Food Handler Study Guide (US) 2026

Why food safety matters

A foodborne illness is a sickness people get from eating or drinking food that carries harmful germs, toxins or chemicals. Most cases cause vomiting, diarrhea and stomach pain for a few days. Some cases are much worse and can send people to the hospital. As a food handler, the way you wash your hands, store food and check temperatures protects every customer you serve.

Some people get sick more easily and more seriously. The Food Code calls them a highly susceptible population (HSP): young children, older adults, pregnant women and people with weak immune systems, for example people with cancer, diabetes or AIDS. Places such as nursing homes, hospitals and child care centers serve these groups, so they follow extra rules.

Three kinds of hazards

• Biological hazards: bacteria, viruses, parasites and the toxins they make. Examples are Salmonella on raw chicken and norovirus on the hands of a sick worker.
• Chemical hazards: cleaners, sanitizers, pesticides and other chemicals that get into food. Store chemicals below and away from food.
• Physical hazards: objects such as broken glass, metal shavings, staples, bandages or fingernails.

Where the rules come from

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) publishes the Food Code, a model set of food safety rules. States, counties and cities choose whether to adopt it as their own law, and they may change parts of it. The newest edition is the 2026 Food Code. The core numbers taught in food handler courses, such as the 41°F and 135°F holding temperatures, did not change in the 2026 edition.

Your state or county decides whether you need a food handler card and how long it lasts. The last chapter of this guide lists the rules for several states that require food handler training.

Germs, TCS foods and the danger zone

Bacteria need food, moisture, warmth and time to grow. They grow fastest between 41°F and 135°F. This range is called the temperature danger zone. The longer food stays in it, the more germs it can have.

TCS foods

Some foods let germs grow quickly. The Food Code calls them TCS foods, which means they need time and temperature control for safety. TCS foods include:

• Meat, poultry, fish and shellfish
• Eggs and milk, and foods made with them
• Cooked rice, beans, potatoes and pasta
• Cut melons, cut tomatoes and cut leafy greens
• Sprouts, tofu and garlic stored in oil

Dry foods such as uncooked rice, flour and crackers are not TCS foods until water is added or they are cooked. Whole, uncut fruits and vegetables are not TCS foods either, but once you cut a melon or chop lettuce, it becomes a TCS food.

Holding temperatures

Some businesses use time as a public health control. This means they mark the time when food leaves temperature control, then serve or throw it out within 4 hours. The business must have written procedures for this.

Personal hygiene and handwashing

Hands are the most common way germs get into food. A worker can look clean and still carry germs such as norovirus or hepatitis A. Good handwashing is the single most important habit for a food handler.

Use only a sink set aside for handwashing. Never wash your hands in a food prep sink, a dish sink or a mop sink. Under the Food Code, a handwashing sink must supply water at at least 100°F.

When to wash your hands

• When you start work and when you come back from a break
• After using the restroom
• Before putting on gloves and when changing tasks
• After touching raw meat, poultry, fish or eggs
• After touching your hair, face or body, or after coughing or sneezing
• After taking out garbage, handling dirty dishes, money, your phone or chemicals
• After eating, drinking or smoking

Hand sanitizer is not a replacement for handwashing. You may use it only after you wash your hands.

No bare hands on ready-to-eat food

Ready-to-eat food, such as salads, sandwiches, bread, fruit and cooked food, will not be cooked again before it is eaten. Never touch it with bare hands. Use tongs, spoons, deli tissue or single-use gloves.

• Wash your hands before putting on gloves.
• Change gloves when they rip, get dirty, or when you change tasks, for example after handling raw meat.
• Never wash or reuse single-use gloves.
• Cover a cut on your hand with a bandage and a single-use glove.

Clothing, hair, nails and jewelry

• Wear clean clothes and an apron.
• Wear a hat, hairnet or hair covering, and a beard restraint if needed.
• Keep fingernails short and clean. Nail polish or fake nails are allowed only if you wear intact gloves.
• Do not wear jewelry on your hands and arms, except a plain ring such as a wedding band. The 2026 Food Code also allows medically necessary devices.
• Eat, drink and smoke only in a set area away from food and equipment, then wash your hands.

