FOOD HANDLERS Flashcards
All good service establishments must have
A current and valid permit issued by the NYC health department
When do health inspectors have the right to inspect a food service or food processing establishment?
As long as it is in operation
During an inspection, inspectors must be given access to
All areas of the food establishment
Who is required to have a food protection certificate?
Supervisors of all food service establishments
Food is defined as
Any edible substance, ice, beverage, or an ingredient intended for use and used or sold for human consumption
Potential Hazardous Food (PHF) refers to?
Foods which support rapid growth of microorganisms
Examples of Potentially Hazardous Foods
Examples: raw and cooked meats, poultry, milk and milk products, fish, shellfish, tofu, cooked rice, pasta, beans, potatoes, cut leafy greens, cut tomatoes and lemons, garlic in oil etc.
(Exceptions: Air-cooled hard-boiled eggs with intact shell, beef jerky, cheese pizza, crispy bacon)
Not Potentially Hazardous prepared foods
 Air-cooled hard-boiled eggs with intact shell, beef jerky, cheese pizza, crispy bacon
The Temperature Danger Zone
Between 41•F and 140•F
The THREE thermometers allowed to be used for measuring food temperatures:
- Bi Metallic Stem (range from 0•F to 220•F)
- Thermocouple
- Thermistor (Digital)
Glass Thermometers
Kind of thermometer which are prohibited by law in a food establishment
Meat inspected by the US Department of agriculture must have what?
Must have a USDA inspection stamp
Raw shell eggs must be stored at a minimum temperature of
45°F
Smoked fish must be held at
38°F or below
Smoked fish held above what temperature causes the growth of which kind of bacteria
38°F causes growth of the bacteria Clostridium Botulinum
All refrigerated foods must be held at or below
41°F
Shellfish must be received with
The shellfish tags
After shellfish is used up
Tags must be kept on file for at least 90 days
Milk and milk products must be pasteurized with sell by date of
9 days
Milk and milk products must be ULTRA pasteurized with sell-by dates of 
45 days
All fruits and vegetables served raw must be
Thoroughly washed before being served
Canned products must be rejected if there are
Dents at the seam, Swelling, severe rust, leakage or no label.
(Exception: Slight dent on the body of the can)
Home canned foods
Are unacceptable types of canning
All commercial modified atmosphere packaged foods
Type of packaged food that must be used per manufacture specifications
Vacuum packaging of any food product in a retail food establishment
Prohibited by law unless special authorization is obtained through the department of health
The acronyms FIFO means
First In First Out
The first step in implementing FIFO is to…
Date the products is the first step
How far off the floor must all food items be stored
6” or more
In order to prevent cross contamination, raw foods in our refrigerator must be stored
Below cooked foods
Cold temperatures
Slow down the growth of microorganisms
All cold foods must be held at
41°F or below at all times (except smoked fish at 38°F)
Dry storage areas
Must be kept well lighted and ventilated
Never store foods
Under waste water lines
Qualities of food for storage must be
Kept covered and stored in vermin-proof containers
Ice intended for human consumption
Cannot be used for storing cans, bottles or other food products
When foods are stored directly in ice
The water from the ice must be drained constantly
”First Aid Choking” poster
Must be displayed conspicuously in each designated eating area
Food establishments which serve alcoholic beverages are required to display
The “Alcohol and Pregnancy Warning” sign
a “Wash Hands” sign
Must be displayed at all hand washing sinks
“No Smoking” signs
Must be displayed throughout each facility
There are three main hazards to our health in a food establishment
Physical, chemical and biological
A physical hazard in food
The presence of a foreign object (Glass fragments, pieces of metal, etc.)
A chemical hazard
Presence of harmful chemicals (pesticides, cleaning agents, prescriptions medicine etc.) in a food
The presence of microorganisms (bacteria, viruses, parasites and fungi) in food is what kind of hazard?
Biological
Foods that have been contaminated with pathogenic bacteria
Have no change in appearance, taste or smell
Under favorable conditions bacteria can double their population in what amount of time?
