Personal Hygiene Quiz for the ServSafe Food Handler Exam

Questions, answers (marked ✓) and explanations are below. For the interactive version, enable JavaScript.

1. From start to finish, the whole handwashing process should take at least:

   • 5 seconds
   • 10 seconds
   • 20 seconds
   • 2 minutes

   About 20 seconds total: wet, apply soap, scrub for 10-15 seconds, rinse, dry with a single-use towel or air dryer. The scrub is where most people cut corners.

2. Which is the correct order of handwashing steps?

   • Soap, rinse, wet, dry, scrub
   • Wet hands, apply soap, scrub, rinse, dry
   • Rinse, dry, soap, scrub, wet
   • Scrub, soap, wet, dry, rinse

   Wet with warm running water → soap → scrub hands and arms 10-15 seconds (nails and between fingers too) → rinse → dry with a single-use towel or hand dryer.

3. Where are food handlers allowed to wash their hands?

   • The three-compartment sink, if it's empty
   • The food prep sink
   • A designated handwashing sink only
   • Any sink with soap nearby

   Hands are washed only at designated hand sinks, never in prep, dishwashing or mop sinks. Those sinks would contaminate (or be contaminated by) the handwashing.

4. Which fingernail setup is acceptable for someone prepping food with bare hands?

   • Long natural nails, freshly cleaned
   • Acrylic nails, if washed carefully
   • Short nails with clear nail polish
   • Short, clean, unpolished natural nails

   Nails must be short and clean; false nails and polish are out when handling exposed food, because they hide dirt and can chip off into food. (Some operations allow them only under intact gloves.)

5. Where may food handlers eat, drink or smoke?

   • Anywhere, during a slow moment
   • At the prep table, if food is covered
   • Only in designated areas away from food and prep surfaces
   • Next to the hand sink

   Eating, drinking, smoking and vaping happen only in designated break areas, saliva transfer from hand-to-mouth contact is a direct contamination route back to food and surfaces.

6. What's the main reason food handlers must wear a hair restraint?

   • It's required for the uniform to look professional
   • It keeps hair out of food and discourages touching your hair
   • It keeps the head warm in walk-in coolers
   • It identifies kitchen staff to guests

   Hair in food is a physical contaminant, and touching your hair transfers bacteria to your hands. A hat or net solves both, and it goes on before handwashing, not after.

7. Which TWO illnesses must a food handler report to their manager?

   • A norovirus diagnosis
   • A hepatitis A diagnosis
   • A mild seasonal allergy
   • A headache after a double shift

   Diagnoses that must be reported: norovirus, hepatitis A, Shigella, Salmonella Typhi, nontyphoidal Salmonella and shiga toxin-producing E. coli, plus symptoms like vomiting, diarrhea and jaundice. The manager then works with local rules on exclusion.

8. When should a food handler remove their apron?

   • Only at the end of the shift
   • Before taking out garbage or using the restroom
   • Never, the apron protects the uniform
   • Only when it's visibly stained

   Aprons come off before leaving food-prep areas, restroom trips, garbage runs, breaks. Otherwise the apron carries whatever it picked up out there straight back to the prep line.