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Food Safety Officers (FSO) are the field officers and the backbone of entire food safety compliance structure.

• As per Section 37 of the FSS Act, 2006, Food Safety Officers are appointed by the commissioner of Food Safety, through notification.
• Further, as per Rule 2.1.3 of FSS Rules, 2011, the FSO will successfully complete the training as specified by the Food Authority in a recognized institute or institution approved for the purpose.
• For such local areas as he may assign to them for the purpose of performing functions under this Act and the rules and regulations made there under.
• The State Government may authorize any officer of the state government having qualifications prescribed to preform the functions of a Food Safety Officer within a specified jurisdiction.

For effective discharge of its functions, the Food Safety Officer is required to have adequate knowledge of the FSS Act, Rule and Regulations and their application in discharge of their duties, proper procedure for inspection and sampling and various other aspects of food safety.

Food Safety Officer (FSO) is Group B Level Administrative Post at the different department of Food Safety and Health, Government of India. Job seekers can apply for this post as the Central Government and State Government of India recruits various vacancies from time to time.

In general, the recruitment process for Food Safety Officer is conducted by the State Public Service Commission (SPSC) of the concerned state. The vacancy for Food Safety Officer is floated almost every year by the SPSCs through the state civil services examination. The work functions of a Food Safety Officer include taking sample of foods products from various places, seizing hazardous food products, inspection of any suspicious food production premise, issuing notice for any hazardous food products or raw material and destroying them, acting against the producers, distributors and sellers of hazardous food items, etc. within the district of his appointment.

Eligibility Conditions for Food Safety Officer

To become a Food Safety Officer a candidate needs to have qualified bachelor’s degree (B.Sc. or B.Tech.) in Food Technology or Dairy Technology or Home Science or Biotechnology or Oil Technology or Agriculture Science or Veterinary Science or Biochemistry or Microbiology or medicine or master’s degree in chemistry from a recognized university or educational institution. For Scientist posts, PhD is required in the areas related to Microbiology. The candidate must have some prior experience in the related areas at any reputed organization.

The Food Safety Officer should be well acquainted with the following Regulations notified by the Food Safety and Standard Authority of India under the FSS Act.

1. Food Safety and Standards (Licensing and Registration of Food Businesses), Regulations 2011.
2. Food Safety and Standards (Food Product Standards and Food Additives), Regulations 2011.
3. Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restriction on Sales), Regulations 2011.
4. Food Safety and Standards (Packaging and Labelling), Regulations 2011.
5. Food Safety and Standards (Contaminants, Toxins and Residues), Regulations 2011.
6. Food Safety and Standards (Laboratory and Sampling Analysis), Regulations 2011.
7. Food Safety and Standards (Food or Health Supplements, Nutraceuticals, Food for Special Dietary Uses, Foods for Special Medical Purpose, Functional Foods and Novel Foods), Regulations 2016.
8. Food Safety and Standards (Food Recall Procedure), Regulations 2017.
9. Food Safety and Standards (Import), Regulations 2017.

Age Limit for Food Safety Officer

To become a Food Safety Officer a candidate’s age must fall into the range of 21 years to 40 years in the year of examination. The reserved category (SC / ST / OBC / PWD/ ExSM) candidates get relaxation in upper age limit according to the rules laid down by the Government.

Selection Process for Food Safety Officer

The selection of candidates for Food Safety Officer posts is done on the basis of their performance in the Academic Records, Preliminary Written Exam (Objective Type and Multiple Choice), Main Written Exam (Conventional Type) and Personal Interview (Personality Test). In the Main Written Exam questions are asked from the optional subjects like – Agriculture, Chemistry, Engineering, Forestry, Horticulture, Physics, Veterinary Science, Botany, Computer Application Science, Environmental Science, Geology, Mathematics, Statistics, Zoology, etc.

This application have all relevant reading material for preparation of FSO examination. Download and read all articles from Legal Compliance, Food Safety, Certification, Who am I and Resouces.

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