Every 20 to 30 minutes
There are four phases of bacterial growth:
Lag, Log, Stationary and Death
The most rapid growth of bacteria (FATTOM) takes place in what phase
The LOG phase
The six factors that affect the growth of bacteria are:
Food, Acidity (Low Acidity), TDZ, Time, Oxygen, Moister (FATTOM)
Viruses cannot
Reproduce in food; they only use food as a means to get inside the human body
Hepatitis A and Norovirus contaminate the food supply
Through fecal (human) contaminated waters and food 
Trichinella Spiralis
The food-borne parasite typically found in undercooked pork
Trichinosis Parasite
Caused by a parasite known as Trichinella Spiralis
Trichinella Spiralis cooking requirements:
Can be eliminated by cooking pork to 155°F for 15 seconds
Marine fish contain what?
Anisakis simplex (a food-borne parasite)
Salmonella Enteritidis
Mainly associated with raw poultry and raw shell eggs
One must always use pasteurized eggs only…
When preparing any egg recipe where eggs are not cooked or partially cooked
Clostridium Perfringens growth can be controlled by
Rapid cooling, rapid reheating and avoid preparing foods in advance
Staphylococcal food intoxication
Is caused by Staphylococcus Aureus
Foodborne illness Staphylococcal food Intoxication can be prevented by
Good personal hygiene and avoiding bare hands contact with ready to eat foods
Food workers sick with an illness I can be transmitted by contact with food or through food should be
Prevented from working until fully recovered
Ground meats such as hamburgers must be cooked to a minimum temperature
158°F to eliminate E. coli 0157:H7
E. Coli 0157.H7 is caused by
Ground meat not cooked over 158°F
Botulism is caused by
Clostridium Botulinum
What viruses home canned foods associated with
Clostridium botulinum bacterium
Ciguatera Intoxication occurs in what kind of environmental conditions
Warm weather when toxic red algae in the water are eaten by small fish. The small fish are than eaten by certain predatory fish (barracuda, red snapper etc)
Humans become sick from predatory fish with accumulated toxins from
Red algae
Scombroid poisoning occurs from
Eating certain fish (ie tuna, mackerel, bonito, mahi mahi, blue fish etc.) With high levels of histamines due to time and temperature abuse
Hands must be washed thoroughly after
Any activity in which the hands have become contaminated. For example, before starting work, after handling raw foods, coughing, sneezing, smoking, eating, drinking, scratching, etc.
The NYC Health Code requires That handwashing sinks must be located…
Within 25 feet of each food preparation, food service and wear washing area and in or adjacent to employee and patron bathrooms
The hand wash sinks must be provided with
Soap, hot and cold running water, disposable towels or a hand dryer and a “wash hands” sign
The Nyc health code requires that all food workers wear…
Proper hair restraints, clean aprons and outer garments, abstain from wearing jewelry and wearing make up
It is illegal to handle ready to eat foods
With bare hands. Workers must use gloves, tongs, deli paper, spatula or other clean and sanitary utensils. Foods that will be cooked (ie raw beef for stew, raw dough for bread, etc) may be handled with clean bare hands. 
To handle ready to eat foods, workers must use…
Gloves, tongs, deli paper, spatula or other clean and sanitary utensils
Clean bare hands can only touch food
That will be cooked
The three acceptable methods of thawing frozen foods are to…
- Refrigerate them
- Place under cold running water
- In a microwave oven with continuous cooking afterwards
Cross contamination
Is when bacteria from a raw food get into a cooked or ready to eat food
The correct cooking temperature for poultry, stuffed meat and stuffing is:
165°F
Ground meat and foods containing ground meat must be cooked to an internal temperature of…
158°F
To prevent illness, pork must be cooked to an internal temperature of…
155°F
Eggs, fish, shellfish, lamb, and other meats must be cooked to a minimum temperature of…
145°F
Oh hot food stored on a hot holding unit must be held at
140°F or higher
Some of the effective ways to rapidly cool foods are:
Immersion in an ice water bath with occasional stirring, use of 4 inches shallow cooling pans with a product depth of 1 to 2 inches, using a rapid show unit, and cutting solid foods into smaller pieces (6lbs or less)
Hot foods placed in a refrigerator for cooling must be covered only after they have completely cooled to
41°F or below
Previously cooked and refrigerated foods that will be served from a hot holding unit must be
Rapidly reheated to 165°F using a stove or an oven
Never use a hot holding unit
To reheat food
Bare hands may never be used
When working with ready to eat foods
When working with ready to eat foods
Always use utensils such as clean and sanitary pair of gloves, tongs, spatula, deli paper, spoon, knife, etc.
