Salad Bars

A salad bar is a cold self-service line with its own threats: bare-hand contact, cross-contact between allergens, and temperature drift.

Key points:

• Hold every item at 41 F or below and check with a calibrated probe.

• Use tongs and scoops. Self-service is never bare-handed.

• Keep raw and ready-to-eat items separated, with separate utensils for allergen-bearing items.

• Discard any item that sat above 41 F for four hours or more.

Managers get these items wrong when they answer from habit instead of from the rule. Read the number, then connect it to the task.

Free practice bank: FoodSafe Prep.

Related: ServSafe Manager practice test.