Ontario Food Handler: Cross-contamination and allergens

All 35 questions in this test

Every question and its answer choices. The correct answers and explanations appear when you take the test above.

1. Glasses are set out at a self-serve station but not yet in use. How should they be kept?

   1. Filled with ice
   2. Stacked inside each other
   3. Right side up and uncovered
   4. Upside down

2. A customer asks if a dessert contains tree nuts and you are not sure. What should you do?

   1. Guess that it is probably fine
   2. Suggest they just eat around it
   3. Say you don't know and check with the chef
   4. Tell them no so that their order is not held up

3. A meat slicer is used many times a day. How should it be cleaned?

   1. Wiped with a dry towel after each use, washed weekly
   2. Only when it looks dirty
   3. Through the day, and fully taken apart at day's end
   4. Once a week by a technician

4. A customer leaves an untouched dinner roll in the bread basket. What should happen to it?

   1. Put it back in the bread bin
   2. Serve it to the next table
   3. Throw it out
   4. Use it for croutons

5. A buffet pan of pasta is almost empty. How should it be refilled?

   1. Replace it with a new pan and clean utensils
   2. Stir the old into a new batch
   3. Refill the same pan and keep using the same spoon
   4. Pour new pasta on top of the old

6. A customer allergic to peanuts asks if a tiny amount of peanut sauce is okay. What is true?

   1. Even a very small amount can cause a reaction
   2. Only large servings cause reactions
   3. Cooking the sauce removes all of the peanut allergen
   4. Small amounts are always safe

7. Which of these is one of Health Canada's priority food allergens?

   1. Rice
   2. Sesame
   3. Apples
   4. Carrots

8. Unused plastic cutlery and paper napkins are left on a cleared table. What should be done with them?

   1. Throw them out
   2. Wipe them and reuse them
   3. Put them back in the supply bin
   4. Leave them for the next guests

9. Why is the menu item "Bombay duck" a concern for allergic customers?

   1. It is actually a type of fish
   2. It is a kind of shellfish sauce
   3. It is made with wheat flour
   4. It always contains peanuts

10. What is the best way to avoid cross-contamination between raw and ready-to-eat foods?

    1. Rinsing knives in cold water
    2. Separate boards, utensils and prep areas
    3. Wiping boards with a dry cloth
    4. Cutting raw meat after salads only

11. Which practice can lead to allergen contamination?

    1. Cleaning equipment between foods
    2. Keeping an up-to-date recipe binder
    3. Reusing pastry dough between two recipes
    4. Washing hands between orders

12. How should a server carry a plate of food?

    1. With fingers on the eating surface
    2. From underneath, thumb on the rim
    3. Several plates stacked together
    4. With a thumb on top of the plate

13. A cook slices raw beef, then uses the same knife on cooked ham without washing it. Which route of cross-contamination is this?

    1. People to food
    2. Equipment to food
    3. Air to food
    4. Food to food

14. A customer is having an allergic reaction in the dining room. What should staff do?

    1. Give them an antacid
    2. Call 911
    3. Offer them a glass of milk
    4. Ask them to wait outside

15. You drop a pair of tongs on the floor during service. What should you do?

    1. Send them to be washed and get clean ones
    2. Rinse them in the handwash sink
    3. Keep using them if they look clean
    4. Wipe them on your apron and reuse

16. What is the purpose of a sneeze guard on a salad bar?

    1. To shield food from people's breath and sneezes
    2. To stop food from being stolen
    3. To keep the salads cold by trapping the chilled air
    4. To show the prices

17. You think a container of food may have been contaminated. What should you do?

    1. Put it at the back of the fridge
    2. Serve it quickly before it spoils
    3. Throw it away or tell your supervisor
    4. Taste it to check

18. A diner has trouble breathing and swelling of the throat after eating. What is the most dangerous possibility?

    1. Indigestion
    2. Anaphylaxis
    3. Heartburn
    4. Mild hiccups

19. Which is an example of people-to-food cross-contamination?

    1. Spraying a cleaner near open food on the prep counter
    2. Cutting bread on a meat board
    3. Handling raw eggs, then buttering toast unwashed
    4. Storing raw fish above salad

20. Raw fruits and vegetables and foods that will be reheated are stored where in the fridge?

    1. On the floor of the walk-in, in their boxes
    2. In the centre, between the other two
    3. On the very top shelf
    4. Below the raw meat

21. Under the Food Premises Regulation, which served item could be re-served to another customer?

    1. A spoonful of sauce left in a jug
    2. An untouched dinner roll
    3. An unused butter pat on a dish
    4. A sealed packet of crackers

22. A cook cuts raw chicken, wipes the board with a cloth and then another cook chops lettuce on it. What has gone wrong?

    1. The cloth was a light colour
    2. The board was not cleaned and sanitized
    3. The lettuce was not cooked first
    4. The chicken was cut too slowly

23. Why shouldn't a server carry too many plates at once?

    1. Plates might get too hot
    2. Customers may complain about noise
    3. It slows down service
    4. Foods on separate plates may touch

24. On which fridge shelf should raw chicken be stored?

    1. The door shelf
    2. The middle shelf, beside salads
    3. The top shelf
    4. The bottom shelf

25. Which recipe change lowers the allergen risk for customers?

    1. Adding sesame to a salad dressing
    2. Using peanut oil instead of canola
    3. Using vegetable oil instead of peanut oil
    4. Adding shrimp to a vegetable dish

26. In the fridge, where do cooked and ready-to-eat foods belong?

    1. Under the raw meat
    2. On the bottom shelves
    3. In the crisper with raw meat
    4. On the upper shelves

27. Juice from raw chicken drips onto a bowl of salad. What is this called?

    1. Temperature abuse
    2. Food-to-food cross-contamination
    3. Chemical contamination of the salad
    4. Food adulteration

28. A cook wants to swap an ingredient in a recipe. What must happen?

    1. Management and all staff involved are told
    2. Only the dishwasher needs to know
    3. Nothing, since cooks are free to change recipes
    4. The menu stays the same forever

29. Where should wiping cloths be kept between uses?

    1. Over your shoulder
    2. On the cutting board
    3. In your apron pocket
    4. In a sanitizing solution

30. Why should every container of food in the fridge be covered?

    1. To make the fridge run colder and use less power
    2. To keep out drips and other contaminants
    3. To stop food from freezing
    4. To hide food from customers

31. When should a person's epinephrine auto-injector be used during a reaction?

    1. After waiting 30 minutes
    2. Only after they lose consciousness
    3. At the first sign of the reaction
    4. Only if a doctor is present

32. Which additive is on Health Canada's list of priority allergens?

    1. Sulphites
    2. Citric acid
    3. Vanilla extract
    4. Baking powder

33. What is a safe way to taste a sauce while cooking?

    1. Use the stirring spoon, then put it back in the sauce
    2. Lick the ladle and keep stirring
    3. Use a clean spoon once, then send it to be washed
    4. Dip a finger in the sauce

34. About how many people walking into your restaurant are likely to have a food allergy?

    1. About 1 in 13
    2. About 1 in 1,000
    3. About 1 in 500
    4. About 1 in 2

35. Shrimp, crab and mussels fall under which priority allergen group?

    1. Mustard and mustard seeds
    2. Sulphites
    3. Crustaceans and molluscs
    4. Tree nuts