Keentune

Food Safety Management curriculum

16 chapters
·
197 concepts
·
free
Everything the adaptive question bank can teach and test in Food Safety Management, from foundations through advanced practice. Work through it in order, or start practising and let the questions find your level.
New here? Read the Food Safety Management guide
A free 18-minute primer — the mental model, the mistakes beginners make, and what to practise first.
A. Foodborne illness & hazards
•
Biological vs chemical vs physical hazards.
•
Salmonella, E. coli STEC, Listeria, Norovirus — source/food pairings.
•
Staph aureus and Bacillus cereus — cooking won't save you.
•
Growth vs contamination transfer difference.
•
Food, acidity, temperature, time, oxygen, moisture growth factors.
•
Time/temperature-control-for-safety food identification (classification family).
•
The major allergens; cross-contact vs cross-contamination.
•
Why highly susceptible populations change the rules.
•
Scombroid/ciguatera — temperature-abuse vs reef origin.
B. Personal hygiene & health
•
When and how; 20-second standard; sink-use-only rule.
•
Single-use rules; no bare-hand contact with ready-to-eat food.
•
The Big-5-style exclusion/restriction decisions (computed-grid family).
•
Vomiting/diarrhea/jaundice reporting and returns.
•
Covered wounds; jewelry and outer-clothing rules.
•
Where staff may eat/drink; closed-beverage allowances.
C. Time & temperature control
•
41–135°F band and the ~70–125 acceleration zone.
•
165 poultry / 155 ground / 145 whole-muscle / 135 hot-hold ladder (computed family).
•
135→70 in 2 h, →41 within 6 total (computed).
•
Shallow pans, ice baths, ice paddles — never deep-and-covered.
•
165 within 2 hours for hot-holding.
•
Hot ≥135, cold ≤41; checking every 4 h logic.
•
TPHC: 4-hour/6-hour written-procedure rules.
•
Fridge, running water, microwave-then-cook, never counter.
•
Calibration (ice-point), probe placement, thermocouple types.
•
7-day ready-to-eat refrigerated rule.
D. Cross-contamination & flow of food
•
Temperature checks, rejection criteria, delivery inspection.
•
Top-to-bottom by cook temperature (computed-order family).
•
Labeling and first-in-first-out rotation.
•
Raw/ready-to-eat separation; color-coded boards concept.
•
Small batches, returning food to temperature discipline.
•
Utensil handling, re-serving prohibitions, self-service guards.
•
Pooled eggs and pasteurized substitutions for HSP.
E. Cleaning & sanitizing
•
Removing soil vs reducing pathogens.
•
Wash → rinse → sanitize → air dry sequence.
•
Chlorine/quat concentration-temperature-contact-time logic.
•
High-temp final rinse vs chemical sanitizing checks.
•
When surfaces must be cleaned (4-hour rule in use).
•
In-solution storage; separate raw-use cloths.
•
Label, separate, never above food.
F. Facilities, pests & equipment
•
Approved water; air gaps and backflow prevention.
•
Required locations and stocking.
•
Food-grade, smooth, cleanable (NSF-style) surfaces.
•
Waste handling; cross-connection risks.
•
Deny entry/food/shelter; licensed-operator rule.
•
Shatter protection and cleanable surfaces concept.
G. Management systems & regulation
•
Preventing the CDC risk factors proactively.
•
The seven principles; CCP identification (computed family).
•
When a variance/HACCP plan is required (sous vide, curing).
•
PIC demonstration-of-knowledge duties.
•
Training, monitoring, corrective-action loops.
•
Regulatory inspection conduct and follow-up.
•
Outbreak/recall response basics; imminent-hazard closures.
•
Raw/undercooked disclosure and reminder rules.
H. Food Code Chapter 1 — purpose, scope & the definitions that drive every rule
•
The Food Code is a MODEL that a jurisdiction adopts, adapts or ignores; your local code is the enforceable one.
•
What counts as a food establishment, and the operations the Code excludes.
•
RTE food is edible without further washing, cooking or processing — the definition that triggers the no-bare-hand rule.
•
TCS status is determined by pH, water activity and the interaction of the two, not by whether food "feels" perishable.
