— quality, in motion.

Food QC · NPD · London, UK

Venkata Manoj Kumar Gonugunta

MSc Food Innovation — University of Greenwich.
I treat food safety as a craft and NPD as a discipline.

01ProfileTwo paragraphs.Open 02ExperienceMcDonald's UK — live food safety.Open 03QC ArsenalHACCP, allergen, FIR 2011.Open 04Case StudiesKindle Cracker · PlantPalate.Open 05ThesisDairy retail · rural India.Open

Profile

Safety is a craft,
not a checkbox

Most graduates list standards. I apply them. During my MSc at the University of Greenwich I carried two products end-to-end — a lab-developed cracker and a plant-based ready-meal concept — making the safety, labelling and sourcing decisions a technical team makes before anything reaches a shelf.

My discipline: hazard thinking from the first ingredient, evidence from every trial, and labels that survive scrutiny — QUID, allergen emphasis, nutrition declarations — under UK and EU food information law. I also work part-time at McDonald's UK, applying that same discipline shift by shift.

0End-to-end NPD projects
0UK allergens managed
0Days of live food safety practice
Field of work — food, examined closely

Experience

Food safety, on the shift

My academic training is grounded in a real food-service operation. I work part-time at one of the most heavily audited food businesses in the world.

Crew Member — Front of House & Kitchen

McDonald's UK · London

Sep 2024 — Present

"Where my MSc stops being theory and starts being a shift checklist."

Daily QC & food safety practice

  • Time–temperature control: probing holding cabinets, fridges and freezers against critical limits — exactly the CCP monitoring I learned in HACCP class.
  • Holding time discipline: tracking and discarding product past its time-on-line — a real shelf-life control, every shift.
  • Allergen separation: dedicated utensils, prep zones and customer flagging — Natasha's Law applied to a live counter, not a textbook.
  • Cross-contamination control: glove changes, handwash frequency, raw/cooked discipline — GMP turned into muscle memory.

Process & due diligence habits

  • FIFO stock rotation and date-code checks at intake and during prep — the same traceability mindset I'd bring to a goods-in role.
  • Pre-opening and shift-handover checks — start-up inspections, equipment status, sanitation sign-offs.
  • Cleaning & sanitation schedules against a documented plan — pre-requisite programmes (PRPs) in real-world rhythm.
  • Customer-facing food safety: handling allergen queries calmly and accurately under time pressure.

QC vocabulary in daily use

CCP monitoring Time–temperature control Holding time Allergen segregation FIFO Date code verification Pre-op checks Sanitation schedules GMP PRPs Due diligence records Shift handover
Scroll → it slides
01

HACCP — hazards, controlled

Hazard analysis and critical control points designed into the product plan from ingredient intake onward — and applied every shift at McDonald's: probes, holding times, allergen flow.

Hazard analysisCCP monitoringCritical limits
02

Allergens — Natasha's Law, lived

14 UK-regulated allergens: declaration, emphasis in ingredient lists, PPDS labelling discipline — and the calm under-pressure allergen flagging I do at a live counter every week.

14 allergensPPDS labellingCross-contact
03

Labelling — FIR 2011, to the letter

Full back-of-pack builds: ingredient order, QUID percentages, allergen emphasis, mandatory particulars and verified nutrition declarations — retail-standard artwork that survives technical review.

QUIDNutrition declarationEU 1169/2011
04

Evidence — GMP, FIFO & CAPA

Documented formulation trials, batch records, FIFO stock rotation, non-conformance & CAPA thinking. If something changes, there's a paper trail — the habit BRC Global Standards audits are built on.

Batch recordsFIFOCAPA / NCRBRCGS mindset

Selected work

Two products,
taken seriously

End-to-end MSc projects at the University of Greenwich — presented honestly as academic work, executed to industry standards.

Case study 01 — Lab-developed product

Kindle Cracker

From bench-top formulation to a retail-ready, FIR 2011-compliant label — with the QC evidence trail to back every claim.

