A hamburger patty for a loco moco is cooked to order. What must it reach?Answer: 155°F for 17 seconds. Source: Haw. Admin. Rules § 11-50-33(a)(1)(B)
A mahimahi fillet is cooked to order. What must it reach?Answer: 145°F for 15 seconds. Source: Haw. Admin. Rules § 11-50-33(a)(1)(A)
A pan of kalua pork sits on a buffet line. What is the lowest temperature it may be held at?Answer: 135°F. Source: Haw. Admin. Rules § 11-50-34(f)(1)
A pot of chicken long rice is cooling from 135°F. What must it reach within the first two hours?Answer: 70°F. Source: Haw. Admin. Rules § 11-50-34(d)(1)
A rare beef steak may be served if it is whole-muscle and intact. What must its top and bottom surfaces reach?Answer: 145°F. Source: Haw. Admin. Rules § 11-50-33(a)(3)
A tray of ahi poke is displayed for sale. What is the warmest it may be held?Answer: 41°F. Source: Haw. Admin. Rules § 11-50-34(f)(1)
Macaroni salad is made in the kitchen on Monday and date marked. Which day is Day 1?Answer: Monday, the day of preparation. Source: Haw. Admin. Rules § 11-50-34(g)(1)
Show all 75 questions (68 more)
Cooking, cooling and holding, continued
Steamed vegetables are cooked to be held hot on a plate lunch line. What must they be cooked to?Answer: 135°F. Source: Haw. Admin. Rules § 11-50-33(c)
Tuna salad is mixed from canned tuna at room temperature. How long does it have to cool to 41°F?Answer: 4 hours. Source: Haw. Admin. Rules § 11-50-34(d)(2)
Under the four-hour rule for time as a public health control, food taken from hot holding must start at what temperature?Answer: 135°F or greater. Source: Haw. Admin. Rules § 11-50-34(i)(2)
Under the six-hour rule for time as a public health control, the food is discarded if it rises above what temperature?Answer: 70°F. Source: Haw. Admin. Rules § 11-50-34(i)(3)
What must ice used as a food or a cooling medium be made from?Answer: Drinking water. Source: Haw. Admin. Rules § 11-50-31(m)
What temperature must all parts of chicken thighs reach when cooked?Answer: 165°F. Source: Haw. Admin. Rules § 11-50-33(a)(1)(C)
Handwashing and hygiene 10
A cook feeds the fish in the dining room aquarium. What comes before going back to food?Answer: Washing the hands. Source: Haw. Admin. Rules § 11-50-22(c)(3)
A cook wants water within reach at the wok station. What does the code allow there?Answer: A closed beverage container, handled so nothing is contaminated. Source: Haw. Admin. Rules § 11-50-23(a)(2)
A friend of the cook wants to stand in the prep area during service. What does HAR 11-50-20 say?Answer: Persons unnecessary to the operation are not allowed there. Source: Haw. Admin. Rules § 11-50-20(d)(2)
A hostess seats guests and never touches open food. Must she wear a hair restraint?Answer: No, if she presents a minimal risk of contamination. Source: Haw. Admin. Rules § 11-50-23(d)(2)
Hands are clean and the faucet has a manual handle. What may the employee use to turn it off?Answer: A disposable paper towel or similar clean barrier. Source: Haw. Admin. Rules § 11-50-22(b)(3)
Hawaii's 2025 amendments added a rule on bandages and finger cots worn at work. What must cover them?Answer: A single-use glove. Source: Haw. Admin. Rules § 11-50-23(c)
How long does the whole hand cleaning procedure last at a minimum under HAR 11-50-22?Answer: At least 20 seconds. Source: Haw. Admin. Rules § 11-50-22(b)(1)
May a cook with painted fingernails work with exposed food?Answer: Only while wearing intact gloves in good repair. Source: Haw. Admin. Rules § 11-50-22(f)(2)
May a Hawaii food employee wear a medical alert bracelet while preparing food?Answer: No. Only a plain ring such as a wedding band is allowed. Source: Haw. Admin. Rules § 11-50-22(g)
The mop sink is the nearest sink to a cook's station. May the cook wash hands there?Answer: No. Hands are washed in a handwashing sink. Source: Haw. Admin. Rules § 11-50-22(d)
Employee illness 8
A cook at a Honolulu lunch counter has been vomiting. What must the person in charge do?Answer: Exclude the cook from the establishment. Source: Haw. Admin. Rules § 11-50-21(b)(1)
