FOOD HANDLERS LATEST 2026 PRACTICE EXAM
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS RATED A+
✔✔clean and sanitize - ✔✔Cleaning involves removing food, dirt, and other particles
from the surface of something, such as a dish or countertop. When you wash a pan with
soap and water, you are cleaning it. Sanitizing, on the other hand, involves reducing the
number of germs to a safe level. If you want to sanitize the pan, you will need to
submerge it, or dip it entirely, in a sanitizing solution. To maintain a safe food
environment, both cleaning and sanitizing are required.
✔✔4 step sanitize and cleaning process - ✔✔First, wipe or scrape off any large food
particles. Second, clean the surface with a detergent and then rinse with clean water.
Third, apply a sanitizing solution. We'll talk more about this soon. Fourth, allow the
surface to air-dry. Do not use towels to dry sanitized items. Keep cloths used for
cleaning and those used for sanitizing separated, and store them in their own solution.
✔✔sanitizers - ✔✔iodine, chlorine, and quat ammonium.. mixded w/ water. too much
water - wont clean, too little - harmful
✔✔water - ✔✔180 degrees Fahrenheit (82 degrees Celsius), and the surface or item
must be immersed for at least 30 seconds.
✔✔when to clean and sanitize - ✔✔any time it comes in contact with food. Also, clean
and sanitize a surface or an instrument any time you switch from working with one food
to another. If you are interrupted while preparing food, clean and sanitize your tools
before resuming the task. Food contact surfaces and utensils, such as counter tops,
cutting boards, knives, etc., should be cleaned and sanitized after each use or after 4
hours of continuous use. When not in use, sanitizing equipment and chemicals should
be stored in a cool, dry area away from food and preparation areas. Make sure they are
properly labeled
✔✔cross contamination - ✔✔refers to germs crossing from one food or surface to
contaminate another. Cross-contamination can occur through hand contact,
contaminated utensils or surfaces, and improper food storage.
✔✔how cross contamination occurs - ✔✔especially dangerous when raw animal
products such as meat, poultry, eggs, or seafood—or juices from such foods—come
into contact with ready-to-eat food or food that will not be cooked. Imagine that a green
salad is mistakenly placed below a plate of raw chicken in a refrigerator. Liquid from the
chicken drips onto the salad and it becomes contaminated with salmonella. The salad is
then served, and the person who eats it becomes ill. Cross-contamination can also
occur on food contact surfaces. For example, it would be unsafe to cut raw pork on a
cutting board and then cut tomatoes on the same board without cleaning and sanitizing
it between uses.
, ✔✔prevent cross contamination - ✔✔wash your hands and change your gloves after
touching any raw animal product. Store raw animal products below ready-to-eat food in
refrigerators. Keep raw animal products separate from other foods during storage,
preparation, and holding. Properly clean and sanitize all food contact surfaces after
each use, and regularly throughout the day. Never allow the same surface or tool to
touch both raw animal products and other foods, without being cleaned and sanitized in
between.
it is important that you keep different types of foods separate during the food
preparation process. This is especially important when working with raw meats and
meat products. Click on each icon to learn more about preventing situations that
commonly cause cross-contamination.
✔✔raw meats - ✔✔never store over ready to eat food meat juices may drip, always
cover food
✔✔raw animal products - ✔✔keep separte from all other foods
✔✔sanitize raw meat surfaces - ✔✔clean everythign raw meats touch, never let any
other food touch that has been touched by raw meats before sanitizing, use plastic
cutting boards w/o grooves
✔✔wash hands - ✔✔double hand wash after raw meats, hands can be carryiers of
germs
✔✔3 compartment sinks - ✔✔dishwashing: one for each step in the washing process,
Before washing any heavily soiled items, they should be rinsed, scraped, or soaked as
necessary in a different sink. Then, wash the items in the first basin, which should be
filled with hot water and detergent. After washing, rinse the items in the second sink,
which should be filled with clean water. Then, immerse the rinsed items in the third
compartment, which should be filled with a sanitizing solution. As always, make sure to
use the correct concentration. And when finished, air-dry the items. Never dry sanitized
items with towels. To avoid contamination, all three sinks and the drain board must be
cleaned and sanitized before each use. Never use this sink for any other purpose. For
example, mop water should be disposed of in a curbed utility sink, not the three-
compartment sink.
✔✔automatic dishwashers - ✔✔. Scrap trays and water jets should be cleaned
regularly, and temperature gauges must function accurately. If the dishwasher has no
chemical sanitizing cycle, the final rinse should be performed at 180 degrees Fahrenheit
(82 degrees Celsius) to properly sanitize, unless you're using a single-temperature
machine, which uses water at 160 degrees Fahrenheit (71 degrees Celsius) for the
entire wash-rinse cycle.
