What this section covers: Foodborne illness: what causes it and who is most at risk, Time/temperature control for safety (TCS) foods, Biological, chemical and physical hazards, Food from approved sources; reporting to the person in charge.
6 free practice questions
Click an answer: you see at once whether it is right, with the explanation.
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Question 1What does "ready-to-eat" food mean?
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Answer: D — Food that can be eaten without any further washing or cooking.
Ready-to-eat food, such as a sandwich, sliced melon or cooked chicken that is about to be served, will not be cooked again before it is eaten. That is why it must be protected from bare hands and from raw foods.
Checked against: FDA Food Code 2022, 1-201.10 Definitions, Ready-to-eat food
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Question 2Which group is at higher risk of getting seriously ill from foodborne illness?
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Answer: A — Preschool-age children and elderly people in a nursing home.
The Food Code calls these groups a highly susceptible population: preschool-age children, older adults and people with weakened immune systems who receive food in places such as child care centers, hospitals and nursing homes.
Checked against: FDA Food Code 2022, 1-201.10 Definitions, Highly susceptible population
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Question 3A neighbor offers the restaurant some home-canned green beans for free. What should you do?
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Answer: C — Refuse them: food must come from an approved source.
Food served to customers must come from an approved source that is inspected under food safety law. Home-canned food is not an approved source, and low-acid foods such as green beans can carry botulism toxin.
Checked against: FDA Food Code 2022, 3-101.11 Safe, Unadulterated, and Honestly Presented; 3-201.11 Compliance with Food Law
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Question 4A piece of a broken glass bowl falls into a pan of sauce. What kind of hazard is this?
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Answer: B — A physical hazard.
Hard or sharp objects such as glass, metal shavings or bone fragments are physical hazards. Germs are biological hazards, and cleaners or pesticides are chemical hazards. Food contaminated with glass must be thrown out.
Checked against: FDA Food Code 2022, Annex 4, What are Physical Hazards? (Table 3)
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Question 5Why should spray cleaner never be stored on a shelf above food?
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Answer: C — It could leak or spill onto the food and cause a chemical hazard.
Poisonous or toxic materials, including cleaners and sanitizers, must be stored so they cannot contaminate food, for example below or away from food. A labeled bottle can still leak.
Checked against: FDA Food Code 2022, 7-201.11 Separation; 7-202.12 Conditions of Use
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Question 6A food employee is diagnosed by a doctor with norovirus. Who must the employee tell?
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Answer: C — The person in charge.
Food employees must report to the person in charge if they are diagnosed with norovirus, hepatitis A, Shigella, Shiga toxin-producing E. coli, typhoid fever or nontyphoidal Salmonella. The person in charge then decides on exclusion or restriction under the Food Code.
Checked against: FDA Food Code 2022, 2-201.11 Responsibility of Person in Charge, Food Employees
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The basics a food handler is tested on
Foodborne illness comes from three kinds of hazards: biological (bacteria, viruses, parasites), chemical (cleaners, sanitizer at the wrong strength, pesticides) and physical (glass, metal, bone). Most questions in this part are about the first one.
Some foods let bacteria grow fast when they sit at the wrong temperature. The FDA Food Code 2022 calls them time/temperature control for safety (TCS) foods: meat, poultry, fish, eggs, dairy, cooked rice, beans and potatoes, cut melons, cut tomatoes and cut leafy greens, among others. They must be kept at 41°F or below, or 135°F or above.
Three rules that come up often
- Approved sources only. Food served to customers comes from suppliers that comply with food law (Food Code 3-201.11). Home-canned or home-made food is not allowed.
- Report symptoms. Food employees tell the person in charge about vomiting, diarrhea, jaundice, a sore throat with fever, or an infected wound, and about a diagnosis of norovirus, hepatitis A, Shigella, Shiga toxin-producing E. coli, typhoid fever or nontyphoidal Salmonella (Food Code 2-201.11).
- Some customers are more at risk. Young children in child care, older adults in nursing homes and people with weakened immune systems form a "highly susceptible population", with stricter rules.
When in doubt about a food's safety, do not taste it to check: tell the person in charge.
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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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