ServSafe Manager Certification Exam

ServSafe's course page lists the Manager topics as the importance of food safety, good personal hygiene, time and temperature control, preventing cross-contamination, cleaning and sanitizing, safe food preparation, receiving and storing food, thawing, cooking, cooling and reheating, HACCP, and food safety regulations. Responsible alcohol service is not on this exam; it is ServSafe's separate Alcohol program.

The figures the exam tests

The exam follows the FDA Food Code, and its exact figures are the part to memorise. The Food Code sets the temperature danger zone at 41°F to 135°F, holds hot TCS food at 135°F or higher and cold TCS food at 41°F or lower, and allows at most four hours when time rather than temperature is the control. It requires poultry and stuffed items to reach 165°F for one second and ground meat 155°F for 17 seconds, and it cools cooked TCS food from 135°F to 70°F within two hours, then to 41°F within four more. Handwashing takes at least 20 seconds with soap and warm running water at a designated sink, and food handlers with vomiting, diarrhea or jaundice are excluded from working with food.

The nine major food allergens the exam expects you to name are milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soy and sesame.

Who can take it

ServSafe sells the exam on its own, without the course, so training is optional: you can buy the $99.00 online-proctored exam or the $99.00 testing-center exam and sit it directly.

ServSafe sells the Manager exam four ways, and the price depends on who supervises it. These are the list prices on ServSafe's own product pages, checked September 27, 2026:

The $38.99 code is the lowest price on the list but not the lowest cost of sitting the exam, because the proctor is paid separately. If you will test from home, $99.00 is the whole bill. The exam is sold on its own, so the $179.00 bundle only makes sense if you want ServSafe's course as well. Which certifications count is set by each jurisdiction, and ServSafe's product pages flag that. Texas is one that states it outright: the Department of State Health Services says ServSafe certificates meet the training and testing requirements of the Texas Health and Safety Code, Chapter 438.

What a retake costs

ServSafe's retest policy requires a new purchase for every attempt: a new Exam Access Code to retake an online exam, or a new Exam Answer Sheet for a print exam. A second online-proctored attempt is therefore another $99.00. ServSafe also charges a rescheduling fee when you cancel within 24 hours of the scheduled session.

According to ServSafe's examinee handbook and product pages, the ServSafe Manager Certification Exam has 90 questions: 80 scored questions and 10 pilot questions that are used for exam development and do not affect your score. ServSafe allows 120 minutes. The exam is available in person, administered by a registered ServSafe Instructor/Proctor or at a Pearson VUE testing center, and online through ProctorU, the only web-based provider approved by ServSafe and the ANSI National Accreditation Board (ANAB). ServSafe's product pages list English, Spanish, Chinese-Simplified and French Canadian versions.

How many questions you need right

ServSafe's FAQ sets the pass mark at 70% or higher, which it defines as at least 56 of the 80 scored questions correct. The pilot questions are not marked on the exam, so answer all 90 as though they count. Older material still says 75 percent: the FAQ's own web address and ServSafe's 2020 examinee handbook both do, but the FAQ answer, which states the current rule, says 70 percent.

Taking the exam online

ServSafe's online proctoring FAQ says the proctors are supplied by ProctorU, not by ServSafe. You need a desktop or laptop computer (PC or Mac) with a web camera, a microphone and a strong internet connection; Chromebooks, tablets and phones are not supported. You test alone in a private room with your face in the camera's view the whole time, and no food or drink. Books, notes, websites and calculators are not allowed, so the online exam is not open book. Log in to ProctorU at least 20 minutes before your appointment with a valid government-issued photo ID. Online results are usually available almost immediately after you submit; ServSafe says the certificate itself can take up to 24 hours to appear.

If you do not pass

ServSafe's retest policy allows two attempts within 30 days. If you do not pass the second attempt, you must wait 60 days from your most recent attempt before testing again, and no more than four attempts are allowed in any 12-month period. Each retake is a new purchase.