You may use your bare hands to contact foods when which condition applies?

• A. The food will be added to a dish containing raw meat, seafood, or poultry and it will be cooked to the required minimum temperatures of the raw items
• B. The food will be added to a dish containing raw meat, seafood, or poultry and it will be cooked to at least 145 degrees F
• C. The food will be added to a dish containing raw meat, seafood, or poultry and it will be cooked to a higher temperature than 165 F
• D. The food will be kept raw and served without cooking

Answer: (A)

The main idea here is that bare-hand contact with food is allowed only when the final cooking step will achieve a safe internal temperature for all raw ingredients involved. If you’re adding food to a dish that already contains raw meat, seafood, or poultry, you may touch it with your bare hands as long as the entire dish will be cooked to at least the minimum safe temperatures required for those raw items. This ensures any potential pathogens in the raw ingredients are killed during cooking.

Sticking to this rule, the option that matches is the one where the dish will be cooked to the required minimum temperatures for the raw items. Saying it will be cooked to just 145°F is not universally correct because some raw items (like poultry) require higher temperatures, and “higher than 165°F” is unnecessary because meeting the minimum for all items is enough. Serving something raw would not be allowed and would not involve proper cooking.