FOOD HANDLER UPDATED ACTUAL
QUESTIONS AND CORRECT ANSWERS
COMPLETE STUDY GUIDE
●● What are the guidelines for holding cold food?
Answer: Hold cold food at 41dF or lower
●● What are the guidelines for holding hot food?
Answer: Hold hot food at 135dF or higher, Never use hot-holding
equipment to reheat food unless it was built to do so. Most equipment
reheats too slow to get through the temperature danger zone. Reheat
food correctly and then move to the holding unit.
●● When can food be held without temperature control?
Answer: Food can be held without temperature control if you are NOT
serving a high-risk population. Food can be held without temperature
control if displaying food for a short time (off-site catered event) or
when electricity is not available to power holding equipment.
●● What are the conditions for holding cold food without temperature
control?
Answer: Cold food can be held without temperature control for up to 6
hours if 1) Food is held at 41dF or lower before removing it from
refrigeration 2) Label the food with the time removed from fridge and
,the time that it expires (ex. Removed: 4:30, Discard 10:30) 3) Make sure
the food's temp does not exceed 70dF while being served. Discard any
that exceeds temp 4) Sell, serve, or throw out the food within 6 hours
●● What are the conditions for holding hot food without temperature
control?
Answer: Hot food can be held for up to 4 hours if these conditions are
met: 1) Hold food at 135dF or above before removing from temp control
2) Label food with time removed from temp control and discard time 3)
Sell, serve, or throw out the food within 4 hours.
●● Which food item is being handled safely? 1) Soup at 120dF 2) Pasta
salad at 39dF 3) Potato salad at 75dF 4) Soup placed in a hot holding
unit at 40dF
Answer: ANSWER: 2
●● Roy prepared pans of pasta with meat sauce and held them in a
200dF degree oven for two hours. At 5:00pm, he packed them in an
insulated container to take to a wedding reception at the beach. There
was no equipment to keep the food hot. At 8:00pm, three hours after Roy
removed the pasta from the over in his operation, the pasta was served to
the guests. Is this food safe to serve?
Answer: Yes. The food was held above 135dF and then served within
four hours after being removed from temperature control.
,●● At 6am, Alvin removed deli meat, sliced cheese, apples, and pudding
cups from the cooler to make box lunches for a high school class field
trip. When he finished making the lunches, Alvin left them on a table for
the teacher. The lunches were left on the bus that warm spring day while
the students toured a museum. At 1pm, they returned to a very warm bus
to get their lunches, which they ate in a picnic area. Is the food safe to
serve?
Answer: No. The lunches were left too long outside of temperature
control. The temp of the food also probably rose higher than 70dF as the
bus warmed in the sun.
●● Sally is a cook at the Springfield Retirement Community. As a
special treat, she set up a picnic for some of the elderly residents. The
picnic included a buffet of cold chicken, potato salad, coleslaw, rolls,
and cupcakes. There was no equipment to keep the food cold. The food
was served one hour after it was removed from the cooler. Is the food
safe to serve?
Answer: No. Food cannot be held without temperature control if it is
primarily for high-risk populations, such as elderly people.
●● How can you prevent contamination when serving food?
Answer: Contamination can be prevented when serving food by 1)
Avoiding bare-hand contact with ready-to-eat foods 2) Using clean and
sanitized utensils for each food items. If utensils are being used
constantly, clean and sanitize every 4 hours 3) Store serving utensils in
the food with the handle extended above the rim of the container or on a
, clean and sanitized food-contact surface 4) Taking caution when using
guest-provided take-home containers.
●● What precautions should you take when using guest-provided take-
home containers?
Answer: Take-home containers can be used if they 1) Were designed to
be reused 2) Provided to the guest by the operation 3) Are cleaned and
sanitized properly
●● How can you prevent contamination by service staff?
Answer: Train them to follow these guidelines: 1) Hold dishes by the
bottom or edge 2) Hold glasses by the middle, bottom, or stem 3) Do
NOT touch the food-contact areas of dishes or glassware 4) Carry
glasses in a rack or a tray to avoid touching the food-contact surfaces 5)
Do NOT stack glasses when carrying them 6) Hold flatware by the
handle 7) Store flatware so that servers grasp handles, not food-contact
surfaces 8) Avoid bare-hand contact with food that is ready-to-eat 9) Use
ice scoops or tongs to get ice, NEVER the cup or bare-hands.
●● How do you prevent preset tableware contamination?
Answer: Steps to prevent tableware from becoming contaminated
include: 1) Wrapping or covering the items 2) Unused settings are
removed when guests are seated and cleaned and sanitized after the
guests have left
●● How do I re-serve food from one guest to another?