•
pH at or below 4.6 blocks most pathogen growth; how acidification converts a TCS food to non-TCS.
•
Water activity at or below 0.85 blocks growth; why dried and cured foods are stable at room temperature.
•
When neither pH nor water activity alone settles it, a product assessment does — the interaction-table logic.
•
Direct vs indirect food-contact surfaces, and why splash zones are treated as contact surfaces.
•
Highly susceptible population: who qualifies, and which rules tighten when you serve them.
•
Priority, priority foundation and core items — the violation hierarchy that sets correction deadlines.
•
Food employee, conditional employee and person in charge: three defined roles with different duties.
I. Chapter 2 — management, personnel & the employee health program
•
A person in charge must be present during all hours of operation — not merely on call.
•
The certified food protection manager requirement and what certification proves.
•
Three routes to demonstrating knowledge: no priority violations, certification, or correct answers to the inspector's questions.
•
Supervising handwashing, cooking, cooling, holding and cleaning as a monitoring job, not a paperwork job.
•
The written employee health policy: employees agree to report, management agrees to act.
•
Norovirus, Hepatitis A, Shigella, Shiga toxin-producing E. coli and Salmonella Typhi — the reportable diagnoses.
•
Nontyphoidal Salmonella as a separate reportable diagnosis with its own handling.
•
Exclusion means off the premises entirely; which symptom or diagnosis triggers it.
•
Restriction means no work with exposed food or clean equipment; the intermediate response.
•
Serving a highly susceptible population escalates several restrictions to exclusions.
•
Return-to-work criteria: symptom-free intervals, medical documentation, and regulatory approval.
•
The sequence: wet, soap, scrub at least 10–15 seconds, rinse, dry with a single-use method.
•
Handwashing after using the toilet may require a pre-wash in the restroom plus a wash in the food area.
•
Hand antiseptics are used AFTER handwashing, never instead of it, and must be approved for food contact.
•
Trimmed, filed and maintained nails; nail polish and artificial nails only under intact gloves.
•
Effective hair restraints for employees handling food, with the limited service-staff exception.
•
Clean outer clothing; removing the apron before leaving the prep area.
•
The narrow alternative-procedure route to bare-hand contact with RTE food, and what it requires in writing.
J. Chapter 3 — sources, receiving & the condition of incoming food
•
Food must come from an approved, regulated source; home-prepared food and undocumented product are prohibited.
•
Inspecting the truck, the packaging and the product temperature at the dock, before the pallet moves.
•
Rejecting on temperature, damaged packaging, off odor, evidence of thawing and refreezing, or pest activity.
•
Shellstock tags identify the harvest lot and must be retained in order for 90 days after the last shell is used.
•
Live-shellstock receiving criteria and why dead or gaping shellfish are rejected.
•
Freezing parameters for parasite destruction in fish served raw, and the species exemptions.
•
The interstate certified shellfish shippers concept; product must trace to a certified dealer.
•
Packaged juice must be processed under HACCP or carry a warning label; on-premises fresh-squeezed rules.
•
Shell-egg receiving temperature and condition, and the pasteurized-egg substitution for HSP.
•
Pasteurized milk and dairy products only; the raw-milk prohibition.
•
Wild game and wild-harvested mushrooms: approved-source and identification requirements.
•
Rejecting swollen, leaking, rusted or seam-dented cans, and the home-canned prohibition.
•
Ice is a food: made from drinking water, handled with a scoop, never reused after chilling product.
K. Chapter 3 — cooking, cooling & specialized processes
•
Microwave cooking of raw animal food: higher target, rotate or stir, cover, and stand before serving.
•
Whole-muscle roasts may use a lower temperature held for a longer time — the time-temperature trade table.
•
Partial cooking then chilling then finishing requires a written procedure and strict interval limits.
•
Plant food cooked for hot holding has its own target because the hazard is growth, not survival.
•
Disclosure identifies the item; the reminder points to the risk — both parts are required.
•
When an establishment may not honor an undercooked request at all, including HSP settings.
•
Reduced-oxygen packaging favors Clostridium botulinum and Listeria; the controls that offset each.
•
Sous vide and cook-chill trigger a variance and a HACCP plan because the process itself is the control.