To prevent contamination of food disposable gloves must be
Must be changed often to prevent contamination of food
Culinary (food related) and pot/dish washing sinks must be fitted with
Air breaks
Atmospheric Vacuum Breakers (AVB) must be installed
And any equipment that has a direct connection with potable water supply 
Types of equipment that have direct connections with potable water supplies
Ice machine, coffee machines, dishwashers, etc.
Cross connection can be prevented by installing what?
Installing a hose bib vacuum breaker
All gas-fired hot water heaters must be installed by…
A licensed plumber
All gas-fired hot water heaters must be monitored…
For Back draft
NYC laws make it illegal to dump grease…
In any sink that does not have a proper grease interceptor
The proper sequence for the manual dish washing operations is
Wash, rinse, sanitize, air dry
Between each use, cutting boards must be
Washed, rinsed and sanitized
What requirements must water be met to sanitize using the hot water method?
Immersing utensils in water at 170°F for 30 seconds or more
To prepare a 50 ppm chlorine base sanitizing solution…
Add 1/2 ounce of bleach to 1 gallon of water
To prepare a 100 ppm chlorine base sanitizing solution…
Add 1 ounce of bleach to 1 gallon of water
50 ppm sanitizing solution
Is used for immersion/soaking of utensils for at least one minute
Typically used for wiping, Spring or pouring…
100 ppm sanitizing solution
Wiping cloths can be stored
And a sanitizing solution with strength of 50 ppm
During chemical sanitization, the chemical solution 
Must be checked with a test kit
Bathrooms for patrons must be provided…
When there are 20 seats or more in the dining area of a food establishment
The three key strategies of integrated pest management are:
Starve them, build them out and destroy them
When food is unavailable to mice
Mice will move out
Rats are known to enter buildings
Through openings that are as small as the size of a quarter
Presence of fresh rat droppings in a food establishment…
Is a critical violation
Insecticides and rodenticides can only be applied in a restaurant by a
Licensed Peat Control Officer
NYC health code requires that a pest control officer must inspect a food establishment…
Inspection at least once a month
HACCP is an acronym that stands for
Hazard analysis and critical control point
The seven principles of HACCP are:
Hazard, CCP, set up limits, monitor, take action, verify, record keeping
HACCP
A food safety system which is mainly concerned with the control of harmful microorganisms
A critical control point (CCP)
Is any point in the food flow where action must be taken to eliminate the hazard
If potentially hazardous foods are left in the temperature danger zone for more than two hours
Then the food must be discarded as it is no longer considered safe 
Whenever making cold salad such as tuna…
It is recommended that ingredients are pre-chilled
Artificial trans fat increases
LDL - The bad cholesterol, leading to heart disease
An excellent way to improve food safety, security and general work practice is to
Conduct a self assessment of food operations on a regular basis
The most common injuries among restaurant workers in a work place are…
Slips, trips, falls, cuts, lacerations, burns, muscle strains, sprains and electrocution
To avoid slips, trips and falls
Slip resistant shoes must be worn by food workers
Most harmful microorganisms reproduce rapidly…
Within the temperature danger zone
Potentially hazardous foods (PHF)
Foods that provide suitable conditions for rapid growth of microorganisms
165°F
Poultry, stuffed meats, stuffing
158°F
Ground meats
155°F
Pork and pork products
145°F
Shell eggs, all meats but pork, poultry and ground meats
PHF cooling time first half…
Two hours when cooling from 140°F to 70°F
PHF cooling time second half
More than four hours when cooling from 70°F to 41°F or below
Hot water sanitizing
This method of sanitizing involves the use of hot water and a three compartment sink
170°F (not food)
Temperature for 30 seconds to sanitize
6lbs
Reduced size to cool meat roast, poultry and fish
4 inches
Depth of a pan require to cool thick foods like chili and refried beans
50 ppm
The strength of sanitizing solution for a wiping cloth
31°F for 15 hours
Required freezing criteria for any fish to be consumed raw
Sulfites can be used to
Maintain the color and freshness of cut fruits and vegetables
Under favorable conditions bacteria can double their population
Every 20 to 30 minutes
65°F
Growth of bacteria possible
Six conditions for the growth of bacteria
Food, acidity, temperature, time, oxygen and moisture
Food types of bacteria like
High protein foods of animal origin. Plant products that are heat treated
Bacteria prefer what kind of acidity
They generally prefer neutral foods
Bacteria do not do well in foods that are
Too acidic or too alkaline
Why is vinegar used as a preservative
To prevent growth of bacteria
What pH balance is considered too acidic for food to grow?
