Food Safety The Flow of Food Practice Questions
The Flow of Food makes up 12 of every 50 questions on a Tigertest Food Safety practice test. Here are 10 of the 48 questions on it, each with the answer and the reason.
Updated by the Tigertest team. Built on the FDA Food Code (2017 and 2022). Your local code may differ; check with your health department.
1. A delivery of ice cream, raw chicken, fresh produce and canned tomatoes arrives at once. Which item should be put away first?
- A.Canned tomatoes
- B.Ice cream
- C.Produce
- D.Raw chicken
Answer: B. Inspect deliveries right away and store them quickly, frozen items such as ice cream first, then refrigerated TCS food like raw chicken. Canned goods are shelf-stable, so they go last.
2. A driver unloads raw chicken, and the manager's probe thermometer reads 46 F in the thickest part. What should the manager do?
- A.Accept it and freeze it immediately
- B.Accept it and cook it within 4 hours
- C.Accept it as is
- D.Reject the chicken
Answer: D. Cold TCS food must be received at 41 F (5 C) or below, so chicken at 46 F is rejected. Freezing or cooking it quickly does not undo the time it already spent in the danger zone.
3. Live oysters arrive in a refrigerated truck. What is the highest air temperature at which they may be received?
- A.45 F
- B.41 F
- C.50 F
- D.60 F
Answer: A. Live shellfish may be received at an air temperature of 45 F (7 C) or lower and must then be cooled to 41 F within 4 hours. 41 F is the rule for most cold TCS food, but shellfish have this specific allowance.
4. Which delivery may be accepted at an air temperature of 45 F instead of the usual 41 F?
- A.Sliced deli turkey
- B.Raw tuna
- C.Shell eggs
- D.Fresh salmon fillets
Answer: C. The Food Code lets shell eggs be received at an air temperature of 45 F (7 C) or lower, as it also does for milk and live shellfish. Tuna, salmon fillets and deli meat must arrive at 41 F or below.
5. A caterer receives a pan of hot chicken soup from its commissary kitchen. What is the lowest acceptable receiving temperature?
- A.120 F
- B.145 F
- C.135 F
- D.165 F
Answer: C. Hot TCS food must be received at 135 F (57 C) or higher, the same as hot holding. 165 F is the reheating temperature for hot holding, not a receiving requirement.
6. A case of frozen shrimp arrives with large ice crystals inside the bag and water stains on the box. What does this suggest?
- A.The shrimp thawed and refroze
- B.The freezer truck was set too cold
- C.The shrimp were frozen very quickly
- D.The supplier glazed it to protect quality
Answer: A. Large ice crystals, frozen fluids and water-stained cartons show the food thawed and was refrozen, a sign of time-temperature abuse, so reject it. Glazing leaves a thin even coat of ice, not large crystals and stained boxes.
7. A manager inspects a delivery of canned goods. Which can should be rejected?
- A.A can shipped in a sealed cardboard case
- B.A can with a lot code
- C.A can with a clean, intact label
- D.A can with a swollen lid
Answer: D. Reject cans with swollen ends, leaks, rust, severe dents on the seams or missing labels; swelling can mean gas from Clostridium botulinum growth. A lot code and an intact label are normal.
8. A restaurant served the last oysters from a container on March 1. Until at least what date must the shellstock tag be kept?
- A.September 1
- B.May 30
- C.March 31
- D.April 30
Answer: B. Shellstock tags must be kept 90 days from the date the last shellfish in the container was sold or served, which here is May 30. Thirty or sixty days is too short to support an outbreak traceback.
9. A sushi bar buys wild-caught salmon to serve raw. What must the operation get from the supplier and keep on file?
- A.Proof it was rinsed in chlorinated water
- B.Records that it was frozen to kill parasites
- C.Proof it was caught within 48 hours
- D.Proof it is certified organic
Answer: B. Fish served raw or undercooked must be frozen for parasite destruction (some aquacultured fish and certain tuna are exempt), and the records kept 90 days from the date of service. Freshness does not kill parasites such as Anisakis.
10. A manager calibrates a bimetallic stem thermometer in a container of ice water. What should it read after adjustment?
- A.212 F
- B.0 F
- C.41 F
- D.32 F
Answer: D. With the ice-point method, turn the calibration nut until the thermometer reads 32 F (0 C). 212 F is the boiling-point method at sea level, and 0 F confuses the Celsius reading with Fahrenheit.
Practice all 48 the flow of food questions, and the rest of the 200-question bank, in the free Food Safety training sets. Questions you miss come back until you have mastered them.
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