The awareness around safe, healthy and nutritious foods is constantly growing. People are asking wide-ranging but fundamental questions. “How is my food processed?” “Where do they come from?” “How have they been stored?” “What is their shelf life?” “Are they organic?” etc. The food processing industry and its players have to answer the queries.
Thankfully, the industry is constantly evolving to create a bright, safe and healthy ecosystem for all stakeholders – including growers, food manufacturers, marketers, retailers and consumers. Given this field’s immense opportunity, a career in this industry is rewarding. However, to make a long-standing and impactful career in this field, one must acquire the necessary skills and have relevant certifications. Learn more about the food processing industry and its opportunities as a career.
What are food safety and food processing?
Access to safe and healthy foods is the pillar of thriving communities and sustainable lives. For this, food safety and processing play an important role. More than 600 million foodborne diseases surface every year. The infants, young children, sick and elderly are most affected. The consumption of unsafe foods that contain harmful bacteria, viruses, parasites and substances are responsible for 420000 preventable deaths annually. The importance of food safety is evident from these grim statistics.
Food safety generally refers to the conditions, practices, technologies etc. to safely and effectively grow, manufacture, handle, prepare and store foods. The aim is to preserve the quality of foods and prevent any form of contamination and foodborne diseases. Effective food processing techniques convert and transform foods from one form to another, making them consumable, marketable, and edible. Food processing can involve activities like canning, freezing, liquefaction, pickling, drying, pasteurization, etc.
Food safety and processing is broad topic, and it has many dimensions. As far as career opportunities are concerned, there are many. The food processing industry is responsible for generating many employment opportunities because it deals with agriculture, manufacturing, storing and transportation and more. The industry contributes to GDP and food exports, and therefore, there is a steady demand for trained food science and technology professionals in both government and private sectors.
There are many areas of employment where one can rise to new heights in a career. Some of the areas include dairy and food processing, packaging, refrigeration, canning, transportation etc., to name a few. One may find career opportunities in food technology, new product and development, marketing and business development of food and beverage products, procurement and supply chain management etc, to name but a few. Types of companies that look for trained professionals in the food safety and processing field include food manufacturing companies, food packaging companies, flavour houses, food instrument and machinery entities, wholesalers, research laboratories etc. In the government sector, job opportunities can be available in FCI, FSSAI, BIS, state and central food laboratories etc.
The industry is growing rapidly, and it has good career prospects. One can get a chance to work in an exciting environment. Most importantly, interested people can find good courses and training options online to get started.
Get the proper training in the food processing industry
If you are interested in ‘industry food processing‘ and want more information on the food process industry in India, you may find this website very useful. You can also visit the website to learn about DAY-NULM scheme details, DAY-NULM guidelines, DAY-NULM scheme apply online etc. DAY-NULM is designed to provide skills to the unskilled urban poor and upgrade their existing skills.
