Being a food safety inspector might seem like a pretty good gig. You get to travel, meet interesting new people, and see how all kinds of different foods are made all while getting paid. And all you have to do is waltz into a facility, tell folks everything they’re doing wrong, and leave it to them to figure out how to fix the issues. Not bad, right? Well, it isn’t quite that simple. While there are some perks to the job, there is a lot of responsibility that comes with it. The public, your clients, and the facility being inspected are counting on you to do a good job and identify food safety hazards. The observations you make help the facility improve and positively impacts public health. So how do you go about getting a job like this?

Basic Education

Let’s start with the basics: education. A solid grounding in chemical and biological sciences is necessary to be a food safety inspector. In high school, make sure to take as much science as possible such as biology, chemistry, microbiology, etc. In college, the best major you could take to be a food safety inspector is food science. In a food science curriculum, you’ll learn the intrinsic and extrinsic factors of microbial growth, how cleaning and sanitation works, how food matrices interact, and how the components of food affect its safety. Typical courses include food microbiology, HACCP, food chemistry, food defense, meat and dairy science, fermentation science, and food safety & sanitation. If food science isn’t an option, the next best majors to consider include environmental health, public health, microbiology, or environmental science. Take note that most federal jobs in the US require at least 30 science credits. Some countries also require a civil service exam.

Work Experience

Next, you will want to get some work experience. If you are just starting out, I would advise seeking out internships with regulatory agencies such as boards of health or with food companies. Both will generally have internship programs. Food safety inspectors could work for a variety of organizations. In the United States, they could work for a local board of health, which means they work for a city or town and they inspect food service establishments such as restaurants, schools, nursing homes, and temporary food businesses. They could work for the state, which inspects large food manufacturers that distribute food within the state or across state lines. These companies usually have to have a license by the state to operate. Inspectors could also work for the federal government, which inspects food in interstate commerce and imported foods. The federal agencies include the US FDA, the USDA, and the USDC. The inspectors that work for these agencies are called Consumer Safety Inspectors or Consumer Safety Officers. Some private companies employ internal inspectors to review and improve existing procedures. The title of these jobs is usually “internal auditor” or “regulatory affairs manager”. There are also consultants that provide inspection services to food companies to help improve their programs. These are also called “third party” inspectors. If you have no experience, you could start out at a private company in Quality Assurance. This would give you great experience to then become an inspector. Despite the name, Quality Assurance generally plays a big role in food safety such as checking critical control points, verifying sanitation, and checking food safety documentation. You should look for jobs such as “Quality Assurance Technician” or “Food Safety Manager”.

Necessary Skills

What skills do you need to be a food safety inspector? You have to have great attention to detail. You need to be able to watch fast paced manufacturing processes and observe people to try and identify poor food safety practices. You have to have good oral and written communication skills. Typically, you will have to communicate to facility management any deficiencies observed during an inspection and submit a report of your activities in writing. You also have to be willing to learn and be able to learn quickly. Every process is a little different and in general, no two facilities are alike. So there is a lot of learning that happens on-the-fly. You have to be able to exercise good judgment. Most things are not black and white. You have to distinguish between technical deficiencies versus problems that could impact public health. You should be familiar with food safety management programs such as HACCP, GMPs, pest control, pre-requisite programs, cleaning, allergen management, microbiological testing, labeling, etc. You should also be familiar with the rules and regulations you would be enforcing. So learn your state’s sanitary code, FDA food code, code of federal regulations pertinent to the foods being inspected, or third party audit scheme such as BRC, SQF, FSSC22000, etc. You should learn how to operate basic inspection equipment such as a thermometer, flashlight, pH meter, colorimetric sanitizer test strips, black light, camera, inspection software, etc.

A Typical Food Safety Inspector Job Ad

I wanted to show you an example of a food safety inspector ad so you can see what the typical requirements are. This is a great example of what a food safety inspector does and if you’re interested in this field, you can use this as a guide to educate yourself on specific requirements.

Finding Jobs

Where do you go to find food safety inspector jobs? I’ve written a post on this site that covers some of the best job boards to search for food safety jobs and highly encourage you to take a look. If you are just starting out, you may also want to check out some of the recommended certifications to show potential employers you are knowledgeable in the field of food safety. Lastly, see my post on the best conferences to attend to be able to meet potential employers in person. There are also great learning opportunities at these conferences. You can also view this excellent webinar provided by the International Food Safety & Quality Network here which discusses how to enhance your career as a food safety professional:

I hope this helps on your food safety career journey. Leave any questions or comments below.