Food Safety Consultant: Key Responsibilities, Skills and Salary

• Who is a Food Safety Consultant?
• Key Job Responsibilities of a Food Safety Consultant
• Required Qualification/Education
• What makes you qualified for this job?
• Top Companies/Organizations Hiring a Food Safety Consultant
• Food Safety Consultant Salary Statistics

Who is a Food Safety Consultant?

A food safety consultant or you can also say a HACCP consultant is an individual who has to use the technical knowledge and expertise to facilitate the implementation of the Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) and the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) systems in your facility. Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) also go by the name of Prerequisite Programs.

The Food Safety Consulting Services by NSF can help a lot in improving the food safety programs as they help to put the best practices in place throughout the company.

In this article, we shall talk about the key responsibilities, required skills, and other details about a Food Safety Consultant.

Key Responsibilities of a Food Safety Consultant

Food safety consultants have to do a lot of work on a daily basis and below we have listed some of their responsibilities:

• Develop standards for food safety and sanitarian procedures in not only restaurants but food production facilities, supermarkets, and other food service establishments.
• Perform food safety inspections in different grocery stores, restaurants, and other facilities where food is prepared or sold and make sure everything is going by the procedure.
• Develop different plans for foodborne illness prevention programs. This also includes training employees on food safety principles and procedures.
• Conduct research on food safety topics for identifying any kind of emerging issues.
• Create new protocols for safe food handling practices.
• Provide necessary training to the employees on food safety principles and practices.
• Consult with clients on different issues related to food management. It is their job to discuss different ways to create a safe environment in food service establishments.
• Monitor food safety conditions in schools, daycare centers, hospitals, nursing homes, and other facilities where food is available.
• Manage a food recall or any kind of disease outbreak caused by food.
• Prepare reports on findings and give recommendations regarding food safety issues.

Required Qualification/Education

To become a food safety consultant you need:

• A Bachelor’s degree in biology, nutrition, food science, and agriculture.
• With that, you can also enroll in different programs relevant to food chemistry, nutrition, microbiology, and food safety.
• A Master’s degree in the relevant field is also very useful in advancing your career.

What makes you qualified for this job?

To become good at this job, there are some important yet common skills that you need to possess:

• As the safety and health regulations are constantly changing so it is very important for the food safety consultant to communicate these changes with the clients. And to be able to do that he must have excellent communication skills.
• A good knowledge of food safety is very important to possess as it is the foundation of a food safety consultant’s skills. If you have this knowledge then it can help you understand the regulations and standards that the companies need to meet.
• Next, good analytical skills are also important to possess as these skills help them to evaluate food safety programs and procedures. If you have sufficient analytical skills then it becomes easier to assess risks and hazards in the food production process.
• Similarly, good problem-solving skills are very important to possess because food safety consultants mostly have to work with businesses to develop and implement food safety programs. This mostly involves identifying potential risks and finding solutions to ensure that food products are safe to consume.
• Food safety consultants might have to work with government officials for developing and implementing new standards and regulations. For that, they need strong leadership skills as they would be in a position where they might have authority over others.
• Next, a good understanding of complex food safety systems is important to possess.
• A deep understanding of regulations and how they can be implemented in different settings is also important to possess.
• The ability to audit food safety systems is required.
• You need to be familiar with international food safety standards such as BRC, IFS, and SQF.
• Our guide to Certified hospitality courses will help you find the best options for earning your certification.

In-demand Certifications:

Below we have listed some of the available certifications for you to consider;

• ISO 9001:2015
• ISO 45001:2018
• ISO 22716:2007
• ISO 22000:2018

Discover the importance of implementing HACCP principles as part of your food safety measures in our exploration of ISO 22000.

Top Companies/Organizations Hiring Food Safety Consultants

It has been found that the food safety industry is growing at a rapid speed. This has led to businesses looking for professionals who have the technical skills to meet food safety requirements. So this automatically increases the demand for food safety consultants that can help businesses develop and implement effective preventative measures.

Top companies like Nestle, PepsiCo Inc, Anheuser-Busch InBev, JBS, Tyson Foods, The Coca-Cola Company, and many others actively hire food safety consultants.

Food safety consultants can work in industries like food and beverages, hospitality, healthcare, and many others. Therefore, we can say if you have even the slightest interest in this field then now is the time to start a career as a food safety consultant.

Food Safety Consultant Salary Statistics

This section contains the salary details of a food safety consultant working in different major countries. These figures will give you an idea of how much you can make as a food safety consultant in different countries.

USA:

The average annual salary of a food safety consultant working in America is around $57,245.

Canada:

Working in Canada as a food safety consultant can help you make an average annual salary of CA$ 91,579.

UK:

In United Kingdom, the average annual salary of a food safety consultant is expected to be around £47,060.

References/Sources:

• https://www.glassdoor.com/
• Please note that mentioned salary stats are as of June, 2023.

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