Any food with a pH value of 4.6 or less
Bacteria prefer what kind of temperature
Warm temperatures
Bacteria that prefer human food grow between what temperatures
Between 41-140°F (Temperature danger zone)
50-110°F
Mesophilic Bacteria grow best at temperatures between this
Thermophilic Bacteria prefer heat And grow best at temperatures between
110-150°F or more
Psycophilic Bateria prefers temperatures
That are cold and grow at 50°F
Bacteria can be controlled by removing what?
The processes of dehydration, freezing and preserving and salt or sugar to remove moisture from food
The Water Activity value that does not have enough moisture to support the active growth of bacteria?
.85 or less
The most reliable and time-tested method of destroying bacteria is
The use of heat
What are two methods for pasteurizing milk?
Holding or flash
The holding method
Milk is held at a temperature of 145° for 30 minutes
The flash method
Milk is held at 161° for 15 seconds (“high temperature short time” method)
Chemicals that kill bacteria are called
Germicides or bactericides
Examples of chemicals that kill bacteria
Carbolic acid, formaldehyde, iodine, chlorine and quaternary compounds
Bacteria cannot be destroyed by
Refrigeration of foods
Cold temperatures from 0°F to 41°F will
Inhibit or slow the growth of bacteria
Freezing food at or below 0°F
Will not kill bacteria
Chlorine
The most popular chemical sanitizer
Symptoms to Salmonella enteritidis occur in what amount of time
6 to 48 hours
Salmonella enteritidis causes
Abdominal pain, diarrhea, chills, fever, nausea, vomiting, and malaise
Duration to cook poultry, stuffed meat and stuffing
165°F for at least 15 seconds
Required refrigeration temperature for chicken, poultry and other meats
41° or lower
Eggs must be stored
In a refrigerator at 45° or lower
Eggs must be cooked
145° or higher. Or per customer request
Staphylococcal gastroenteritis is the bacteria that causes
Staphylococcus aureus
Staphylococcus aureus Occurs in which type of foods
Room temperature foods like baked goods, custard, pastry, Ham and sliced meats with low water activity
Onset of Staphylococcus aureus takes how long?
6-48hrs
Staphylococcus aureus causes
Abdominal pain, diarrhea, chills, fever, nausea, vomiting, and malaise
Staphylococcal gastroenteritis is found in
Healthy human beings (And knows, throat, hair, on infected cuts, bruises, abscesses and acne)
Campylobateriosis is caused by what bacteria
Campylobacter jejuni
Campylobacter jejuni can be found where
Poultry, pigs, sheep and cattle
Food affected by campylobacter jejuni
Chicken, other poultry, beef, liver and water
Listeriosis is caused by what bacteria
Listeria monocytogenes
Listeria monocytogenes is found in
Soil, infected animals or humans, and water
Foods that may cause Listeriosis
Unpasteurized milk, raw vegetables, poultry, raw meats, cheese
Listeriosis causes 
Low-grade fever, flu like symptoms, stillbirths, meningitis and encephalitis
Fatalities may occur
Listeria monocytogenes bacterial infection
Shigella species causes what infection
Shigellosis
Shigella species originates in
Bacteria that starts in humans
Shigellosis can be caused by
Contamination from raw produce, moist prepared foods like tuna, macaroni, potato salads etc
2 ways Shigellosis can be prevented
Avoiding bare hands contact with ready to eat foods and rapidly cool foods to 41°F or below
Clostridium botulinum can be found in
Soil, water, intestinal tract of animals and fish, home canned foods, smoked and vacuum packaged fish, garlic in oil, baked potatoes, and thick stews
