Food safety, standards and regulations (FSSAI, BIS, HACCP)
What this domain tests
This domain tests food-safety law and management: FSSAI requirements, BIS standards, HACCP principles, labelling and traceability. Expect applied questions such as identifying a CCP or a labelling omission.
Core rules
- The FSS Act, 2006 and FSSAI rules govern food safety; businesses need registration or a licence according to their category/turnover.
- BIS standards are voluntary unless made compulsory by notification; they specify product and test requirements.
- HACCP has seven principles: hazard analysis, determine CCPs, set critical limits, monitor, take corrective action, verify, and keep records.
- Prerequisite programmes such as sanitation, pest control and personnel hygiene support HACCP.
- Labels must carry the product name, ingredients, net quantity, best-before/use-by date, FSSAI licence details and allergen/veg-non-veg declarations as applicable.
- Traceability and recall systems are part of food-safety management.
Worked example
For HTST pasteurized milk, a CCP is the pasteurizer holding tube. The hazard is survival of vegetative pathogens. The critical limit is 72°C for 15 s (or the validated equivalent). Monitoring is continuous temperature and flow diversion recording; a deviation triggers diversion or re-pasteurization and a record. Verification includes reviewing charts and phosphatase testing.
Traps
HACCP is not the same as an FSSAI licence. Not every process step is a CCP; only steps where a significant hazard can be prevented, eliminated or reduced to an acceptable level. A BIS mark is not automatically mandatory for every dairy product. Missing FSSAI details on a label is a compliance failure, not a minor design issue.