The challenge

Develop a savoury cracker in the lab and carry it through the full NPD cycle: a stable, repeatable formulation, a verified nutrition declaration, and packaging copy compliant with UK food information law.

My approach

  • Iterative formulation trials with documented ratios, parameters and bake outcomes
  • Sensory analysis to score texture, flavour and appearance between iterations
  • Nutritional profiling translated into a compliant back-of-pack declaration
  • Label designed end-to-end: ingredient order, QUID, allergen emphasis

QC & safety methods

Formulation trialsSensory evaluationNutritional profilingFIR 2011Allergen declarationGMPTraceability

Outcome

A finished, label-ready product with a documented formulation history and a retail-standard label — the same evidence pack a technical team expects before launch.

Case study 02 — Plant-based ready-meal concept

PlantPalate

Built like a real launch: HACCP-aligned sourcing, market positioning, consumer insight and sustainable packaging.

The challenge

Design a plant-based ready meal that could credibly compete in the UK chilled aisle — safety planning from sourcing onward, a defensible market position, and packaging that supports shelf life and sustainability claims.

My approach

  • HACCP-aligned supply mapping: hazards and controls at ingredient intake
  • Competitor benchmarking on price, claims, nutrition and pack format
  • SWOT analysis and a consumer persona anchoring every product decision
  • Full 4Ps marketing mix and a sustainable packaging design

QC & safety methods

HACCP-aligned sourcingSupplier riskBenchmarkingSWOTConsumer persona4PsSustainable packaging

Outcome

A launch-ready concept dossier covering safety, market and packaging — proof I think beyond the lab bench to the commercial realities of getting onto shelf.

Research

My thesis

MSc Food Innovation · University of Greenwich Dissertation · 2024

— Research Thesis

Current safety and regulatory requirements and practices for small-scale dairy retail in rural India: a study of compliance and challenges to reducing foodborne illness.

An applied investigation into the gap between national dairy regulations and on-the-ground retail practice in rural India — mapping how unorganised, small-scale vendors handle hygiene, temperature control and labelling, and where the levers to reduce foodborne illness actually sit.

Food Safety Regulatory Compliance Dairy Rural Retail Foodborne Illness Field Research

Why this matters

Dairy is one of India's largest food categories — and one of the most complex to regulate at retail level. My thesis goes where the audits don't: small-scale, rural-facing vendors, where compliance is patchier and foodborne risk is highest.

It is the same instinct I bring to industry work: look where the gap between policy and practice actually lives.

FocusCompliance gaps in small-scale dairy retail
MethodRegulatory mapping + retail practice review
LensPathway to reducing foodborne illness
OutputMSc Food Innovation dissertation, University of Greenwich

Capability

The toolkit

The vocabulary recruiters search for — and the things I can speak to in interviews.

01

Quality & compliance

Quality ControlQuality AssuranceHACCPCCP monitoringBRCGSGMP / PRPsInternal auditsFood safety mgmtTraceabilityDue diligenceTACCP / VACCP
02

Daily QC vocabulary

Pre-op checksTime-temperature controlHolding timesFIFODate code checksCalibrationNon-conformance (NCR)CAPARoot-cause analysisEnvironmental swabbingForeign body control
03

Allergens & labelling

Allergen managementNatasha's Law / PPDSFIR 2011 · EU 1169/2011QUIDNutrition declarationsIngredient list discipline
04

NPD & commercial

New Product DevelopmentFormulation trialsSensory analysisNutritional profilingPlant-based developmentSustainable packagingCompetitor benchmarkingSWOTConsumer personas4Ps marketing

Background

MSc Food Innovation

University of Greenwich — London, UK

Product development from concept through formulation, safety planning and labelling.
Hands-on laboratory work: formulation trials, sensory evaluation, nutritional analysis.
UK & EU food law in practice: FIR 2011, allergen regulation, HACCP principles.

Next step

Let's make food safer, together.

Based in London. Available now for QC, QA and NPD roles. If you need someone who treats food safety as a craft — and lives it on every shift — let's talk.

manojvenkata1999@gmail.com LinkedIn ↗