Safety + Contamination
25%of exam
Safe Food Handling
30%of exam
Purchasing + Service
25%of exam
Facilities + Management
20%of exam
HACCPActive ControlFacilitiesSanitizersPest Control
Quick Facts
- Exam
- ServSafe Manager
- Credential
- Food Protection Manager
- Questions
- 90 MCQ
- Time
- 2 hours
- Pass
- 75%
- Validity
- 5 years
- Anchor
- FDA Food Code
- Focus
- Prevent illness
FAT TOM
Food, acidity, time, temp, oxygen, moisture
Food: nutrientsAcidity: pHTime: growthTemp: danger zoneOxygen: some needMoisture: water activity
TCS vs Non-TCS
TCS
- Moist/protein food
- Needs temp control
- Supports growth
Non-TCS
- Low growth risk
- Shelf stable
- Still protect
Growth risk drives control
Big Five
- Unsafe sources
- Reject unapproved food
- Undercooking
- Missed kill step
- Wrong holding
- Danger-zone growth
- Contaminated equipment
- Dirty food-contact surfaces
- Poor hygiene
- Hands spread pathogens
- TCS abuse
- Time plus temperature
- Cross-contamination
- Pathogens moved across foods
Cross-Contam vs Cross-Contact
Cross-contam
- Pathogen transfer
- Raw to RTE
- Cook can help
Cross-contact
- Allergen transfer
- Tiny amount matters
- Cooking cannot fix
Pathogen vs allergen
Big Six
- Norovirus
- Vomiting/diarrhea spread
- Hepatitis A
- Jaundice trigger
- Salmonella Typhi
- Fecal-oral route
- Nontyphoidal Salmonella
- Report and exclude
- Shigella
- Highly infectious
- E. coli O157
- Undercooked beef risk
Contaminants
- Biological
- Pathogens and toxins
- Chemical
- Cleaners, metals, pesticides
- Physical
- Glass, metal, jewelry
- Allergen
- Big Nine proteins
- Cross-contact
- Allergen transfer
- Food defense
- Prevent deliberate harm
Temperature Ladder
165 > 155 > 145 > 135
165: poultry/stuffed155: ground meat145: seafood/steaks135: hot plants
Restrict vs Exclude
Restrict
- May enter
- No exposed food
- Lower risk
Exclude
- Leave operation
- Serious symptoms
- Big Six
Limit tasks vs send home
Illness Action
- Vomiting→Exclude(Food risk)
- Diarrhea→Exclude(Food risk)
- Jaundice→Exclude(Notify authority)
- Big Six diagnosis→Exclude(Medical clearance)
- Sore throat + fever→Restrict(HSP: exclude)
- Covered hand wound→Bandage + glove
TCS + Temps
- Danger zone
- 41F-135F
- Cold holding
- 41F or below
- Hot holding
- 135F or above
- Prep limit
- 4 hours cumulative
- Cooling stage 1
- 135F->70F in 2 hr
- Cooling stage 2
- 70F->41F in 4 hr
- Reheated holding
- 165F within 2 hr
- Date marking
- 7 days max
Temperature Action
- Cold TCS above 41F→Reject(Receiving)
- Hot TCS below 135F→Reheat/discard(Holding)
- Cooling misses 70F→Reheat/restart(2 hr)
- Cooling misses 41F→Discard(6 hr)
- Reheat for holding→165F(2 hr)
- Unlabeled time-control→Discard
Cooking Tiers
- Poultry
- 165F instant
- Stuffed foods
- 165F instant
- Ground meat
- 155F tier
- Eggs for holding
- 155F tier
- Seafood
- 145F tier
- Steaks/chops
- 145F tier
- Eggs immediate
- 145F tier
- Hot plant foods
- 135F tier
Prep Controls
- Thaw cooler
- 41F or below
- Thaw water
- 70F running water
- Thaw microwave
- Cook immediately
- Thaw cooking
- Skip separate thaw
- Bare-hand RTE
- Never allowed
- Gloves
- Change between tasks
- Thermometer