A cook in a care home kitchen, which serves a highly susceptible population, has a sore throat with fever. What follows?Answer: The cook is excluded. Source: Haw. Admin. Rules § 11-50-21(b)(8)
A dishwasher notices yellowing of the eyes and skin. What does HAR 11-50-21 expect?Answer: A report of the jaundice to the person in charge. Source: Haw. Admin. Rules § 11-50-21(a)(1)
A food employee is diagnosed with nontyphoidal Salmonella. Whom must the person in charge notify?Answer: The regulatory authority. Source: Haw. Admin. Rules § 11-50-21(a)(2)
A poke counter worker has a runny nose that will not stop. Which work is ruled out?Answer: Working with exposed food or clean utensils. Source: Haw. Admin. Rules § 11-50-23(b)
An employee was excluded for diarrhea and has no diagnosis. How long must the employee be free of symptoms before returning?Answer: At least 24 hours. Source: Haw. Admin. Rules § 11-50-21(c)(1)
Which diagnosed illness is on the code's list a food employee must report?Answer: Hepatitis A virus. Source: Haw. Admin. Rules § 11-50-21(a)(1)
Whose job is it to make sure employees know they must report illness?Answer: The person in charge's. Source: Haw. Admin. Rules § 11-50-20(d)(16)
Protecting food 11
A bakery case holds unwrapped pastries made with milk, egg and wheat. How must customers learn of the allergens?Answer: By written notification. Source: Haw. Admin. Rules § 11-50-35(c)(3)
A care home serves a highly susceptible population. When may it serve a resident raw fish?Answer: With a department waiver and a department form signed by the person asking. Source: Haw. Admin. Rules § 11-50-37(4)
A cook dips a spoon to taste the stew, then wants a second taste. What may the cook not do?Answer: Use the same spoon again. Source: Haw. Admin. Rules § 11-50-32(b)
A cook in single-use gloves is interrupted mid-task to answer the phone. What happens to the gloves?Answer: They are discarded. Source: Haw. Admin. Rules § 11-50-32(n)
A guest goes back to the buffet for a second helping. What must the guest be told to use?Answer: Clean tableware. Source: Haw. Admin. Rules § 11-50-20(d)(13)
A papaya is to be halved for a breakfast plate. What comes first?Answer: Washing it in water. Source: Haw. Admin. Rules § 11-50-32(g)
Extra cases of canned juice do not fit in the storeroom. Which place does the code rule out?Answer: A toilet room. Source: Haw. Admin. Rules § 11-50-32(r)
Ice was packed around bottles to chill them. May the same ice then go into drinks?Answer: No. Ice used as an exterior coolant may not be used as food. Source: Haw. Admin. Rules § 11-50-32(h)
Raw ahi cut for poke is a raw ready-to-eat food. What must be kept apart from it in storage?Answer: Raw animal foods such as raw chicken. Source: Haw. Admin. Rules § 11-50-32(c)
What must the owner obtain before employees may touch ready-to-eat food with bare hands?Answer: Prior approval from the department. Source: Haw. Admin. Rules § 11-50-32(a)(5)
Which working container needs no label with the food's common name?Answer: One holding dry pasta. Source: Haw. Admin. Rules § 11-50-32(d)
Cleaning and sanitizing 8
A counter worker wipes the shave ice counter with a damp cloth. Where does the cloth go until it is needed again?Answer: In a chemical sanitizer solution. Source: Haw. Admin. Rules § 11-50-32(m)
A cutting board has been washed and rinsed. What is still owed before it is used?Answer: Sanitizing. Source: Haw. Admin. Rules § 11-50-51(b)
A rice scoop and a slicer are used with temperature-controlled food all day. How often must they be cleaned at least?Answer: Every four hours. Source: Haw. Admin. Rules § 11-50-50
A small kitchen sanitizes knives by dipping them in hot water in the third sink bay. How hot must the water stay?Answer: 171°F or above. Source: Haw. Admin. Rules § 11-50-49
Degreaser is poured from a bulk jug into a spray bottle. What must the bottle be marked with?Answer: The common name of the material. Source: Haw. Admin. Rules § 11-50-80(b)
How does a kitchen know its sanitizer solution is the right strength?Answer: By using a test kit or other device. Source: Haw. Admin. Rules § 11-50-49
