Self-check
The ten-minute self-check
Thirty questions across the ten practices the FDA observes in its national retail food study. Walk your kitchen with this open and answer honestly — the only person reading the result is you.
01 Employee handwashing
The most-cited practice in the country.
02 Bare hand contact with ready-to-eat food
Anything that will not be cooked again.
03 Cross contamination
Storage order, and everything that touches two things.
04 Cleaning and sanitizing food contact surfaces
Concentration and contact time, not effort.
05 Cold holding
Measured, not assumed.
06 Hot holding
Holding equipment is not cooking equipment.
07 Cooling
The violation most kitchens do not see coming.
08 Date marking
Obvious to the next person who opens the door.
09 Cooking raw animal foods
By item, by probe, at service.
10 Reheating
Different rule from cooking, and often missed.
Nothing confirmed yet Work down the list. Weighted items — the ones marked high weight — are the practices most often tied to illness, so they count for more than the rest.
What to do with a low result
A weak first pass is normal and it is not a verdict. What matters is which items are open.
Close the high-weight items first
Handwashing, cold and hot holding, cooling, cooking, reheating, raw storage order and sanitizer strength. These are the ones tied to illness and to escalating citations.
Make one person accountable per factor
Ten factors, named owners, checked at open and close. Systems survive turnover; reminders do not.
Read your last three reports
Find the repeats. A violation cited three times is treated very differently from a first observation. Find your record.
Closed out a bad report the hard way?
That is exactly what our recognition program is looking for. Nominations for the inaugural class are open through 31 December 2026.