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Practice and exam technique

Practice questions: cleaning and sanitizing

Compiled by the Sitonce editorial team from the FDA Food Code and the accredited providers listed belowUpdated 3 min readFacts verified 1 September 2026
The short answer

Cleaning and sanitizing is nine of the eighty questions. These five cover the sink sequence, sanitizer ranges and contact times, dishmachine verification, and the four-hour cleaning rule.

Nine questions, and the material is small enough to cover properly in ninety minutes. Good value.

Question 1

A cook washes, rinses and sanitizes a cutting board, then dries it with a clean cloth before returning it to the rack. What is wrong?

  1. Nothing - the cloth was clean
  2. The board should have been sanitized before rinsing
  3. Items must air dry after sanitizing
  4. The board should have been washed twice
Answer: C. Air drying is the required final step. A cloth reintroduces exactly what the sanitizer removed, and it is the step most often skipped in a busy kitchen - which is why the exam asks about it. Option B reverses the sequence, which would leave detergent interfering with the sanitizer.
Question 2

A manager tests the sanitizer bucket and finds chlorine at 180 ppm. What should happen?

  1. Nothing - stronger is safer
  2. Dilute the solution to bring it within 50 to 100 ppm
  3. Add more water only if surfaces feel slippery
  4. Switch to quaternary ammonium
Answer: B. Chlorine above 100 ppm on food-contact surfaces leaves residue and is a chemical hazard, which the Code treats as contamination. The instinct that stronger is safer is exactly what option A is testing.
Question 3

A high-temperature dishmachine gauge reads 180°F at the final rinse. What still needs verifying?

  1. Nothing - the gauge confirms sanitizing
  2. That the utensil surface reaches 160°F
  3. That the sanitizer concentration is correct
  4. That the wash cycle exceeds 110°F
Answer: B. The gauge shows water leaving the manifold, not the temperature reaching the plate. Verification uses an irreversible temperature indicator confirming 71°C (160°F) at the utensil surface. Option C describes a chemical machine, which this is not.
Question 4

A prep table is used continuously for sandwich assembly at room temperature from 11:00. When must the food-contact surface be cleaned and sanitized?

  1. At the end of the shift
  2. By 15:00
  3. Every 2 hours
  4. Only when visibly soiled
Answer: B. Food-contact surfaces in continuous use with TCS food at room temperature are cleaned and sanitized every 4 hours. Starting at 11:00 gives 15:00. The end-of-shift clean in option A is necessary and not sufficient.
Question 5

Between uses, a cloth used to wipe a food preparation surface should be kept:

  1. Folded on the corner of the prep table
  2. Tucked into the apron string
  3. In a labeled container of sanitizer solution
  4. Hanging over the edge of a sink to dry
Answer: C. A cloth left out dries, warms and grows whatever it picked up from the last surface, then transports it to the next. Storing it in sanitizer solution at the correct concentration is the requirement, and the solution is changed when it becomes soiled or drops out of range.

The two ideas underneath

Clean before you sanitize, because sanitizer does very little on soil. And more is not better, because residue is contamination.

Those two resolve most of this area without any further memorization.

Common questions

Can you towel dry after sanitizing?

No. Air drying is the required final step, because a cloth reintroduces exactly what the sanitizer removed. It is the step most often skipped in a busy kitchen.

What if the sanitizer is too strong?

Dilute it. Chlorine above 100 ppm on food-contact surfaces leaves residue and is a chemical hazard, which the Code treats as contamination.

Does a dishmachine gauge prove sanitizing happened?

No. The gauge shows water leaving the manifold. Verification requires an irreversible temperature indicator confirming 160°F at the utensil surface.

How often are prep surfaces cleaned during continuous use?

Every four hours when in continuous use with TCS food at room temperature, and always between raw and ready-to-eat use, when the task changes, and after any contamination.

Where do wiping cloths go between uses?

In a labeled container of sanitizer solution at the correct concentration. On the counter or in an apron pocket they dry out and become transport for whatever they last touched.

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