Food hygiene and safety
Food Hygiene and Safety Test for Kitchen Staff
- Who it is for
- Cooks, prep cooks, pastry cooks, dishwashers and kitchen trainees
- When to run
- Before starting work with food, then every six months and after violations
- Size
- 18 questions · ~15 min
- Pass mark
- 80%
| Name | Position | Date | Result |
Most food poisoning in food service is caused not by rare accidents but by everyday mistakes: unwashed hands, raw meat above ready-to-eat salads, stock left to cool on the stove overnight, prep without a date. This test checks that every kitchen employee knows the basic rules and understands why they matter.
The test does not replace the mandatory training and medical clearance required in your country. Temperatures and times in it are common guidelines: take the exact values from your local sanitary regulations and the venue's HACCP plan. Two questions are marked as critical: a mistake in them is a reason to repeat the briefing before the next shift.
Personal Hygiene
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1
Put the handwashing steps in the correct order. Put in the right orderAnswer: d → f → a → b → c → e. Lather your hands for at least 20 seconds, covering every area, including thumbs and nails. The tap is turned off with the towel so you don't recontaminate clean hands on a handle touched with dirty ones.
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2
When must a kitchen employee wash their hands? Select all correct answers. Choose all correct answersAnswer: b, c, d. Dangerous bacteria are invisible, so hands are washed by event, not by how they look. The key moments are moving from "dirty" (raw ingredients, trash, toilet, money, phone) to "clean" (ready-to-eat food, serving dishes).
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3
In the morning you have diarrhea and vomiting. What is the right thing to do? Choose one answer Critical questionAnswer: a. Intestinal infections spread easily through food, and gloves don't protect against that. An employee with these symptoms is not allowed to handle food. When they can return (often no sooner than 48 hours after symptoms stop, or on a doctor's clearance) is set by the venue's rules and your country's regulations.
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4
You have a small cut on your finger. Can you work with food? Choose one answerAnswer: c. A bright (usually blue) plaster is noticed immediately if it falls into food, and the glove protects the product. A bandage gets wet and collects dirt. People with inflamed or infected wounds are not allowed to handle food — they need to see a doctor.
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5
You don't need to remove rings and watches if you work in gloves. True or false?Answer: False. Bacteria build up under rings and watches, jewelry can end up in food, and a glove over a ring tears easily. In the kitchen, jewelry is removed from hands and wrists; whether a plain wedding band is allowed depends on the venue's rules and your country's regulations.
Temperatures and Storage
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6
In what temperature range do bacteria in food multiply fastest (the so-called "danger zone")? Choose one answerAnswer: b. In the "danger zone", under favorable conditions, the number of bacteria can double roughly every 20 minutes. That's why cold food is kept cold (usually no higher than +5 °C), hot food is kept hot (usually no lower than +60–63 °C), and time in between is kept to a minimum. The exact limits are set by your country's regulations.
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7
What is the right way to thaw raw meat? Choose one answerAnswer: c. At room temperature or in warm water, the surface of the meat sits in the "danger zone" for a long time while the center is still frozen. Thawing in the refrigerator is safest. Other methods (under cold running water in sealed packaging, or in a microwave with immediate cooking) are acceptable only if the venue's rules allow them.
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8
How should food be arranged in the refrigerator? Choose one answer Critical questionAnswer: c. Juices from raw meat and fish can drip onto whatever is below. With raw ingredients at the bottom and ready-to-eat food at the top, this risk is minimized. Even more reliable are separate refrigerators or zones for raw and ready-to-eat products.
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9
What does the FIFO (FEFO) principle mean in food storage? Choose one answerAnswer: c. FIFO means "first in, first out"; FEFO means "first expired, first out". New deliveries go to the back, and products with earlier dates go to the front so nothing expires.
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10
What must be on the label of a prepped item in the refrigerator? Select all correct answers. Choose all correct answersAnswer: a, b, d. Without a label there's no way to tell whether the prep can still be used — by the rules, it is discarded. Labels often also show who prepared it. Shelf lives come from recipe cards and your country's regulations.
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11
What is the right way to cool a large pot of hot stock? Choose one answerAnswer: c. A large volume cools very slowly and spends hours in the "danger zone". Shallow containers and ice speed up cooling. A large hot pot is not put into the refrigerator: it cools slowly itself and warms the food around it. Permitted cooling times are set by your country's regulations and the HACCP plan.
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12
A product past its use-by date can be used if it smells and looks fine. True or false?Answer: False. Many dangerous bacteria (for example, Listeria) don't change how food smells or looks. Expired products are discarded no matter how they look.
Cross-Contamination, Allergens and Cleaning
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13
Why do kitchens use cutting boards and knives in different colors? Choose one answerAnswer: c. Color coding stops you from accidentally chopping salad on a board used for raw chicken. Each venue has its own color scheme (for example, red for raw meat, blue for fish, green for vegetables); what matters is that everyone knows and follows it.
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14
How can you reduce the risk of an allergen getting into a dish for a guest with an allergy? Select all correct answers. Choose all correct answersAnswer: a, c, d. If you simply remove the allergen from a finished dish, traces remain, and that can be dangerous for someone with an allergy. Such a dish is made again, separately and with clean equipment.
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15
Can you taste a dish with a spoon and put the same spoon back into the pot? Choose one answerAnswer: d. Saliva carries bacteria into the dish, and some of their toxins are not destroyed by heat. A clean spoon for every taste is a simple rule with no exceptions.
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16
A cloth used to wipe the table after cutting raw chicken can be used straight away to wipe the pass. True or false?Answer: False. Cloths and sponges carry bacteria from surface to surface. Different (often color-coded) cloths are used for different zones; they are changed often and laundered or disinfected. A surface used for raw meat is washed and then disinfected.
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17
What is the difference between cleaning a surface and disinfecting it? Choose one answerAnswer: d. A disinfectant works poorly on a dirty, greasy surface. The order is: remove food residue, wash with detergent, rinse, apply disinfectant and leave it for the contact time stated in the instructions.
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18
You notice rodent droppings in the storeroom. What should you do? Choose one answerAnswer: b. Rodents carry dangerous infections. The manager calls pest control and decides what to discard. Products from damaged packaging must not be transferred: that simply moves the contamination into a new container.
Your result
· Pass mark is 80%. Correct answers and explanations are shown below. A mistake in a critical question fails the test regardless of the score.
Use the test as a starting point and align answers with your standards and local regulations.
Answer key · Food Hygiene and Safety Test for Kitchen Staff
- d → f → a → b → c → e
- b, c, d
- a
- c
- False
- b
- c
- c
- c
- a, b, d
- c
- False
- c
- a, c, d
- d
- False
- d
- b
jeCheck · https://jecheck.io/en/templates/tests/kitchen-food-safety
Frequently asked questions
No. The test helps check and reinforce knowledge, but it does not replace the mandatory training, medical checks and documents required in your country.
The limits of the "danger zone", storage temperatures and cooling times vary slightly between countries. Take the exact values from your local regulations and HACCP plan and adjust the questions if needed.
Everyone who handles food and dishes: cooks, prep cooks, pastry cooks, dishwashers and trainees. New hires — before starting work, everyone else — every six months and after violations found during inspections.
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