United States
Hong KongThe consumer advisory: disclosure and reminder, both required
An establishment serving raw or undercooked animal food must provide both a disclosure, identifying which items they are, and a reminder that eating them raises the risk of foodborne illness. Both parts are required; one alone does not satisfy the provision.
Two parts. That is the whole examinable content, and it is the part people get wrong because they remember the asterisk and not the sentence it points to.
Disclosure
Identifying which items are raw or undercooked. Either by describing them - "served rare", "cooked to order" - or by marking them with an asterisk that leads to a footnote.
The customer must be able to tell, from the menu, which specific dish this applies to. A general statement that some items may be undercooked is not disclosure.
Reminder
A statement that consuming raw or undercooked animal food raises the risk of foodborne illness, particularly for people with certain medical conditions.
This is the footnote itself. It has to be present, and it has to be readable - the exam does not test font size, but an inspector will notice a reminder in four-point gray.
An asterisk with no footnote is disclosure without reminder. A general warning at the bottom of the menu with no marked items is reminder without disclosure. Both are incomplete, and questions are written around exactly these two cases.
What it covers
- Steak cooked to order below 63°C (145°F)
- Raw oysters and other raw shellfish
- Sushi and sashimi
- Eggs served runny or raw, including in a dressing
- Steak tartare and carpaccio
- Rare hamburger, where local rules permit it at all
Who cannot be served this way
An establishment serving a highly susceptible population may not offer raw or undercooked animal food at all. The advisory is not an option there.
Highly susceptible means people more likely to become seriously ill: hospitals, nursing homes, preschools, assisted living, and similar facilities. Pasteurized eggs and juice replace the raw versions, and raw seed sprouts are off the menu entirely.
The question shape
A scenario gives you a menu, an establishment type, and a dish. You are asked whether the advisory is adequate, or whether the dish may be served at all.
Work it in that order: is this a highly susceptible population - if yes, the dish is not offered. If no, are both parts of the advisory present. Two checks, and they answer nearly every version of the question.
Common questions
What are the two parts of a consumer advisory?
Disclosure, which identifies which menu items are raw or undercooked, and reminder, which states that eating them raises the risk of foodborne illness. Both are required.
Is an asterisk enough?
No. An asterisk with no footnote is disclosure without a reminder. A general warning with no marked items is a reminder without disclosure. Both cases fail the provision.
Which foods need a consumer advisory?
Raw or undercooked animal food - rare steak, raw shellfish, sushi, runny or raw eggs including in dressings, tartare and carpaccio, and rare hamburger where local rules allow it.
Can a nursing home serve rare steak with an advisory?
No. Establishments serving highly susceptible populations may not offer raw or undercooked animal food at all, and the advisory is not an alternative to that rule.
Who counts as a highly susceptible population?
People more likely to become seriously ill: patients in hospitals and nursing homes, preschool children, and residents of assisted living and similar facilities.