QUESTIONS AND CORRECT ANSWERS
COMPLETE STUDY GUIDE
●● What are the guidelines for holding cold food?
Answer: Hold cold food at 41dF or lower
●● What are the guidelines for holding hot food?
Answer: Hold hot food at 135dF or higher, Never use hot-holding
equipment to reheat food unless it was built to do so. Most equipment
reheats too slow to get through the temperature danger zone. Reheat
food correctly and then move to the holding unit.
●● When can food be held without temperature control?
Answer: Food can be held without temperature control if you are NOT
serving a high-risk population. Food can be held without temperature
control if displaying food for a short time (off-site catered event) or
when electricity is not available to power holding equipment.
●● What are the conditions for holding cold food without temperature
control?
Answer: Cold food can be held without temperature control for up to 6
hours if 1) Food is held at 41dF or lower before removing it from
refrigeration 2) Label the food with the time removed from fridge and
,the time that it expires (ex. Removed: 4:30, Discard 10:30) 3) Make sure
the food's temp does not exceed 70dF while being served. Discard any
that exceeds temp 4) Sell, serve, or throw out the food within 6 hours
●● What are the conditions for holding hot food without temperature
control?
Answer: Hot food can be held for up to 4 hours if these conditions are
met: 1) Hold food at 135dF or above before removing from temp control
2) Label food with time removed from temp control and discard time 3)
Sell, serve, or throw out the food within 4 hours.
●● Which food item is being handled safely? 1) Soup at 120dF 2) Pasta
salad at 39dF 3) Potato salad at 75dF 4) Soup placed in a hot holding
unit at 40dF
Answer: ANSWER: 2
●● Roy prepared pans of pasta with meat sauce and held them in a
200dF degree oven for two hours. At 5:00pm, he packed them in an
insulated container to take to a wedding reception at the beach. There
was no equipment to keep the food hot. At 8:00pm, three hours after Roy
removed the pasta from the over in his operation, the pasta was served to
the guests. Is this food safe to serve?
Answer: Yes. The food was held above 135dF and then served within
four hours after being removed from temperature control.
,●● At 6am, Alvin removed deli meat, sliced cheese, apples, and pudding
cups from the cooler to make box lunches for a high school class field
trip. When he finished making the lunches, Alvin left them on a table for
the teacher. The lunches were left on the bus that warm spring day while
the students toured a museum. At 1pm, they returned to a very warm bus
to get their lunches, which they ate in a picnic area. Is the food safe to
serve?
Answer: No. The lunches were left too long outside of temperature
control. The temp of the food also probably rose higher than 70dF as the
bus warmed in the sun.
●● Sally is a cook at the Springfield Retirement Community. As a
special treat, she set up a picnic for some of the elderly residents. The
picnic included a buffet of cold chicken, potato salad, coleslaw, rolls,
and cupcakes. There was no equipment to keep the food cold. The food
was served one hour after it was removed from the cooler. Is the food
safe to serve?
Answer: No. Food cannot be held without temperature control if it is
primarily for high-risk populations, such as elderly people.
●● How can you prevent contamination when serving food?
Answer: Contamination can be prevented when serving food by 1)
Avoiding bare-hand contact with ready-to-eat foods 2) Using clean and
sanitized utensils for each food items. If utensils are being used
constantly, clean and sanitize every 4 hours 3) Store serving utensils in
the food with the handle extended above the rim of the container or on a
, clean and sanitized food-contact surface 4) Taking caution when using
guest-provided take-home containers.
●● What precautions should you take when using guest-provided take-
home containers?
Answer: Take-home containers can be used if they 1) Were designed to
be reused 2) Provided to the guest by the operation 3) Are cleaned and
sanitized properly
●● How can you prevent contamination by service staff?
Answer: Train them to follow these guidelines: 1) Hold dishes by the
bottom or edge 2) Hold glasses by the middle, bottom, or stem 3) Do
NOT touch the food-contact areas of dishes or glassware 4) Carry
glasses in a rack or a tray to avoid touching the food-contact surfaces 5)
Do NOT stack glasses when carrying them 6) Hold flatware by the
handle 7) Store flatware so that servers grasp handles, not food-contact
surfaces 8) Avoid bare-hand contact with food that is ready-to-eat 9) Use
ice scoops or tongs to get ice, NEVER the cup or bare-hands.
●● How do you prevent preset tableware contamination?
Answer: Steps to prevent tableware from becoming contaminated
include: 1) Wrapping or covering the items 2) Unused settings are
removed when guests are seated and cleaned and sanitized after the
guests have left
●● How do I re-serve food from one guest to another?