- Calibrate before use
Storage Order
RTE > fish > beef > pork > poultry
Ready-to-eat topSeafood higherWhole cuts middlePoultry bottom
FIFO vs Date Marking
FIFO
- Use oldest first
- Quality rotation
- Stock control
Date mark
- Ready-to-eat TCS
- 7-day discard
- Safety limit
Rotation vs discard limit
Contamination Control
- Raw poultry storage→Bottom shelf
- RTE service→Gloves/utensils
- Allergen order→Separate tools
- Chemical near food→Move chemical
- Pest evidence→Contact PCO
- Sewage backup→Close/notify
Receiving + Storage
- Approved source
- Licensed, inspected supplier
- Cold TCS
- Receive at 41F
- Shell eggs
- Receive at 45F
- Live shellfish
- Receive at 45F
- Frozen food
- Solid, no crystals
- FIFO
- Oldest used first
- Ready-to-eat
- Store on top
- Poultry
- Store at bottom
Time Control vs Temperature
Time control
- Label discard
- No temp holding
- 4 or 6 hr
Temperature
- 41F cold
- 135F hot
- Monitor regularly
Clock vs thermometer
Service Control
- Temp checks
- Every 4 hours
- Time control
- Label discard time
- Four-hour food
- Discard after 4 hr
- Six-hour cold
- Stay below 70F
- Buffet plates
- New plate each trip
- Sneeze guards
- Protect self-service food
- Off-site food
- Log temps during transport
HACCP Flow
Hazard, CCP, limit, monitor, correct, verify, record
Find hazardsSet limitsWatch limitsFix missesVerify systemKeep records
Clean vs Sanitize
Clean
- Removes soil
- Uses detergent
- First step
Sanitize
- Reduces pathogens
- Uses heat/chemical
- After rinse
Soil first; pathogens second
HACCP + Management
- Hazard analysis
- Find likely hazards
- CCP
- Control hazard point
- Critical limit
- Measurable boundary
- Monitoring
- Check the limit
- Corrective action
- Fix failed limit
- Verification
- Prove system works
- Records
- Document control
- AMC
- Active managerial control
Facilities + Pests
- Hand sink
- Stocked and accessible
- Air gap
- Best backflow barrier
- NSF equipment
- Sanitation standard
- Smooth surfaces
- Easy to clean
- Master schedule
- What/who/when/how
- IPM
- Deny access, food
- PCO
- Licensed pest pro
Sanitizers + Dishwashing
- Wash basin
- 110F minimum
- Chlorine
- 50-99 ppm
- Iodine
- 12.5-25 ppm
- Quats
- Follow label
- Test kit
- Match sanitizer
- Air-dry
- Never towel-dry
- High-temp machine
- 180F final rinse
Common Traps
Allergen vs pathogen
Allergen survives cooking ≠ Pathogens may be killed
Gloves vs washing
Wash before gloves ≠ Gloves are not magic
Cooling vs reheating
Cooling has two stages ≠ Reheating has 2 hours
Clean vs sanitized
Clean can still contaminate ≠ Sanitize after rinsing
Restrict vs exclude
Restrict stays away food ≠ Exclude leaves operation
FIFO vs discard
FIFO manages rotation ≠ Date mark sets limit
Last Minute
- 1.Danger zone: 41F-135F
- 2.Cook: 165/155/145/135
- 3.Cool: 135->70->41
- 4.Cold 41F; hot 135F
- 5.Reheat holding to 165F
- 6.Big Six diagnosis excludes
- 7.Wash before wearing gloves
- 8.Allergens need cross-contact control
- 9.HACCP: limit, monitor, correct
- 10.Store poultry below everything
- 11.Sanitize, then air-dry only
- 12.Reject damaged, thawed, or warm
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