What this section covers: Keeping raw and ready-to-eat food apart; refrigerator storage order, Cutting boards, utensils and surfaces between tasks, The 9 major food allergens and allergen cross-contact, Storage containers, labels and chemicals.
6 free practice questions
Click an answer: you see at once whether it is right, with the explanation.
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Question 1What is cross-contamination?
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Answer: D — Moving germs from one food or surface to another.
Cross-contamination happens when germs move from raw food, dirty hands or unclean surfaces to food that will be eaten. Separating raw and ready-to-eat food and cleaning surfaces between tasks prevents it.
Checked against: FDA Food Code 2022, 3-302.11 Packaged and Unpackaged Food - Separation
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Question 2You need to store raw ground beef, raw whole fish and raw chicken on the same refrigerator shelving. Which order, from top to bottom, keeps the risk lowest?
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Answer: B — Fish, then ground beef, then chicken.
Raw animal foods are separated by their minimum cooking temperature, with the lowest at the top: fish (145°F), then ground beef (155°F), then poultry (165°F) at the bottom. If juices drip, they land on food that will be cooked hotter.
Checked against: FDA Food Code 2022, 3-302.11; Annex 3 (raw animal foods separated by cooking temperature)
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Question 3A customer says she is allergic to peanuts and asks whether a dessert contains them. You are not sure. What should you do?
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Answer: B — Check with the person in charge or the recipe before answering.
Allergic reactions can be severe even from a small amount. Never guess: check the recipe or the ingredient labels, or ask the person in charge, who must make sure employees are trained in food allergy awareness.
Checked against: FDA Food Code 2022, 2-103.11(O) Person in Charge (food allergy awareness); 3-602.12(C) Other Forms of Information
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Question 4Flour has been moved from its bag into a working container. What must the container have?
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Answer: A — A label with the common name of the food.
Working containers holding food taken out of its original package must be labeled with the common name of the food, unless the food cannot be mistaken, such as dry pasta. Flour can be confused with sugar, baking soda or other white powders.
Checked against: FDA Food Code 2022, 3-302.12 Food Storage Containers, Identified with Common Name of Food
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Question 5At a salad bar, a customer drops the serving tongs on the floor. What should happen?
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Answer: D — Replace them with clean, sanitized tongs.
A utensil that touches the floor is contaminated. It must be replaced with a clean and sanitized one, and the dirty one is sent for washing.
Checked against: FDA Food Code 2022, 3-306.13 Consumer Self-Service Operations; 3-304.12 In-Use Utensils
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Question 6Why can bare-hand contact with ready-to-eat food make customers sick?
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Answer: A — Hands can carry viruses and bacteria that cooking will not remove later.
Ready-to-eat food will not be cooked again, so germs from hands, such as norovirus or hepatitis A, stay on it. That is why the Food Code requires utensils or gloves.
Checked against: FDA Food Code 2022, 3-301.11 Preventing Contamination from Hands
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Cross-contamination and allergens
Cross-contamination moves germs from raw food, dirty hands or surfaces onto food that will not be cooked again. Allergen cross-contact moves an allergen protein onto food that should not have it, and cooking does not remove it.
Storing raw food in the refrigerator
Raw animal foods are kept away from ready-to-eat food and separated from each other (Food Code 3-302.11). A common way to do this, explained in the Food Code annex, is to store them by required cooking temperature, from top to bottom:
| Shelf | Food | Minimum cooking temperature |
|---|---|---|
| Top | Ready-to-eat food (salads, cooked dishes) | none, eaten as is |
| Then | Whole fish, steaks | 145°F for 15 seconds |
| Then | Ground meat | 155°F for 17 seconds |
| Bottom | Poultry | 165°F |
The 9 major food allergens
The FDA Food Code 2022 (1-201.10) names milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, wheat, peanuts, soybeans and sesame. For an allergy order: wash hands, change gloves, use cleaned and sanitized utensils and surfaces, never just pick the allergen off a finished dish, and never guess an answer to a customer: check the recipe or ask the person in charge.
Other rules in this part
- Food at least 6 inches above the floor (3-305.11), never in restrooms or locker rooms (3-305.12).
- Working containers labeled with the name of the food (3-302.12).
- Chemicals stored away from or below food, never in food containers (7-201.11, 7-203.11).
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ServSafe is a registered trademark of the National Restaurant Association. passmock is not affiliated with or endorsed by the National Restaurant Association, ANAB/ANSI, the FDA, any state health department or any food handler training provider. Original practice questions, not questions from the real test.
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