A certified food protection manager is the person in a restaurant or food business who knows and enforces food safety rules. This guide explains who needs the certification, which exams count, how they’re scored and how to prepare.

Who needs it

Under the 2017 and 2022 FDA Food Code, the person in charge, who must be on site during all hours of operation, must be a certified food protection manager. Many states still follow older versions that require at least one certified manager or supervisor per establishment, and low-risk operations may be exempt. Your local health department has the final say, so check its rules.

Which exam to take

Any ANSI-accredited food protection manager exam counts, including:

• ServSafe Manager
• NRFSP (National Registry of Food Safety Professionals)
• Prometric
• 360training (Learn2Serve)

They all test the same food safety knowledge, based on the FDA Food Code.

The format

Most accredited exams have 80 to 90 multiple-choice questions, some of them unscored pilot questions, are taken with a proctor in person or online, and allow about 2 hours.

Exam	Questions	To pass
ServSafe Manager	90 (80 scored)	70%
NRFSP	85 (80 scored)	Scaled score of 75

How long it lasts

Usually 5 years, depending on the exam provider and your local health department. Some cities require renewal sooner.

How hard is the food manager exam?

The concepts are practical, but the exam tests exact numbers: cooking temperatures for each food, the cooling time limits, hot- and cold-holding temperatures and the temperature danger zone. Those numbers are where most points are lost, along with questions about which foodborne illnesses come from which sources.

How to study

Learn the numbers first. Make a sheet of minimum internal cooking temperatures, cooling times, holding temperatures and storage order, and review it every day.

If you have one week: spend the first days on temperatures and time controls, then personal hygiene and cleaning and sanitizing, and finish with full practice exams.

If you have two weeks: go through one topic area a day (contamination, hygiene, receiving and storage, preparation and cooking, cleaning and pests, and regulations), then take timed practice exams and review every miss.

Start with free practice on the home page.