Illness: reporting and staying home

Sick workers can spread germs to food and to many customers. The Food Code requires food employees to tell the person in charge about certain symptoms and illnesses.

Illnesses that must be reported

If a doctor diagnoses you with one of these illnesses, tell the person in charge. They spread easily through food:

• Norovirus
• Hepatitis A virus
• Shigella
• Shiga toxin-producing E. coli
• Typhoid fever (Salmonella Typhi)
• Nontyphoidal Salmonella

Also tell the person in charge if someone you live with is diagnosed with one of these illnesses. The 2026 Food Code requires food businesses to keep a written employee illness policy and written steps for cleaning up vomit and diarrhea. Kitchen sanitizer does not work well against norovirus, so cleanups use a disinfectant that does.

Cross-contamination and allergens

Cross-contamination is when germs move from one food or surface to another. It often happens when raw meat, its juices, or the tools used with it touch food that is ready to eat.

• Use separate cutting boards and utensils for raw meat and for ready-to-eat food, or wash, rinse and sanitize them between uses.
• Prepare raw meat and ready-to-eat food at different times or in different areas.
• Store raw meat below ready-to-eat food.
• Clean and sanitize thermometers before and after each use.

Storing food in the refrigerator

Store ready-to-eat food on top. Below that, store raw foods in order of their cooking temperature, so the food that needs the highest cooking temperature is on the bottom.

The nine major food allergens

A food allergy happens when the body reacts to a food protein as if it were harmful. A severe reaction can make it hard to breathe and can kill. The United States has nine major food allergens:

• Milk
• Eggs
• Fish
• Crustacean shellfish (such as shrimp, crab and lobster)
• Tree nuts
• Peanuts
• Wheat
• Soybeans
• Sesame (added in 2023)

Cross-contact is when an allergen gets into food that should not have it, for example from shared gloves, knives, cutting boards or fryer oil. To prevent it, wash your hands, change gloves, and use clean and sanitized tools for an allergy order.

• Never guess about ingredients. Ask the chef or manager and check labels.
• Tell the kitchen about every allergy a customer reports.
• If a customer has trouble breathing or swelling after eating, call 911 right away.

Receiving and storing food

Food must come from an approved source, a supplier that follows food safety laws. Food made in a private home kitchen is not allowed unless your local law has a special rule for it.

Checking deliveries

Storage rules

• Store food at least 6 inches above the floor.
• Use FIFO (first in, first out): put new stock behind older stock so the older food is used first.
• Keep food covered and labeled.
• Store chemicals below and away from food, in labeled containers. Never put chemicals in food containers or reuse chemical containers for food.

Date marking

Ready-to-eat TCS food that is made in house, or opened from a package, and kept cold for more than 24 hours must be labeled with a date. It can be kept for up to 7 days at 41°F or colder. The day it was made or opened counts as day 1. For example, food made on Monday must be used or thrown out by the end of Sunday.

Cooking temperatures and thermometers

Cooking to the right internal temperature kills germs. You cannot tell if food is done by its color. Always use a food thermometer.

When cooking in a microwave, cover the food, rotate or stir it during cooking, and let it stand for 2 minutes so the heat spreads evenly.

If a customer orders raw or undercooked meat, eggs or seafood, the menu must have a consumer advisory that warns of the risk. Do not serve raw or undercooked animal foods, raw sprouts or unpasteurized juice or milk to a highly susceptible population. Fish served raw, such as in sushi, must first be frozen to kill parasites, for example at -4°F or colder for 7 days.

Using a probe thermometer

• Clean and sanitize the probe before and after each use.
• Check accuracy with the ice-point method: in a cup of crushed ice and water, the thermometer should read 32°F.
• Food thermometers scaled in Fahrenheit must be accurate to within 2°F.

Cooling, reheating and thawing

Two-stage cooling

Cooked food must pass through the danger zone quickly as it cools. The Food Code uses two stages.

