Who needs a food worker card
Alaska's food safety rules are called the Alaska Food Code. They are found in chapter 31 of title 18 of the Alaska Administrative Code. The food worker card rule is 18 AAC 31.330. It says the operator of a food establishment must make sure each food worker holds a valid food worker card within 30 days of hire.
A food worker is a person who handles unpackaged food, potentially hazardous food or food-contact surfaces. Food-contact surfaces include dishes, utensils, cutting boards and counters where food is prepared. Jobs that usually need a card include:
- chefs and cooks
- servers and bartenders
- meat cutters
- food counter workers
- dishwashers
Some people who work in a food business are not food workers under the rule, as long as their work stays within these roles:
- greeters and people who seat guests
- cashiers
- staff who handle only prepackaged food
- staff who help patients or residents with meals in health care or residential settings
- volunteers
- children under 18 who help with school meal service in a school kitchen
The operator must also keep records that show every food worker is following the rule. Inspectors can ask to see them, so keep a copy of your card handy at work.
Getting your card from DEC
Outside Anchorage, food worker cards come from the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), Food Safety and Sanitation Program. DEC offers a handbook and a practice test to help you study.
The test
| Item | DEC rule |
|---|---|
| Number of questions | 20, drawn at random from a question pool |
| Pass mark | 15 correct answers |
| Retakes | Allowed with your test ID while it is valid |
| Test ID | Expires one year after purchase |
| Card valid for | 3 years from the date it is issued |
| Extra copies | Up to 3 more while the card is valid |
Two ways to test
- Online: log in to the DEC online system with your myAlaska account, buy a test ID, take the test and print your card.
- In person: visit a DEC Food Safety and Sanitation office and take a printed test. Staff print your card after you pass.
If a worker has a disability, DEC will waive the test when the worker shows enough food safety knowledge for the job. This follows the Americans with Disabilities Act. A limited card then lists the activities the worker is approved to do.
Anchorage cards and manager certificates
The Municipality of Anchorage runs its own food safety program under the Anchorage Food Code, and its food workers need an Anchorage food worker card. Anchorage offers its test in several languages besides English, including Spanish, Korean, Mandarin Chinese, Tagalog and Vietnamese.
The two kinds of cards do not work the same way in both directions:
- A facility regulated by DEC accepts an Anchorage-issued card.
- A facility regulated by Anchorage does not accept a state card from DEC.
If you hold a current, valid Certified Food Protection Manager (CFPM) certificate, DEC does not require you to also hold a food worker card. A CFPM certificate comes from a longer manager course and exam.
An example
Maria passes the DEC test and works at a diner in Wasilla. A year later she moves to a restaurant in downtown Anchorage that the Municipality inspects. Her state card is not accepted there, so she takes the Anchorage test. If she later moves back to a DEC-regulated job, her Anchorage card will be accepted.
What the test covers
18 AAC 31.330 lists six areas for the test: receiving food from approved sources, protecting food (including hand protection), time and temperature control for potentially hazardous food, how foodborne disease spreads, handwashing, and washing and sanitizing dishes and equipment. The DEC handbook gives these key points:
| Topic | What the DEC handbook teaches |
|---|---|
| Cold holding | 41°F or colder; check about every 2 hours |
| Hot holding | 135°F or hotter; check about every 2 hours |
| Danger zone | Between 41°F and 135°F; discard potentially hazardous food left there 4 hours or more |
| Poultry and stuffed foods | Cook to 165°F |
| Hamburger and ground pork sausage | Cook to 155°F |
| Cooling | 135°F to 70°F within 2 hours, then to 41°F within 4 more hours |
| Reheating for hot holding | 165°F within 2 hours, on a stove or in an oven, not in a steam table |
| Handwashing | About 20 seconds in all, with warm water and soap, then paper towels |
Approved sources
Food must come from a source approved by the State of Alaska or the Municipality of Anchorage. Meat and poultry must be USDA inspected. The handbook tells workers never to serve home-canned food, wild game meat or sport-caught fish in a food establishment, even when a customer or friend offers it.
Thermometers at elevation
You can check a thermometer in ice water (32°F) or boiling water. Water boils at 212°F at sea level, but about 1°F lower for every 550 feet of elevation, so adjust in hill and mountain towns.
Illness and hygiene
Tell your supervisor right away if you have vomiting, diarrhea, jaundice, a sore throat with fever or an infected cut. Do not touch ready-to-eat food with bare hands; use utensils, deli tissue or single-use gloves, and wash your hands before putting gloves on.
Exam tips
- Remember the deadline: a card within 30 days of hire.
- Know the test format: 20 questions, 15 correct to pass.
- The card lasts 3 years.
- A current CFPM certificate replaces the card.
- Anchorage cards work at DEC facilities, but state cards do not work at Anchorage facilities.
- Learn the holding numbers: 41°F or colder and 135°F or hotter.
- Wild game, sport-caught fish and home-canned food are not from approved sources.
Practice test 1 on this page covers Alaska rules. The other sets cover food safety basics from the FDA Food Code that the DEC test also checks.
Key terms
The 16 words and rules to know for this test. Read the list or study them as flashcards: flip each card, then mark it "Know it" or "Still learning".
- Alaska Food Code
- Alaska's food safety rules, found in chapter 31 of title 18 of the Alaska Administrative Code.
- 18 AAC 31.330
- The rule requiring each food worker to hold a valid food worker card within 30 days of hire.
- Food worker
- A person who handles unpackaged food, potentially hazardous food, or surfaces that touch food, such as cooks, servers and dishwashers.
- Food-contact surface
- Anything food touches during preparation or serving, such as dishes, utensils, cutting boards and counters.
- DEC
- The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, whose Food Safety and Sanitation Program issues cards outside Anchorage.
- DEC food worker test
- 20 questions drawn at random from a pool. You need 15 correct, and the card lasts 3 years.
- Test ID
- Bought to take the DEC test online and used for retakes. It expires one year after purchase.
- Anchorage food worker card
- Required by the Municipality of Anchorage. DEC facilities accept it, but Anchorage facilities do not accept a DEC card.
- CFPM certificate
- A current Certified Food Protection Manager certificate, from a longer course and exam, which replaces the need for a DEC card.
- Danger zone
- Between 41°F and 135°F. Discard potentially hazardous food left there 4 hours or more.
- Holding temperatures
- Keep cold food at 41°F or colder and hot food at 135°F or hotter, checking about every 2 hours.
- Cooling rule
- Cool food from 135°F to 70°F within 2 hours, then to 41°F within 4 more hours.
- Reheating rule
- Reheat food for hot holding to 165°F within 2 hours on a stove or in an oven, never in a steam table.
- Approved source
- A supplier approved by the state or Anchorage. Never serve home-canned food, wild game meat or sport-caught fish.
- Thermometer at elevation
- Water boils at 212°F at sea level, but about 1°F lower for every 550 feet of elevation.
- Reportable symptoms
- Vomiting, diarrhea, jaundice, a sore throat with fever or an infected cut, which you must tell your supervisor about right away.