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS RATED A+
✔✔clean and sanitize - ✔✔Cleaning involves removing food, dirt, and other particles
from the surface of something, such as a dish or countertop. When you wash a pan with
soap and water, you are cleaning it. Sanitizing, on the other hand, involves reducing the
number of germs to a safe level. If you want to sanitize the pan, you will need to
submerge it, or dip it entirely, in a sanitizing solution. To maintain a safe food
environment, both cleaning and sanitizing are required.
✔✔4 step sanitize and cleaning process - ✔✔First, wipe or scrape off any large food
particles. Second, clean the surface with a detergent and then rinse with clean water.
Third, apply a sanitizing solution. We'll talk more about this soon. Fourth, allow the
surface to air-dry. Do not use towels to dry sanitized items. Keep cloths used for
cleaning and those used for sanitizing separated, and store them in their own solution.
✔✔sanitizers - ✔✔iodine, chlorine, and quat ammonium.. mixded w/ water. too much
water - wont clean, too little - harmful
✔✔water - ✔✔180 degrees Fahrenheit (82 degrees Celsius), and the surface or item
must be immersed for at least 30 seconds.
✔✔when to clean and sanitize - ✔✔any time it comes in contact with food. Also, clean
and sanitize a surface or an instrument any time you switch from working with one food
to another. If you are interrupted while preparing food, clean and sanitize your tools
before resuming the task. Food contact surfaces and utensils, such as counter tops,
cutting boards, knives, etc., should be cleaned and sanitized after each use or after 4
hours of continuous use. When not in use, sanitizing equipment and chemicals should
be stored in a cool, dry area away from food and preparation areas. Make sure they are
properly labeled
✔✔cross contamination - ✔✔refers to germs crossing from one food or surface to
contaminate another. Cross-contamination can occur through hand contact,
contaminated utensils or surfaces, and improper food storage.
✔✔how cross contamination occurs - ✔✔especially dangerous when raw animal
products such as meat, poultry, eggs, or seafood—or juices from such foods—come
into contact with ready-to-eat food or food that will not be cooked. Imagine that a green
salad is mistakenly placed below a plate of raw chicken in a refrigerator. Liquid from the
chicken drips onto the salad and it becomes contaminated with salmonella. The salad is
then served, and the person who eats it becomes ill. Cross-contamination can also
occur on food contact surfaces. For example, it would be unsafe to cut raw pork on a
cutting board and then cut tomatoes on the same board without cleaning and sanitizing
it between uses.
, ✔✔prevent cross contamination - ✔✔wash your hands and change your gloves after
touching any raw animal product. Store raw animal products below ready-to-eat food in
refrigerators. Keep raw animal products separate from other foods during storage,
preparation, and holding. Properly clean and sanitize all food contact surfaces after
each use, and regularly throughout the day. Never allow the same surface or tool to
touch both raw animal products and other foods, without being cleaned and sanitized in
between.
it is important that you keep different types of foods separate during the food
preparation process. This is especially important when working with raw meats and
meat products. Click on each icon to learn more about preventing situations that
commonly cause cross-contamination.
✔✔raw meats - ✔✔never store over ready to eat food meat juices may drip, always
cover food
✔✔raw animal products - ✔✔keep separte from all other foods
✔✔sanitize raw meat surfaces - ✔✔clean everythign raw meats touch, never let any
other food touch that has been touched by raw meats before sanitizing, use plastic
cutting boards w/o grooves
✔✔wash hands - ✔✔double hand wash after raw meats, hands can be carryiers of
germs
✔✔3 compartment sinks - ✔✔dishwashing: one for each step in the washing process,
Before washing any heavily soiled items, they should be rinsed, scraped, or soaked as
necessary in a different sink. Then, wash the items in the first basin, which should be
filled with hot water and detergent. After washing, rinse the items in the second sink,
which should be filled with clean water. Then, immerse the rinsed items in the third
compartment, which should be filled with a sanitizing solution. As always, make sure to
use the correct concentration. And when finished, air-dry the items. Never dry sanitized
items with towels. To avoid contamination, all three sinks and the drain board must be
cleaned and sanitized before each use. Never use this sink for any other purpose. For
example, mop water should be disposed of in a curbed utility sink, not the three-
compartment sink.
✔✔automatic dishwashers - ✔✔. Scrap trays and water jets should be cleaned
regularly, and temperature gauges must function accurately. If the dishwasher has no
chemical sanitizing cycle, the final rinse should be performed at 180 degrees Fahrenheit
(82 degrees Celsius) to properly sanitize, unless you're using a single-temperature
machine, which uses water at 160 degrees Fahrenheit (71 degrees Celsius) for the
entire wash-rinse cycle.
