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APPSC FSO study materials
APPSC FSO study resources

APPSC FSO: Food Quality Management, Auditing and Certification

APPSC FSO · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.

All guide sections

Food Quality Management, Auditing and Certification

Quality management questions ask how a food business proves, rather than claims, that its food is safe: the systems, the certification and the audit trail.

Building blocks

  • GMP covers premises, equipment and personnel; GHP covers cleaning, pest control, water and personal hygiene - in India, Schedule 4 of the FSS Rules is the operative baseline.
  • HACCP has seven principles in order: hazard analysis, determine CCPs, set critical limits, monitor, corrective actions, verification, record keeping. It is a tool, not a certificate.
  • ISO 22000:2018 is a certifiable food safety management system built on the HACCP core plus management-system clauses; FSSC 22000 adds sector-specific pre-requisite programmes; BRCGS and SQF are private, retailer-driven schemes.
  • ISO/IEC 17025 governs testing and calibration laboratories; NABL accreditation is the Indian expression of it.

FSSAI's layer

  • The FSS (Food Safety Auditing) Regulations, 2018 allow third-party audits of FBOs by recognised auditing agencies; audits are hygiene/GMP based and feed licensing and rating programmes.
  • FoSTaC trains food handlers; Food Safety Mitra supports small businesses; Eat Right Campus and hygiene-rating schemes publicise compliance.
  • Traceability and recall: batch coding, one-step-back and one-step-forward records, and mock recalls to prove the system works.

Worked example

A dairy pasteurises milk at 72 °C for 15 s. Hazard: vegetative pathogens such as Salmonella and E. coli, plus Coxiella burnetii. CCP: the pasteuriser holding tube. Critical limits: at least 72 °C for at least 15 s, with a flow-diversion valve returning under-processed milk. Monitoring: continuous recorder and chart checks. Verification: alkaline phosphatase test negative, plus periodic calibration. Deviation: divert, re-pasteurise, record.

Traps

  • Mixing the order of the seven HACCP principles, especially putting verification before monitoring.
  • Calling HACCP a certification.
  • Confusing verification (does the system work?) with validation (are the limits right?).