Food made from room-temperature ingredients, such as tuna salad made with canned tuna, must reach 41°F within 4 hours.

• Divide large amounts into shallow pans. Many health departments advise pans no more than 2 inches deep.
• Use an ice bath, an ice paddle, or a blast chiller.
• Cut large roasts into smaller pieces.
• Leave pans loosely covered or uncovered while cooling, and do not stack them.
• Never cool food on the counter at room temperature.
• Ice used to cool food or containers must not be used as food or in drinks.

Reheating

Cooked and cooled food that will be held hot must be reheated to 165°F for 15 seconds within 2 hours. Use a stove, oven or microwave. Steam tables, slow cookers and food warmers heat too slowly for reheating. Ready-to-eat food from a sealed commercial package, such as canned chili, only needs to reach 135°F.

Thawing

Never thaw food on the counter. The outside warms into the danger zone while the inside is still frozen. Safe ways to thaw food:

1. In the refrigerator, at 41°F or colder. This is the best way, but plan ahead.
2. Fully under cold running water at 70°F or colder, in a food prep sink.
3. In a microwave, if the food is cooked right away.
4. As part of cooking, for example frozen burgers cooked on the grill.

Cleaning, sanitizing, pests and chemicals

Cleaning removes food, dirt and grease with soap and water. Sanitizing reduces germs to safe levels with heat or an approved chemical. A surface must be clean before it can be sanitized.

1. Scrape and wash with hot soapy water.
2. Rinse with clean water.
3. Sanitize with an approved sanitizer or hot water.
4. Let it air-dry. Do not dry with towels.

The three-compartment sink

In a three-compartment sink, the first compartment is for washing, the second for rinsing and the third for sanitizing. If you sanitize with hot water instead of a chemical, the Food Code requires water of at least 171°F, with items under water for at least 30 seconds.

Using sanitizer

• Common approved sanitizers are chlorine bleach, quaternary ammonium (quat) and iodine.
• Measure carefully and check the strength with test strips.
• Do not add soap to sanitizer.
• Store wet wiping cloths in sanitizer between uses.
• Change sanitizer when it is dirty, cloudy or too weak.
• Clean and sanitize food-contact surfaces in constant use at least every 4 hours.

Pests

Cockroaches, flies and rodents carry germs. Signs of pests include droppings, gnaw marks, nests and dead insects. Report any signs to the person in charge.

• Keep doors and windows closed or screened, and seal holes and cracks.
• Keep food covered and the kitchen clean.
• Use garbage cans with tight-fitting lids, and keep garbage areas clean.
• Use a licensed pest control professional. Never use home-style pesticides.

Emergencies

Power outages, loss of water, sewage backups, fires and floods are emergencies. The person in charge should contact the health department. Food that has been contaminated, or that has warmed above 41°F or cooled below 135°F for too long, may need to be thrown out. When in doubt, throw it out.

The person in charge and food protection managers

A person in charge must be present during all hours of operation. This person makes sure staff follow food safety rules, keeps sick workers away from food and answers questions.

The Food Code also requires at least one employee with supervisory and management responsibility to be a certified food protection manager. A food protection manager certificate is a higher-level qualification than a food handler card.

Active managerial control means managers take charge of food safety. They write procedures, train staff, and check that steps such as temperature logs, handwashing and glove use are followed. The 2026 Food Code also added training on food defense, which means protecting food from being contaminated on purpose.

Food handler card rules in selected states

There is no single national food handler card. Each state, and sometimes each county, sets its own rules. The table below summarizes the rules in states covered by our practice tests. Always confirm with your local health department.

Tips for your food handler test

• Know the key numbers: 41°F, 135°F, 165°F, 155°F, 145°F, 2 hours, 4 hours, 6 hours, 7 days and 20 seconds.
• Read each question for words like "first," "minimum" and "best." They change which answer is right.
• When two answers look safe, choose the one that follows the Food Code most closely.
• Remember who to tell: report illness and problems to the person in charge.
• Use the practice tests to find weak topics, then reread those chapters.

Your real test is given by your state, county or an approved training provider. Their course materials and pass mark are the final word.