Imminent Health Hazard and Ceasing Operations

An imminent health hazard is a condition that makes food unsafe at the level of the whole operation. The duty is to stop serving, not to work around it.

Key points:

Examples include a broken water main, a sewage backup, a fire, a power outage of unknown length, and a pest infestation.
Stop operations, notify the regulatory authority, and reopen only after the hazard is corrected.
Do not sell food exposed to the hazard just because it looks normal.
Document what happened, when it happened, and what was discarded.

Every one of these points maps back to a specific Food Code provision, which is why the exam can test it in more than one domain.

Free practice bank: FoodSafe Prep.