Food Handler flashcards
Food Handler · Build recall with a focused review session.
32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.
- Foodborne illness
- Sickness caused by eating food contaminated with biological, chemical, or physical hazards. Symptoms may include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps.
- FATTOM
- Conditions pathogens need to grow: Food, Acidity, Time, Temperature, Oxygen, and Moisture. Removing any one factor can slow or stop growth.
- TCS food
- Food requiring time and temperature control for safety, such as milk, meat, poultry, fish, eggs, cooked rice, beans, cut melons, leafy greens, and sprouts.
- Temperature danger zone
- Range of 41°F to 135°F where bacteria grow rapidly. Keep TCS foods below 41°F or above 135°F and limit time in this range.
- Big Six pathogens
- Salmonella Typhi, Shigella spp., E. coli O157:H7, Hepatitis A, Norovirus, and nontyphoidal Salmonella. These are highly contagious and can cause severe illness.
- Physical hazard
- Hard or foreign object in food that can injure a person, such as glass, metal, bone, plastic, or jewelry. Inspect food and equipment to prevent it.
- Handwashing procedure
- Wet hands, apply soap, scrub palms, backs, between fingers, and under nails for 10–15 seconds, rinse, and dry with a paper towel.
- When to wash hands
- Before food work and after restroom use, raw meat contact, coughing, sneezing, trash, phone use, breaks, and touching the face or hair.
- Hand sanitizer rule
- Hand sanitizer does not replace handwashing. Use it only after washing hands, and never as a substitute when hands are visibly soiled.
- Glove use
- Wash hands before putting on gloves, change gloves between tasks and when torn or soiled, and never wash or reuse disposable gloves.
- Fingernail rule
- Keep fingernails short, clean, and unpolished. Artificial nails and polish can trap pathogens and are not allowed for food handlers.
- Hair restraint
- Cover or tie back hair to prevent hair from falling into food. Wear a hat, hairnet, or other effective restraint in food preparation areas.
- Ill worker reporting
- Tell the person in charge about vomiting, diarrhea, jaundice, sore throat with fever, infected wound, or exposure to a Big Six pathogen.
- Cross-contamination
- Transfer of harmful pathogens from one food, hand, utensil, or surface to another. Prevent it by separating raw foods and cleaning between tasks.
- Raw meat storage
- Store raw meat, poultry, and seafood below ready-to-eat foods. Place raw poultry on the bottom shelf to prevent drips onto other foods.
- Major allergens
- Milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans, and sesame. These nine foods cause most severe allergic reactions.
- Allergen cross-contact
- When an allergen touches food not meant to contain it. Use dedicated utensils, surfaces, and fryers, and wash hands between tasks.
- Label check
- Read ingredient labels for the nine major allergens before preparing or serving food. Do not assume a product is safe without verification.
- Anaphylaxis response
- Severe allergic reaction with trouble breathing, swelling, or fainting. Call emergency services immediately and follow the site emergency plan.
- Virus spread
- Norovirus and hepatitis A spread easily through hands and contaminated food. Handwashing and no bare-hand contact with ready-to-eat food reduce risk.
- Cold holding
- Keep cold TCS foods at 41°F or below. Check temperatures regularly and discard food that has been above 41°F too long.
- Hot holding
- Keep hot TCS foods at 135°F or above. Check temperatures at least every 4 hours and reheat or discard unsafe food.
- Poultry cooking temperature
- Cook poultry, stuffed foods, and stuffed pasta to 165°F for 15 seconds. Measure the thickest part with a calibrated probe thermometer.
- Cooling rule
- Cool cooked TCS food from 135°F to 70°F within 2 hours, then from 70°F to 41°F within 4 more hours.
- Reheating rule
- Reheat TCS food for hot holding to 165°F within 2 hours. Reheat only once and discard leftovers that were not properly cooled.
- Thawing methods
- Thaw in the refrigerator, under running water at 70°F or below, in a microwave then cook immediately, or as part of cooking.
- Cleaning vs sanitizing
- Cleaning removes soil and food debris; sanitizing reduces pathogens to safe levels. Both steps are required for food-contact surfaces.
- Three-compartment sink
- Wash in 110°F or hotter water, rinse in clean water, sanitize in the third compartment, then air-dry utensils before use.
- Chlorine sanitizer
- Use chlorine sanitizer at about 50–100 ppm for food-contact surfaces. Verify concentration with test strips and follow the label contact time.
- Sanitizer test strips
- Test strips measure sanitizer concentration. Use them to confirm the solution is strong enough but not too strong, and change solution when dirty.
- Four-hour rule
- Clean and sanitize food-contact surfaces at least every 4 hours during continuous use with TCS food, and between uses with raw foods.
- Chemical storage
- Store chemicals away from food and utensils, in labeled containers, and never in unlabeled bottles. Follow label directions for use and disposal.