Food Service and Nutrition Services Flashcards

What is the minimum safe internal cooking temperature for poultry, such as chicken served in a school cafeteria?

Answer: 165°F

Food safety codes require poultry to reach an internal temperature of 165°F to destroy harmful bacteria such as Salmonella.

The temperature range in which bacteria grow most rapidly in food, known as the 'danger zone,' is:

Answer: 41°F to 135°F

Under the FDA Food Code, potentially hazardous foods must be kept below 41°F or above 135°F because bacteria multiply fastest in the range between those temperatures.

A cafeteria worker notices a student's meal must be peanut-free due to an allergy. What is the most important practice when preparing that meal?

Answer: Use separate utensils, surfaces, and gloves to prevent cross-contact with allergens

Food allergens are not destroyed by heat, so the only reliable protection is preventing cross-contact through dedicated or thoroughly cleaned utensils, surfaces, and fresh gloves.

A recipe serves 25 students and calls for 5 cups of rice. How many cups are needed to serve 150 students?

Answer: 30 cups

Serving 150 students is 6 times the original yield of 25, so the rice must be scaled by 6: 5 cups × 6 = 30 cups.

When should a food service worker wash their hands?

Answer: After using the restroom, handling raw food, touching the face or hair, and before putting on gloves

Proper hand hygiene requires washing after any contaminating activity — restroom use, handling raw foods, touching the body, taking out trash — and before glove use, not just when hands appear dirty.

Under proper cold-storage practice, where should raw chicken be placed in a walk-in refrigerator?

Answer: On the bottom shelf, below ready-to-eat foods

Raw poultry is stored on the lowest shelf so its juices cannot drip onto ready-to-eat or less-hazardous foods, preventing cross-contamination.