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Hong KongThe flow of food: purchasing, receiving, storing and serving
Ten of the eighty questions, split evenly across purchasing and receiving, storage and display, service and self-service, transport and delivery, and monitoring food during preparation. Receiving temperatures are the reliably examinable part.
Ten questions, two in each of five stages. The exam calls it monitoring the flow of foods, and it follows a delivery from the back door to the customer.
Approved sources
Food comes from an approved supplier. That phrase does more work than it looks like it does.
It rules out the home kitchen, the neighbor with the chickens, and the game a customer brings in. Wild mushrooms need an approved identifier. Molluscan shellfish arrive with tags, and those tags are kept 90 days from the date the last shellfish from that container was served.
Receiving temperatures
| Item | Accept at |
|---|---|
| Cold TCS food | 5°C (41°F) or below |
| Hot TCS food | 57°C (135°F) or above |
| Shell eggs | 7°C (45°F) ambient air |
| Milk and shucked shellfish | 7°C (45°F), cooled to 5°C (41°F) within 4 hours |
| Frozen food | Frozen solid, with no sign of thawing and refreezing |
The 45°F entries are the ones that generate wrong answers, because they are real numbers that apply to a narrow set of items and look plausible everywhere else. Shell eggs are 45°F ambient. Ready-to-eat food in a cooler is 41°F. The exam will happily offer you the first when it means the second.
What to reject
- Frozen food with large ice crystals or fluid stains on the case - it thawed and was refrozen.
- Cans that are severely dented on a seam, swollen, rusted through or leaking.
- Packaging that is torn, punctured or water-stained.
- Anything with an off odor, a slimy surface, or a color that is wrong for the product.
- Live shellfish without their tags.
Rejection happens at the door, in front of the driver, with the reason recorded. Signing for it and dealing with it later is the wrong answer even when it is what actually happens.
Storage
Off the floor by 15 cm (6 inches), away from walls, and in the storage order set by cooking temperature. Chemicals live below and apart from food, equipment and single-use items - never above, whatever the shelf height makes convenient.
Stock rotates first in, first out. Date marking applies to ready-to-eat TCS food held more than 24 hours: 7 days at 5°C (41°F) or below, counting the day of preparation as day 1.
Service and self-service
Two questions. Food shields over open displays, clean plates for each trip to the buffet, utensils with handles out of the food, and a member of staff actually watching the line rather than being nominally responsible for it.
Returned food does not go back out. Neither do unwrapped condiments, rolls from the bread basket, or garnish a plate came back with.
Transport and delivery
Two questions that catch caterers out. Temperature control does not pause because food is in a vehicle, and the clock on time-controlled food does not stop for the drive. Insulated containers, a thermometer in the vehicle, and a record on arrival are what the Code expects.
Every stage asks the same question in a different costume: is the food under control right now, and who is checking? Answer options that leave a gap where nobody is checking are almost always the wrong ones.
Common questions
What temperature should cold food be received at?
5°C (41°F) or below for cold TCS food. Shell eggs are the exception at 7°C (45°F) ambient air, and milk and shucked shellfish may arrive at 45°F if cooled to 41°F within four hours.
When should you reject a delivery?
Large ice crystals or fluid stains on frozen goods, swollen or seam-dented cans, punctured or water-stained packaging, off odors, sliminess, wrong color, or live shellfish without tags. Reject at the door with the reason recorded.
How long do you keep shellfish tags?
Ninety days from the date the last shellfish from that container was served. The tag is the traceability record if an illness is later linked to the batch.
How far off the floor must food be stored?
15 cm (6 inches). It keeps food out of splash from mopping and lets you see pest activity underneath, which is why the rule is about visibility as much as contact.
Can food be re-served from a buffet?
No. Food that has been out for self-service does not go back out, and neither do unwrapped condiments or garnish returned on a plate. Customers take a clean plate each trip.