ServSafe Manager: Management of Food Safety Practices Concepts
Importance ★★★★☆ · 10% (estimate)
Overview
This chapter is about the manager's job in food safety. The manager does not only cook or serve; the manager builds a system that keeps food safe every shift. The Food Code requires a person in charge (PIC) to be on site during all hours of operation, and that person must be able to show food safety knowledge, for example by being a certified food protection manager.
Most foodborne illness comes from a few common risk factors that the CDC has identified: buying food from unsafe sources, not cooking food correctly, holding food at the wrong temperature, using contaminated equipment, and poor personal hygiene. Active managerial control means the manager controls these risk factors every day through training, monitoring, and corrective action.
A HACCP plan is a written way to control hazards at specific points. It has seven principles, always in the same order, starting with a hazard analysis and ending with record keeping. Some special processes, such as curing food or smoking food to preserve it, need a variance from the regulatory authority before they can be used.
Some guests get sick more easily: preschool-age children, older adults, and people with weakened immune systems. Operations that mainly serve these highly susceptible groups must not serve certain risky foods, such as raw seed sprouts. When raw or undercooked animal foods are on the menu, a consumer advisory must tell guests about the risk.
Key concepts
Person in charge (PIC)
The person who must be on site during all hours of operation and who can show food safety knowledge, for example as a certified food protection manager.
Memory tipSomeone is always in charge.
Source: U.S. FDA Food Code 2022 · as of 2022
CDC risk factors
Five common causes of foodborne illness: food from unsafe sources, incorrect cooking, incorrect holding temperatures, contaminated equipment, and poor personal hygiene.
Memory tipSource, cook, hold, equipment, hygiene.
Active managerial control
A manager's everyday system for controlling the CDC risk factors through policies, training, monitoring, and corrective action.
Memory tipControl the risk factors, every day.
HACCP principles
1) Hazard analysis, 2) critical control points, 3) critical limits, 4) monitoring, 5) corrective actions, 6) verification, 7) record keeping.
Memory tipAnalyze, control point, limit, monitor, correct, verify, record.
Variance
A document from the regulatory authority that allows a Food Code requirement to be waived or changed. It is needed for special processes such as curing, smoking to preserve food, and some reduced-oxygen packaging.
Memory tipSpecial process = ask first.
Source: U.S. FDA Food Code 2022 · as of 2022
Consumer advisory
A menu disclosure of raw or undercooked animal foods plus a reminder that eating them may increase the risk of foodborne illness.
Memory tipDisclosure + reminder.
Source: U.S. FDA Food Code 2022 · as of 2022
Often tested
- Know the seven HACCP principles in order.
- A cooking temperature is a critical limit; cooking longer when it is not reached is a corrective action; reviewing logs is verification.
- High-risk groups: young children, older adults, and people with weakened immune systems.
- Curing and smoking to preserve food need a variance.
3 sample questions
Verified practice questions from this unit.
Question 1. Under the FDA Food Code, who must be present in a food establishment during all hours of operation?
- ① A registered dietitian
- ② A person in charge (PIC) who can show food safety knowledge
- ③ A licensed health inspector
- ④ The owner of the business
▼ Show answer and explanation▲ Hide answer and explanation
Answer: ② A person in charge (PIC) who can show food safety knowledge
Key point: A person in charge must be on site during all hours
The Food Code says a person in charge (PIC) must be present during all hours of operation. The PIC must be able to show food safety knowledge, for example by being a certified food protection manager, and the Food Code expects at least one supervisor or manager to hold that certification.
Wrong choices
- A licensed health inspector: Inspectors visit on a schedule; they do not stay during all hours of operation.
- The owner of the business: The owner does not have to be there. Someone must be the person in charge each shift.
- A registered dietitian: A dietitian is not required by the Food Code to be present.
Question 2. In a HACCP plan, what is the first principle?
- ① Establish corrective actions
- ② Determine critical control points
- ③ Conduct a hazard analysis
- ④ Keep records
▼ Show answer and explanation▲ Hide answer and explanation
Answer: ③ Conduct a hazard analysis
Key point: HACCP principle 1 = hazard analysis
HACCP has seven principles in this order:
- Conduct a hazard analysis
- Determine critical control points (CCPs)
- Establish critical limits
- Establish monitoring procedures
- Identify corrective actions
- Verify that the system works
- Establish procedures for record keeping and documentation
Wrong choices
- Determine critical control points: This is the second principle. You must find the hazards first.
- Establish corrective actions: Corrective actions are the fifth principle.
- Keep records: Record keeping is the last principle.
Question 3. Which hazard is a biological hazard?
- ① Sanitizer that splashed into food
- ② A fish bone
- ③ Glass from a broken light bulb
- ④ Norovirus
▼ Show answer and explanation▲ Hide answer and explanation
Answer: ④ Norovirus
Key point: Biological = germs (bacteria, viruses, parasites, fungi, toxins)
There are three kinds of food safety hazards: biological (bacteria, viruses, parasites, fungi, and toxins), chemical (cleaners, sanitizers, polishes, and toxic metals), and physical (glass, metal, bone, dirt). Norovirus is a virus, so it is a biological hazard.
Wrong choices
- Glass from a broken light bulb: Glass is a physical hazard.
- Sanitizer that splashed into food: Sanitizer is a chemical hazard.
- A fish bone: A bone is a physical hazard.
AI-written · Verified · Written by AI. Only units that passed a separate AI check (re-reading facts and numbers) are published. Tell us if you find a mistake.