•
Curing agents and food additives used within approved limits; sulfite prohibition on fresh produce.
•
Acidifying sushi rice to convert it to non-TCS is a specialized process requiring documentation.
•
Seed sprouts as a high-risk item; washing produce and what washing does and does not remove.
•
Product depth, container material and airflow drive cooling rate more than refrigerator setpoint does.
•
Measuring at the geometric center on a schedule, and the corrective action when stage one fails.
•
Commercially processed RTE food reheated for hot holding has a lower target than house-cooked food.
•
Reheating must reach the target within a bounded time; a steam table is not a reheating device.
•
Running water at or below a set temperature, sufficient velocity to move loose particles, then cook immediately.
•
Freezing halts growth but does not sanitize; the exception is defined parasite destruction.
•
Deciding to discard on cumulative time-temperature abuse rather than appearance.
•
What may be re-served from a table, and why unwrapped condiments and garnishes may not.
L. Chapter 4 — equipment, utensils & warewashing
•
Safe, durable, corrosion-resistant, nonabsorbent and smooth materials for food-contact surfaces.
•
Copper and lead restrictions with acidic foods, and the backflow rule that protects a copper line.
•
The narrow allowances for wooden surfaces and cast-iron cookware.
•
ANSI-accredited equipment certification and what a certification mark actually promises.
•
No seams or crevices, coved internal corners, and equipment accessible for cleaning and inspection.
•
Sealed to the counter or mounted on legs at a set clearance; the reason floor-mounted equipment collects pests.
•
A thermometer for each cold and hot holding unit, plus a probe thermometer with the right scale increment and accuracy.
•
Thin-tip and thermocouple probes for thin foods; why a bimetallic stem misreads a burger.
•
Three-compartment sink layout with drainboards, and separating the prep sink from the wash sink.
•
Wash water temperature, detergent, and the mechanical action that removes soil before sanitizing works.
•
Manual immersion and machine final-rinse temperature mechanics for heat sanitizing.
•
Concentration, temperature, contact time, pH and water hardness — all five change the result.
•
A test kit appropriate to the sanitizer is required; concentration is measured, not assumed.
•
Reading the machine data plate for required pressures, temperatures and cycle times.
•
Air drying is required; towel-drying recontaminates a sanitized surface.
•
Storing cleaned equipment inverted, covered and protected, off the floor.
•
Single-service and single-use articles may not be reused, and must be stored protected.
•
The legal ways to store an in-use utensil between uses, including running water and hot water dippers.
•
Handles up and out of the product; touching only the handle.
•
Laundering frequency for linens and aprons, and where soiled linens go.
M. Chapters 5 and 6 — water, plumbing, waste & physical facilities
•
Public supply, or a private supply tested on a schedule; bottled water from an approved source.
•
Enough hot water at the required temperature for peak warewashing and handwashing demand.
•
The air gap is a physical break sized to the supply pipe diameter — the only backflow protection that cannot fail mechanically.
•
Atmospheric and pressure vacuum breakers on hose bibbs, and where each is allowed.
•
The hose in the mop sink, the carbonator, and the hose left in a full sink.
•
Two different failure mechanisms that both drive contaminated water back into the supply.
•
Equipment drain lines discharge through an air gap to a floor drain, never directly into the sewer line.
•
Placement and cleaning frequency; a neglected interceptor becomes a backup.
•
Conveniently located, unobstructed, with hot and cold water through a mixing valve, soap, drying, waste receptacle and a sign.
•
A handwash sink is for handwashing only; dumping or thawing in it is a violation.
•
At least one service sink or curbed floor drain for mop water; never the prep or handwash sink.
•
Number, location, ventilation, self-closing doors and stocking of toilet rooms.
•
A sewage backup is an imminent health hazard requiring cessation of operations and notification.
•
Durable, cleanable, leak-proof and pest-proof containers, covered when not in continuous use.
•
Smooth, durable and easily cleanable surfaces; coving where the floor meets the wall.
•
Where floor drains are required, and cleaning mats and duckboards off the floor.
•
Light intensity tiers by area: highest at prep surfaces, lower in storage, measured at a defined height.
•
Shielded or shatter-resistant lamps wherever food, equipment or utensils are exposed.