Sanitized bento trays come off the drainboard. What dries them?Answer: They are air-dried. Source: Haw. Admin. Rules § 11-50-53
Which written plan did the August 2025 amendments begin to require of Hawaii food establishments?Answer: A vomiting and diarrhea clean-up plan. Source: Hawaii Department of Health, Highlights of Approved Amendments to HAR 11-50, August 24, 2025
Hawaii's certification, placards and homemade food 25
The 2022 FDA model code wants every person in charge to be a Certified Food Protection Manager. Did Hawaii adopt that?Answer: No. The branch is not adopting it at this time. Source: Hawaii Department of Health, Highlights of Approved Amendments to HAR 11-50, August 24, 2025
A Hawaii restaurant opens at 6 a.m. and closes at 10 p.m. For which of those hours must a person in charge be on site?Answer: During all hours of operation. Source: Haw. Admin. Rules § 11-50-20(a)
A home kitchen sells salsa made with cut tomatoes as a homemade food product. How must it be kept?Answer: Refrigerated at or below 41°F. Source: Haw. Admin. Rules § 11-50-2
A pickled or fermented plant food can count as a homemade food product by its pH. What is the highest pH allowed?Answer: 4.2. Source: Haw. Admin. Rules § 11-50-2
An inspection finds one critical violation, and it is corrected on the spot. Which placard is posted?Answer: Green. Source: Haw. Admin. Rules § 11-50-9(d)(1)
An inspection finds two critical violations that still need corrective action. Which placard is posted?Answer: Yellow. Source: Haw. Admin. Rules § 11-50-9(d)(2)
An operator hides the placard behind a plant. What may follow?Answer: Immediate suspension of the permit. Source: Haw. Admin. Rules § 11-50-9(b)
Besides the department's own workshops, which courses meet Hawaii's food handler certification requirement?Answer: ANSI accredited food handler courses. Source: Hawaii Department of Health, Food Safety Branch, Food Safety Education page
How does a person in charge demonstrate knowledge of basic food safety under HAR 11-50-20?Answer: By successfully completing an approved food safety course. Source: Haw. Admin. Rules § 11-50-20(c)(1)
How does a pet dog get to an outdoor dining area where pet dogs are allowed?Answer: Through a separate entrance, not through the establishment. Source: Haw. Admin. Rules § 11-50-74
How long is the Hawaii Department of Health's food handler certification valid?Answer: 3 years. Source: Hawaii Department of Health, Food Safety Branch, Food Safety Education page
Since when has Hawaii's Food Handlers Education certification requirement been in effect?Answer: September 2018. Source: Hawaii Department of Health, Food Safety Branch, Food Safety Education page
To whom may hand-pounded poi made under the exemption be distributed?Answer: Only directly to the consumer. Source: Haw. Admin. Rules § 11-50-3(c)(5)
Under HAR 11-50-2, hand-pounded poi is made by pounding what?Answer: Cooked taro. Source: Haw. Admin. Rules § 11-50-2
What does a red placard on a Hawaii food establishment mean?Answer: An immediate danger to public health; the establishment is closed. Source: Haw. Admin. Rules § 11-50-9(d)(3)
What does Hawaii's Food Handlers Education mandate require of every food establishment?Answer: At least one certified employee present during operating hours. Source: Hawaii Department of Health, Food Safety Branch, Food Safety Education page
What does the Hawaii Department of Health charge for its food handler level Food Safety Class?Answer: No charge. Source: Hawaii Department of Health, Food Safety Branch, Food Safety Education page
What must a person who makes only homemade food products obtain?Answer: Food safety certification under 11-50-20(c). Source: Haw. Admin. Rules § 11-50-3(c)(1)
Which FDA model Food Code does Hawaii's chapter follow since August 24, 2025?Answer: The 2022 model. Source: Hawaii Department of Health, Highlights of Approved Amendments to HAR 11-50, August 24, 2025
