NRFSP Food Safety Manager key terms

Sickness resulting from eating food contaminated with pathogens, toxins, or chemicals. Symptoms often include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and fever, and can appear hours to weeks after the meal.

Food that requires time or temperature control to limit pathogen growth or toxin formation. Examples include meat, dairy, cooked rice, cut leafy greens, and sliced melons.

Living organisms or their toxins that can make food unsafe, including bacteria, viruses, parasites, and molds. Biological hazards cause most foodborne illness and are controlled by temperature, hygiene, and proper cooking.

The transfer of pathogens or allergens from one food, surface, or person to another. It commonly happens through shared cutting boards, dirty utensils, unwashed hands, or raw juices dripping onto ready-to-eat food.

An acronym for the conditions bacteria need to multiply: food, acidity, time, temperature, oxygen, and moisture. Removing or limiting any one of these conditions slows or stops bacterial growth.

Two or more people getting the same illness from eating the same food, confirmed by laboratory or epidemiological evidence. Outbreaks must be reported to the regulatory authority.

A protein in food that triggers an immune reaction in sensitive people; the nine major ones are milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans, and sesame. Even tiny amounts can cause severe reactions.

A food safety system in which the person in charge actively identifies, monitors, and corrects risks at each step of the operation rather than reacting after a problem occurs.

Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point: a written, seven-principle system that identifies significant hazards, sets controls at critical points, monitors them, and keeps records of the results.

A step in the flow of food where a control measure can be applied to prevent, eliminate, or reduce a significant hazard to an acceptable level, such as cooking or cooling.

A measurable value that separates safe food from unsafe food at a critical control point, such as a minimum internal cooking temperature or a maximum holding time.

The step taken when monitoring shows a critical limit has not been met, such as reheating, discarding food, or repairing equipment, plus a record of what was done.

A vendor that the regulatory authority has inspected and permitted, or one whose products come from approved sources. Buying only from approved suppliers helps ensure food is safe and properly labeled.

First In, First Out: a stock rotation method in which the oldest food is used before newer deliveries. It reduces spoilage and keeps food from exceeding its shelf life.

Labeling ready-to-eat TCS food with the date it was prepared or a commercial use-by date. Such food must be sold, eaten, or discarded within seven days when held at 41°F or lower.

A tag attached to a container of live molluscan shellfish showing the harvest date, area, and dealer. It must stay with the shellfish for 90 days after the container is sold or emptied.

The lowest internal temperature a food must reach and hold for a set time to kill pathogens, for example 165°F for poultry and 155°F for ground meat.

Bringing cooked food down quickly through the danger zone: from 135°F to 70°F within two hours and to 41°F or lower within a total of six hours.

The range between 41°F and 135°F (5°C and 57°C) in which bacteria multiply fastest. Food should spend as little time as possible in this range.

Heating previously cooked and cooled TCS food to 165°F for 15 seconds within two hours before it is hot held. Reheating must be done quickly and only once.

Keeping cooked TCS food at 135°F or above until it is served, checked at least every four hours, with any food found below that temperature discarded.

Keeping TCS food at 41°F or lower to slow bacterial growth. Temperature is checked regularly, and food held above 41°F for too long must be discarded.

A written procedure that allows TCS food to be held without temperature control for a limited time, provided it is marked and discarded when that time expires.

Cleaning hands and exposed arms with soap and warm running water for at least 20 seconds, then drying with a disposable towel or hand dryer.

Touching ready-to-eat food with bare hands, which can transfer pathogens. It is prohibited unless the food will be cooked or the operation has written approval for a specific practice.

Keeping a food employee out of the operation because of a diagnosed illness or a symptom such as vomiting, diarrhea, or jaundice that could spread through food.

Limiting an employee's work to tasks that do not involve food, clean equipment, or utensils when the person is ill or has an infected wound.

Removing visible soil, food residue, and grease from a surface with detergent and water. Cleaning must happen before sanitizing because soil reduces a sanitizer's effectiveness.

Reducing the number of microorganisms on a cleaned surface to safe levels using heat or a chemical sanitizer at the correct concentration, temperature, and contact time.

The length of time a sanitizer must stay wet on a surface to work, usually stated on the label. Surfaces should be allowed to air dry after sanitizing.

A manual dishwashing setup with compartments for washing, rinsing, and sanitizing, plus drainboards. Items are scraped, washed in detergent, rinsed, sanitized, and air dried.

Adjusting a thermometer so it reads accurately, usually by checking it in ice-point water at 32°F or in boiling water and setting it to the known reading.

An unobstructed physical space between a water supply outlet and the flood level of a sink or fixture. It is the strongest protection against backflow contamination of the water supply.

A planned approach that prevents pests by denying them food, water, and shelter, using inspection, sanitation, exclusion, and traps, with chemicals applied only as a last resort by licensed applicators.

A place where pests can live and breed, such as cracks, cluttered storage areas, or gaps behind equipment. Removing harborage is a key part of preventing infestations.

A physical link between clean drinking water and a source of contamination, such as a hose lying in a mop sink. Cross-connections are controlled with air gaps, vacuum breakers, and backflow preventers.