Question 1
What is the minimum internal cooking temperature for a hamburger patty made from ground beef?
Food manager exam questions
The accredited food protection manager exams test the FDA Food Code as a manager uses it: temperatures and times, illness rules, allergens, cleaning, the building and emergencies. Most questions describe a situation and ask what the manager should do.
| Areas | 9, in one accredited exam's blueprint |
|---|---|
| Largest area | Preparing foods, 16 of 80 items |
| Question type | Multiple choice, one correct answer |
| Rulebook | The FDA Food Code |
What the questions cover
The National Registry of Food Safety Professionals publishes its manager examination blueprint, effective 22 December 2025. It splits 80 items across nine areas:
- Implementing Active Managerial Control: 10 items (12.5%)
- Managing Personnel: 9 items (11.25%)
- Addressing Allergen Issues: 8 items (10%)
- Purchasing, Receiving and Storing Practices: 5 items (6.25%)
- Preparing Foods: 16 items (20%)
- Serving Foods: 8 items (10%)
- Cleaning and Sanitizing: 7 items (8.75%)
- Managing Establishment Facilities: 12 items (15%)
- Responding to Crises: 5 items (6.25%)
What a question looks like
A question gives a short situation, such as a delivery arriving at 46°F or a cook calling in with diarrhea, and four choices. One follows the Food Code; the others are common mistakes. Numbers matter: cooking, holding, cooling and reheating temperatures, times and days come up again and again.
The numbers worth knowing first
- Cook poultry and stuffed foods to 165°F, ground meat to 155°F for 17 seconds, steaks, chops and fish to 145°F for 15 seconds.
- Hold hot food at 135°F or above and cold food at 41°F or below.
- Cool from 135°F to 70°F within 2 hours, and to 41°F within 6 hours in total.
- Reheat food for hot holding to 165°F for 15 seconds within 2 hours.
- Date mark ready-to-eat food held over 24 hours for at most 7 days, counting the day it was made as Day 1.
Try 5 questions
Question 2
A cook has a sore throat and a fever. The restaurant does not serve a highly susceptible population. What should the manager do?
Question 3
Under time as a public health control, sandwiches are taken out of the cooler at 11:00 a.m. What time must they be marked with?
Question 4
In a three-compartment sink, what is the correct order of steps?
Question 5
Under the Food Code, how large must an air gap be?
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Questions people ask
What kind of questions are on the food manager exam?
Multiple-choice questions on the FDA Food Code as a manager applies it, in nine areas from managerial control to responding to crises, in one accredited exam's blueprint.
Which topic has the most questions?
Preparing foods: 16 of the 80 blueprint items (20%), covering cooking, cooling, reheating, thawing, date marking and cross-contamination.
Are the questions based on the FDA Food Code?
Yes. The National Registry examinee handbook names the FDA 2022 Food Code as a reference. FDA has since published a 2026 edition; the main temperatures and times are the same.