Which food joined Hawaii's major food allergens as the ninth on the list?Answer: Sesame. Source: Hawaii Department of Health, Highlights of Approved Amendments to HAR 11-50, August 24, 2025
Which of these can never be a homemade food product under HAR 11-50-2?Answer: Dried fish. Source: Haw. Admin. Rules § 11-50-2
Which of these findings may bring a red placard?Answer: Sewage overflow or flooding within the establishment. Source: Haw. Admin. Rules § 11-50-9(d)(3)
Which of these is on the code's list of critical violations?Answer: Re-service of returned food. Source: Haw. Admin. Rules § 11-50-9(e)
Which statement must a homemade food product label carry?Answer: "Made in a home kitchen not routinely inspected by the Department of Health". Source: Haw. Admin. Rules § 11-50-35(c)(4)
Who is the "person in charge" under Hawaii's definitions?Answer: The individual present who is responsible for the operation at the time of inspection. Source: Haw. Admin. Rules § 11-50-2
How this list was compiled: Hawaii Administrative Rules, Title 11, Chapter 50, Food Safety Code, as amended and compiled effective August 24, 2025, in the searchable copy the Hawaii Department of Health's Food Safety Branch posts (https://health.hawaii.gov/san/files/2025/09/HAR-11-50-2025-searchable.pdf); the branch's Food Safety Education page (https://health.hawaii.gov/san/food-safety-education/); and its Highlights of Approved Amendments of August 24, 2025 (https://health.hawaii.gov/san/files/2025/09/Food-Code-Changes-08242025-1.pdf). All read on October 13, 2026. Each question names the section it was written from. Licence: Own work. Every question, every wrong choice and every explanation was written for this site from the section it cites. Short phrases are quoted from the Hawaii Administrative Rules and the Department of Health's pages, which are public. Nothing is taken from the department's food safety class, any training course or any other practice test.
How it works
This unofficial Hawaii food handlers test practice asks 75 questions on the Hawaii Food Safety Code, Title 11, Chapter 50, as amended August 24, 2025, each answer naming its source. Not affiliated with the Hawaii Department of Health.
Read the full guide
Who needs food handler training in Hawaii
Since September 2018 every food establishment needs at least one employee with food handler level certification present during operating hours. The Department of Health's Food Safety Branch teaches a class at no charge and accepts ANSI accredited courses. Its education page gives no question count or pass mark, so this page states none.
What only Hawaii's code says
Hawaii writes its code out in full, so the answers cite Hawaii's own sections. Fifty ask a food employee's daily work; 25 ask what is Hawaii's own: the green, yellow and red placards, homemade food and hand-pounded poi, and the 2025 amendments on sesame, clean-up plans and gloves over bandages.
Ground meat cooks to 155°F for 17 seconds; hot food holds at 135°F or above and cold food at 41°F or less.
Homemade pickled or fermented plant foods qualify at a pH of 4.2 or less; salsa with cut tomatoes stays at 41°F or below.
Questions and answers
Do you need a food handlers card in Hawaii?
Not every employee: one certified employee on site meets the mandate. HAR 11-50-20 also asks the person in charge to complete a food safety course of the department or a program it approves.
How long is Hawaii food handler certification good for?
Three years from the date the class is successfully completed, according to the Department of Health's Food Safety Education page.
Is this the real Hawaii food handlers test?
No. These are our own questions from the public text of the code and the Food Safety Branch's pages. None comes from the department's class or any course, and a score here earns no certification.
What do the green, yellow and red placards mean in Hawaii?
Green: no more than one critical violation, corrected during the inspection. Yellow: one uncorrected or two or more critical violations, with a follow-up possible within two business days. Red: an immediate danger to public health, and the permit is suspended.