ServSafe Food Handler Sample Questions and Explanations

Store raw poultry on the bottom shelf. If its juices drip, they will not fall onto other food. Poultry needs the highest cooking temperature, so it goes lowest.

Wrong choices

• On the same shelf as fresh fruit, side by side: Raw poultry next to fresh fruit can spread germs.
• Above the salads and cooked foods: Raw juices could drip onto ready-to-eat food.
• On the top shelf: Juices from raw poultry could drip onto food below.

Store ready-to-eat food above raw meat, seafood, and poultry. Ready-to-eat food will not be cooked again, so any germs that drip on it stay there.

Wrong choices

• On the floor of the walk-in cooler: Food must not be stored on the floor.
• Below raw meat, seafood, and poultry: Raw juices could drip onto the salad.
• Anywhere, as long as it is covered: Covering helps, but ready-to-eat food still goes above raw food.

The whole handwashing process should take at least 20 seconds: wet, apply soap, scrub for 10 to 15 seconds, rinse, and dry.

Wrong choices

• At least 10 seconds: Ten seconds is too short for the whole process. Scrubbing alone takes 10 to 15 seconds.
• Only as long as it takes to rinse: Rinsing alone does not remove germs. You must scrub with soap.
• At least 5 seconds: Five seconds is far too short to remove germs.

Handwashing steps in order:

1. Wet hands and arms with clean, warm running water.
2. Apply soap.
3. Scrub hands and arms for 10 to 15 seconds, including between fingers and under nails.
4. Rinse under clean running water.
5. Dry with a single-use paper towel or a hand dryer.

Wrong choices

• Put soap on dry hands: Soap goes on after you wet your hands.
• Dry your hands with a paper towel: Drying is the last step.
• Scrub your hands and arms: Scrubbing comes after wetting and adding soap.

The temperature danger zone is 41°F to 135°F. Germs that cause foodborne illness grow fastest between these two temperatures. Keep cold food at 41°F or lower and hot food at 135°F or higher.

Wrong choices

• 32°F to 100°F: 32°F is freezing and 100°F is too low. Germs keep growing up to 135°F.
• 70°F to 165°F: The zone starts lower, at 41°F. 165°F is a cooking and reheating temperature, not the top of the zone.
• 0°F to 41°F: 41°F or lower is the safe range for cold food, not the danger zone.

Cooked rice is a TCS food (Time/Temperature Control for Safety). Moist, cooked foods like rice, beans, and baked potatoes let germs grow if they sit in the danger zone. Meat, poultry, fish, milk, eggs, and cut melons, tomatoes, and leafy greens are also TCS foods.

Wrong choices

• Saltine crackers: Crackers are dry, so germs cannot grow well in them.
• A whole, uncut apple: A whole, uncut apple with unbroken skin is not a TCS food.
• Dry, uncooked pasta: Dry pasta has almost no water, so germs cannot grow. Once it is cooked, it becomes TCS.

A foodborne illness is a disease that is carried or passed to people by food. Germs, chemicals, or objects in food can cause it.

Wrong choices

• Weight gain from eating fatty food: Weight gain is not a disease passed to people by food.
• Food that has passed its sell-by date: A date on a package is not an illness. It is a label about quality or stock.
• Any stomachache caused by eating too much: Eating too much can make you uncomfortable, but it is not a disease carried by food.

A physical hazard is an object that gets into food, such as metal shavings, staples, glass, bandages, or dirt. It can cut or choke a guest.

Wrong choices

• Norovirus on a worker's hands: A virus is a germ. That is a biological hazard.
• Glass cleaner sprayed near open food: Glass cleaner is a chemical hazard, not a physical one.
• Salmonella bacteria on raw chicken: Bacteria are living germs. That is a biological hazard.

Cleaning removes food and dirt from a surface. Sanitizing reduces germs on a clean surface to safe levels. You must clean first, because sanitizer does not work well on a dirty surface.

Wrong choices

• Cleaning kills all germs; sanitizing removes dirt: This has the two jobs backward.
• They mean the same thing: They are two different steps, and both are needed for food-contact surfaces.
• Sanitizing is only needed for floors and walls: Sanitizing is most important for surfaces that touch food, like cutting boards and utensils.

The order is clean, rinse, sanitize, air-dry. Scrape and clean off food, rinse away soap and dirt, apply sanitizer, and then let the surface air-dry. Do not rinse off the sanitizer.

Wrong choices

• Sanitize, rinse, clean, air-dry: Sanitizer does not work on a dirty surface, so cleaning must come first.
• Rinse, sanitize, clean, towel-dry: Cleaning must come first, and you should not towel-dry.
• Clean, sanitize, rinse, towel-dry: You should not rinse off sanitizer or towel-dry. Both can put germs back on the surface.