Kerala PSC FSO official syllabus guide

Kerala PSC FSO syllabus 0

The KPSC detailed syllabus for Cat. No. 006/2024 lists five parts of 20 marks each, and the 2025 paper on this site follows that order. The 2025 paper here has 93 questions, 2022 and 2015 have 100, and 2020 has 98, all in a single section; the gap from 100 reflects questions missing from the available papers. The syllabus also says questions from other topics of the qualifying degrees may appear.

Syllabus units: 5
Topics listed: 22
Papers counted: 4

Exam pattern and marking

Total 100 marks across five parts of 20 marks each: Food Technology, Dairy Technology, Veterinary Sciences, Nutritional Biochemistry and Food Analysis, Microbiological/Biotechnological/Medical aspects.
The syllabus note says topics beyond those listed, drawn from the qualification subjects, may also be asked.
The papers on this site are single-section MCQs with +1 for a correct answer and 1/3 negative marking; duration is 90 minutes in 2022 and 2025 and 75 minutes in 2015 and 2020 (the notification and syllabus do not state duration).

Five 20-mark parts totalling 100 marks syllabus

Part I: Food Technology (20 marks)

5 topics

Preservation methods: heat, pasteurization, canning, drying, freezing, freeze drying, fermentation, irradiation, chemical preservatives
Newer technologies: aseptic, hurdle, high pressure, pulsed electric field, ohmic and microwave heating, thermosonication
Fruit and vegetable products, beverages (tea, coffee, cocoa), spices, jams and pickles
Cereals, pulses, millets and oilseeds: milling, processing, anti-nutritional factors
Packaging, nutritional labelling, additives, fortification, plant sanitation, HACCP, Codex

Part II: Dairy Technology (20 marks)

4 topics

Milk composition, properties, hygiene and microbiology
Market milk: standardization, homogenization, pasteurization, UHT, sterilization
Milk adulterant tests and dairy sanitation
Cream, curd, paneer, cheese, ice cream, condensed and powdered milk, butter, ghee, indigenous products, whey and casein products

Part III: Veterinary Sciences (20 marks)

4 topics

Abattoir layout, ante and post mortem inspection, slaughter and dressing
Meat grading, ageing, preservation, packaging and quality
Fish and aquatic food quality; meat as a source of disease
Egg composition, processing and storage

Part IV: Nutritional Biochemistry and Food Analysis (20 marks)

4 topics

Carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, vitamins, minerals, fibre: functions, requirements, digestion
Protein quality (BV, PER, NPU), energy value, BMR, RQ, SDA, RDA, balanced diets
Chromatography (column, paper, TLC, HPLC, GC) and spectroscopy (IR, UV, MS, AAS)
Proximate analysis, adulteration and pesticide analysis, iodine and saponification values

Part V: Microbiological, Biotechnological and Medical Aspects (20 marks)

5 topics

Microscopy, staining, media, growth curve, D and Z values
Sources of food microorganisms, spoilage, intrinsic and extrinsic factors
Food-borne diseases and poisoning, investigation, food handlers, eating-place sanitation
Fermented foods, microbiological analysis of food and water, standards, water and sewage treatment
Enzymes in food industry, bioreactors, single-cell protein, molecular detection, GM foods

Source: KPSC detailed syllabus, Cat. No. 006/2024 ↗. Checked 2026-10-02.

Section weight by year

Section-wise marks per paper
Paper	Food Safety & Food Science	Total	Minutes
Kerala PSC Food Safety Officer 2025	93	93	90
Kerala PSC Food Safety Officer 2022 (Special Recruitment)	100	100	90
Kerala PSC Food Safety Officer 2020	98	98	75
Kerala PSC Food Safety Officer 2015	100	100	75

Changes in examination pattern

Compared across past papers. Not an official announcement.

Detected changes between consecutive papers
Change	Compared papers	Before	After	What changed
2025	Kerala PSC Food Safety Officer 2022 (Special Recruitment) → Kerala PSC Food Safety Officer 2025	100 q 100 marks 90 min 1 section	93 q 93 marks 90 min 1 section	Questions 100 → 93 Marks 100 → 93 Section split Food Safety & Food Science 100q → 93q
2022	Kerala PSC Food Safety Officer 2020 → Kerala PSC Food Safety Officer 2022 (Special Recruitment)	98 q 98 marks 75 min 1 section	100 q 100 marks 90 min 1 section	Questions 98 → 100 Duration 75 → 90 min Marks 98 → 100 Section split Food Safety & Food Science 98q → 100q
2020	Kerala PSC Food Safety Officer 2015 → Kerala PSC Food Safety Officer 2020	100 q 100 marks 75 min 1 section	98 q 98 marks 75 min 1 section	Questions 100 → 98 Marks 100 → 98 Section split Food Safety & Food Science 100q → 98q

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