Food Safety Officers

Food Safety Officers (FSOs) normally work in Environmental Health departments of local authorities. Their main focus is working with businesses to ensure the placing on the market of safe and legal food. This will include offering guidance and advice to food businesses, supporting business in development of systems and helping them achieve and maintain compliance. FSOs also take enforcement action when a business does not comply with the legislation.

Food Safety Officers may inspect food premises against various pieces of legislation, write reports, take samples, interpret and provide information to business based on sample results, handle and investigate complaints about food, serve formal Notices on businesses, write reports to the Procurator Fiscal.

Once more experienced they could be Approving certain food businesses, a system in place to ensure products of animal origin comply with the legislation.

Food Safety Officers need to have good underpinning scientific academic knowledge in order to understand the reason for the various elements of legislation being in place and to be able to assist business in rectifying any problems should they arise. Find out How to become a Food Safety Officer here.