SERVSAFE ACTUAL EXAM SCRIPT 2026
QUESTIONS WITH ANSWERS GRADED A+
◉ Two guests became ill after eating at a restaurant. They each ate
different food items and suffered different symptoms. Would the
incident be considered a foodborne illness outbreak?
a. No, because they ate different foods.
b. No, because they ate different foods and had different symptoms.
c. Yes, because they ate different foods.
d. Yes, because they ate different foods and had different symptoms.
Answer: b. No, because they ate different foods and had different
symptoms
◉ What is a foodborne-illness outbreak?
a. When two or more food handlers contaminate multiple food
items.
b. When an operation serves contaminated food to two or more
people.
c. When two or more people report the same illness from eating the
same food.
d. When the CDC receives information on two or more people with
the same illness. Answer: c. When two or more people report the
same illness from eating the same food.
,◉ In a situation that meets all other criteria, how many people must
have the same symptoms for a foodborne illness to be considered an
"outbreak"?
a. 1
b. 2
c. 3
d. 4 Answer: b. 2
◉ Why do pathogens pose an increasing challenge to food safety in
an operation?
a. Strains of pathogens are stronger than ever before.
b. They can no longer be eliminated from food products.
c. They are being found on food items once considered safe.
d. It is now harder to prevent them from causing foodborne illness.
Answer: c. They are being found on food items once considered safe.
◉ Why do high-risk customers pose an increasing challenge to food
safety in an operation?
a. Their numbers are on the rise.
b. They require extra safeguards.
c. Their immune systems are stronger.
d. Their risk for foodborne illness is less understood. Answer: a.
Their numbers are on the rise.
,◉ Which is a challenge to food safety in an operation?
a. The growing elderly population in the U.S.
b. A lack of opportunity to receive food safety training
c. The infrequency of health inspections in an operation
d.Too much focus on personal hygiene in the operation Answer: a.
The growing elderly population in the U.S.
◉ What is a human cost to victims of foodborne illness?
a. Negative publicity
b. Long-term disability
c. Changes to the immune system
d. Decreased resistance to pathogens Answer: b. Long-term
disability
◉ Which are the greatest threat to food safety?
a. Toxins
b. Allergens
c. Pathogens
d. Chemicals Answer: c. Pathogens
◉ Which of the following is a physical contaminant?
, a. Bone in a filet
b. Virus on a salad
c. Spray bottle of cleaner
d. Toxin in seafood Answer: a. Bone in a filet
◉ How are chemicals most likely to get into food?
a. When they are used incorrectly
b. When they are stored in original containers
c. When they are purchased from unsafe sources
d.When they are kept past their expiration date Answer: a. When
they are used incorrectly
◉ The three potential hazards to food are biological, physical, and
a. toxical.
b. chemical.
c. terminal.
d.procedural Answer: b. Chemical
◉ Which is a biological contaminant?
a. Bones in a chicken filet
b. Seafood toxin in a red snapper
c. Metal shavings in a can of peaches
QUESTIONS WITH ANSWERS GRADED A+
◉ Two guests became ill after eating at a restaurant. They each ate
different food items and suffered different symptoms. Would the
incident be considered a foodborne illness outbreak?
a. No, because they ate different foods.
b. No, because they ate different foods and had different symptoms.
c. Yes, because they ate different foods.
d. Yes, because they ate different foods and had different symptoms.
Answer: b. No, because they ate different foods and had different
symptoms
◉ What is a foodborne-illness outbreak?
a. When two or more food handlers contaminate multiple food
items.
b. When an operation serves contaminated food to two or more
people.
c. When two or more people report the same illness from eating the
same food.
d. When the CDC receives information on two or more people with
the same illness. Answer: c. When two or more people report the
same illness from eating the same food.
,◉ In a situation that meets all other criteria, how many people must
have the same symptoms for a foodborne illness to be considered an
"outbreak"?
a. 1
b. 2
c. 3
d. 4 Answer: b. 2
◉ Why do pathogens pose an increasing challenge to food safety in
an operation?
a. Strains of pathogens are stronger than ever before.
b. They can no longer be eliminated from food products.
c. They are being found on food items once considered safe.
d. It is now harder to prevent them from causing foodborne illness.
Answer: c. They are being found on food items once considered safe.
◉ Why do high-risk customers pose an increasing challenge to food
safety in an operation?
a. Their numbers are on the rise.
b. They require extra safeguards.
c. Their immune systems are stronger.
d. Their risk for foodborne illness is less understood. Answer: a.
Their numbers are on the rise.
,◉ Which is a challenge to food safety in an operation?
a. The growing elderly population in the U.S.
b. A lack of opportunity to receive food safety training
c. The infrequency of health inspections in an operation
d.Too much focus on personal hygiene in the operation Answer: a.
The growing elderly population in the U.S.
◉ What is a human cost to victims of foodborne illness?
a. Negative publicity
b. Long-term disability
c. Changes to the immune system
d. Decreased resistance to pathogens Answer: b. Long-term
disability
◉ Which are the greatest threat to food safety?
a. Toxins
b. Allergens
c. Pathogens
d. Chemicals Answer: c. Pathogens
◉ Which of the following is a physical contaminant?
, a. Bone in a filet
b. Virus on a salad
c. Spray bottle of cleaner
d. Toxin in seafood Answer: a. Bone in a filet
◉ How are chemicals most likely to get into food?
a. When they are used incorrectly
b. When they are stored in original containers
c. When they are purchased from unsafe sources
d.When they are kept past their expiration date Answer: a. When
they are used incorrectly
◉ The three potential hazards to food are biological, physical, and
a. toxical.
b. chemical.
c. terminal.
d.procedural Answer: b. Chemical
◉ Which is a biological contaminant?
a. Bones in a chicken filet
b. Seafood toxin in a red snapper
c. Metal shavings in a can of peaches
