Sri Lanka Food Handler Exam study plan

Distinguish the three hazard classes (biological, chemical, physical) and, for each, write two Sri Lankan food-service examples from your own workplace.

Explain the difference between food infection and food intoxication, naming one causative organism for each and the typical onset window.

List the bacteria of greatest concern in cooked rice, dairy, egg dishes and reheated curries, and state the conditions that let each multiply.

Identify the ten most commonly implicated foods and practices in local foodborne outbreaks and rank them by risk.

Define high-risk and ready-to-eat food and classify fifteen local dishes into these categories.

Describe how bacterial growth responds to temperature, moisture, acidity, oxygen and time, and state the danger zone boundaries in Celsius.

Explain how spores, toxins and biofilms change the way you clean and heat-treat equipment.

State the legal and practical exclusions from food handling for vomiting, diarrhoea, jaundice, infected wounds, and respiratory or skin infections.

Demonstrate correct handwashing steps and identify at least six moments in a shift when hands must be washed.

Specify correct workwear, hair restraint, jewellery, nail and glove rules and justify each with a contamination pathway.

Map the flow of a typical Sri Lankan meal preparation from receiving to service and mark every point where bare-hand contact or cross-contamination can occur.

Distinguish direct, indirect and cross-contamination and give three concrete kitchen examples of each.

Design a colour-coded or labelled equipment system for raw meat, raw fish, vegetables and ready-to-eat food, including chopping boards, knives and cloths.

Write separation rules for raw and cooked storage in refrigerators and for shopping bags, crates and containers in transport.

Explain how to manage a food handler with a cut or skin lesion, including dressing, glove use and duty restriction.

State safe internal cooking temperatures and holding times for poultry, minced meat, whole cuts, fish, eggs and reheated curries.

Explain the two-stage cooling requirement and calculate the maximum time allowed at each stage.

Describe correct thawing methods and explain why room-temperature thawing is unsafe.

Apply the 2-hour/4-hour principle to buffet and display food and decide when food must be discarded.

Demonstrate correct probe thermometer use, including calibration and sanitising between readings.

Distinguish cleaning from sanitising and state when each is required.

Explain the four factors that affect sanitising effectiveness (concentration, contact time, temperature, cleanliness) and the correct dilution of chlorine for food-contact surfaces.

Sequence the steps for cleaning a chopping board, a meat slicer and a refrigerator, including disinfection frequency.

Identify signs of rodent, cockroach, fly and stored-product pest activity and describe proofing, housekeeping and waste practices that prevent them.

Explain safe storage of cleaning chemicals away from food and the risks of decanting into unlabelled containers.

Identify the qualities of potable water and list the sources and routes of water contamination in a food premises.

Explain how to keep storage tanks, taps, hoses and ice machines clean and protected from backflow and cross-connection.

Describe safe ice production, handling, storage and serving, including why hands and scoops must not contact ice directly.

Outline safe disposal of wastewater and the risks of pooling, grease traps and blocked drains near food areas.

Describe basic on-site water treatment and when boiling or chlorination is required.

List the structural requirements of a food premises: floors, walls, ceilings, ventilation, lighting, handwash basins and pest proofing.

Distinguish the roles of the food handler, supervisor and proprietor in a food safety management system, including monitoring, verification and record keeping.

Describe correct segregation, containment, labelling and removal frequency for food waste and used oil.

Identify the key Sri Lankan food safety legislation and the authorities responsible for enforcement, and state the duties they impose on food businesses.

Explain the concepts of due diligence, traceability and recall, and what records a small food business should retain.

Review every domain using your own notes and rewrite weak areas into one-page summaries.

Complete at least 100 practice questions across all domains and log every wrong answer with the reason it was wrong.

Rehearse the temperature, dilution and handwashing figures from memory until you can state them without reference.

Simulate exam conditions with two timed full-length practice sets and review both afterwards.