•
Mechanical ventilation sized to remove grease, smoke and condensate; filter cleaning as a fire and sanitation issue.
•
Designated areas for employee clothing and personal items, away from food and equipment.
•
No living or sleeping quarters within the food establishment; the separation requirement.
•
Live animals are excluded, with narrow exceptions for service animals, patrol dogs, aquariums and certain display animals.
•
Monitoring devices, entry-point sealing, and reading the evidence (droppings, gnaw marks, grease trails).
N. Chapter 7 — poisonous or toxic materials
•
Every working container is labeled with the common name of the material, no exceptions.
•
Chemicals stored in a dedicated area, physically separated and BELOW food, equipment and single-use articles.
•
Only chemicals necessary for the operation may be present; no personal or unapproved products.
•
Sanitizers are EPA-registered pesticides; using them off-label is a legal violation as well as a safety one.
•
Restricted-use pesticides may be applied only by a certified applicator following the label.
•
The pesticide label's directions are legally binding, including dilution, contact time and food-area restrictions.
•
Only food-grade lubricants on food-contact equipment.
•
Employee medicines stored so they cannot contaminate food; first-aid supplies located and labeled.
•
Never mixing chlorine with ammonia or acid; the chlorine-gas incident is the classic kitchen injury.
•
Response when a chemical contacts food or a food-contact surface: discard, clean, and document.
•
SDS availability and what an employee should be able to find in one.
O. Chapter 8 — compliance, enforcement & crisis response
•
Operating without a valid permit; permit conditions and their suspension.
•
When plans and specifications must be submitted and approved before construction or a menu change.
•
The regulatory authority's right of entry and access to records; the consequences of refusal.
•
Risk-based inspection frequency: higher-risk operations are inspected more often.
•
Priority items are corrected within a short window; core items may be scheduled — the hierarchy in action.
•
Water supply interruption, sewage backup, fire, flood, extended power loss, and a confirmed outbreak.
•
Ceasing operations, notifying the regulatory authority, and what must be verified before reopening.
•
Handling a foodborne illness complaint: record the details, preserve product, do not interview alone.
•
Cooperating with an epidemiological investigation, including employee interviews and stool specimens.
•
Identify, segregate and label recalled product "do not use", notify, and document disposition.
•
A written procedure for cleaning vomiting and diarrheal events is required — the norovirus control.
•
Documented training as the evidence of active managerial control an inspector can actually read.
P. HACCP, preventive controls & food defense
•
SOPs and good manufacturing practices are the foundation a HACCP plan sits on, not part of it.
•
Identifying hazards reasonably likely to occur and rating them by severity and likelihood.
•
A CCP is the last step where a hazard can be prevented, eliminated or reduced to an acceptable level.
•
Critical limits are measurable, science-based and tied to a single CCP.
•
Monitoring specifies what, how, how often and who — an unassigned check is not monitoring.
•
Predetermined corrective actions covering the product AND the process deviation.
•
Validation proves the plan CAN work; verification proves it IS working — two different questions.
•
What a HACCP record must show, and why a record filled in after the fact is worthless.
•
Building and confirming the process flow diagram on the floor before analyzing hazards.
•
How a retail HACCP plan differs from a processing plan (process approach by cook-hold pattern).
•
The FSMA preventive-controls framework and how it relates to, but is not, Food Code HACCP.
•
Supplier verification for hazards controlled before the food arrives.
•
Lot codes and one-up-one-back records as the basis for a fast, narrow recall.
•
Intentional adulteration: vulnerability assessment and mitigation strategies at access points.
•
A written allergen program: labeling, storage, dedicated tools, cleaning, and order communication.
•
Cross-contact transfers protein, so heat does not fix it — the difference from cross-contamination.
•
Handling an allergen order: repeat the request, verify ingredients, and never guess.
Keentune is not affiliated with or endorsed by the organizations whose documentation informs these maps.
All about Food Safety Management practice
Also on your phone
App StoreGoogle Play
All exam, test, and product names and trademarks are the property of their respective owners and are used here for identification and reference only. Keentune is independent study practice — not affiliated with, authorized, or endorsed by any of these organizations.
© 2026 SportaApp LLC