Certified Professional Food Safety (CP-FS) Practice Exam

Which of the following illnesses does NOT require exclusion from food service workers?

1. Hepatitis A

2. Shigella spp.

3. Common flu

4. Norovirus

The correct answer is: Common flu

Excluding food service workers from the workplace is a crucial practice to prevent the spread of communicable diseases. The common flu, while contagious and capable of affecting employees' ability to work, does not pose the same level of risk to food safety as the other illnesses listed. Hepatitis A, Shigella spp., and Norovirus are all significant foodborne pathogens that can be transmitted through food handling, and they require strict exclusion from food service environments to protect public health. Workers diagnosed with these illnesses can spread them to others through improper hygiene or food handling practices. In contrast, while the common flu can make a worker ill, it is generally more of a respiratory illness rather than a gastrointestinal disease, and its primary mode of transmission is through respiratory droplets rather than food. Therefore, the common flu does not necessitate the same level of exclusion to ensure food safety.