fraud

PAS 96 describes TACCP for threats and VACCP for fraud vulnerability, using HACCP-like logic.

Further reading: 21 CFR Part 121; BSI PAS 96

10 · Food safety culture · easy

Food safety culture is defined as:

  1. Shared values and norms shaping food safety behaviour
  2. The annual training hours recorded for each employee
  3. The microbial cultures used as starters in fermented foods
  4. The set of documents that make up the HACCP plan
Answer and working

A. Shared values and norms shaping food safety behaviour

Culture is about mind-set and behaviour across the organisation, not documents or starter cultures.

Further reading: GFSI position paper on food safety culture (2018); Codex CXC 1-1969 (rev. 2020)

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Read the subject

Food Safety Management Systems: HACCP, PRPs, ISO 22000 & GFSI SchemesThe full study manual, free ICAR AIEEA-PG / PGSFormat, sections and how it has changed

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Food Safety Management Systems: HACCP, PRPs, ISO 22000 & GFSI Schemes for other exams

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