Food inspector vs agriculture inspector

The differences between food inspectors and agriculture inspectors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a food inspector and an agriculture inspector. Additionally, an agriculture inspector has an average salary of $45,614, which is higher than the $43,824 average annual salary of a food inspector.

The top three skills for a food inspector include food handling, federal laws and food preparation. The most important skills for an agriculture inspector are USDA, disease control, and inspection reports.

Food inspector vs agriculture inspector overview

	Food Inspector	Agriculture Inspector
Yearly salary	$43,824	$45,614
Hourly rate	$21.07	$21.93
Growth rate	-3%	-3%
Number of jobs	64,809	16,645
Job satisfaction	5	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 47%	Bachelor's Degree, 64%
Average age	50	50
Years of experience	2	2

What does a food inspector do?

The Food Inspector focuses on securing all consumers' health and safety from a company's food products. They must enforce all food standards outlined by the Food and Drug Administration. Other responsibilities include inspection of slaughterhouses, food production facilities, and other food-related establishments if they follow safety and health regulations and protocols. The Food Inspector determines if the establishment is safe to sell food products and if they have permits to operate. Their job also requires them to ensure that all food sold is fit for consumption and safe according to federal laws.

What does an agriculture inspector do?

An agriculture inspector scrutinizes agricultural food products and the processing methods for safe consumption. Agriculture inspectors should have knowledge about the regulations set by the FDA for the proper implementation of the rules. Oftentimes, they are in charge of the issuance of the official grades for the standards. They also take action whenever a problem arises to come up with a remedy before the contaminated products are marketed. Also, it is their job to audit and assess different aspects of livestock production.

Food inspector vs agriculture inspector salary

Food inspectors and agriculture inspectors have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Food Inspector	Agriculture Inspector
Average salary	$43,824	$45,614
Salary range	Between $27,000 And $70,000	Between $28,000 And $72,000
Highest paying City	Harrisburg, PA	Philadelphia, PA
Highest paying state	Pennsylvania	Pennsylvania
Best paying company	Office of Human Services	Munro Shoes
Best paying industry	Government	Government

Differences between food inspector and agriculture inspector education

There are a few differences between a food inspector and an agriculture inspector in terms of educational background:

	Food Inspector	Agriculture Inspector
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 47%	Bachelor's Degree, 64%
Most common major	Business	Biology
Most common college	Stanford University	Stanford University

Food inspector vs agriculture inspector demographics

Here are the differences between food inspectors' and agriculture inspectors' demographics:

	Food Inspector	Agriculture Inspector
Average age	50	50
Gender ratio	Male, 52.9% Female, 47.1%	Male, 66.4% Female, 33.6%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 13.2% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 20.9% Asian, 5.5% White, 56.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	Black or African American, 10.9% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 23.3% Asian, 5.0% White, 56.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	8%	8%

Differences between food inspector and agriculture inspector duties and responsibilities

Food inspector example responsibilities.

Provide education to plant management and employees in regard to federal regulations, HACCP and SSOP.
Perform health and safety verification sampling and tests for detection of specific microbes, residues or contaminants.
Identify and document deviations from plant's written procedures outline in HACCP and SSOP plans to ensure compliance with federal regulations.
Perform CSI duties as needed.
Report information from inspection shifts to plant DVM.
Have knowledge of FSIS procedures and can adapt to current procedures

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Agriculture inspector example responsibilities.

Insure product meet federal regulations for processing (GMP) as well as standards of identity.
Inspect agricultural commodities or relate operations, for compliance with laws and regulations governing health, quality, and safety.
Assist with administration of seasonal examinations to obtain certification for inspection of designate commodities.
Conduct dimensional and visual inspections procedures on CMM machines to ensure geometrical characteristics of the product are in specification.
Audit annually by the FDA for performance quality assessments and standardization.

Food inspector vs agriculture inspector skills

Common food inspector skills

Food Handling, 31%
Federal Laws, 15%
Food Preparation, 14%
Sanitation Procedures, 10%
Human Consumption, 6%
Food Animals, 3%

Common agriculture inspector skills

USDA, 20%
Disease Control, 14%
Inspection Reports, 11%
Agricultural Products, 10%
Federal Regulations, 10%
Insect, 7%

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Updated January 8, 2025

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