Deficiency in Food Temperature and Palatability
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to ensure that food and drink were palatable, attractive, and served at a safe and appetizing temperature for residents across multiple units. During the survey, it was observed that food items were served at suboptimal temperatures, with hot foods often being lukewarm or cold, and cold foods being warmer than recommended. The facility's policy required hot foods to be maintained between 140-160 degrees Fahrenheit and cold foods below 41 degrees Fahrenheit, but these standards were not met during meal service. Residents expressed dissatisfaction with the quality and temperature of their meals during Resident Council Meetings and interviews. They reported that food was often served cold, lacked flavor, and did not include requested condiments. Specific complaints included cold coffee, bland Salisbury steak, and warm milk. Residents also noted that the menu did not always match what was served, and there were frequent omissions of items like condiments. Staff interviews revealed awareness of the issues, with some attributing the problems to the plate warmer used on the tray line. The Registered Dietician and Assistant Director of Dining Services acknowledged that food temperatures were not within the safe range and that the milk should be kept colder. Despite these acknowledgments, the facility did not take adequate steps to address the deficiencies, resulting in continued resident dissatisfaction and potential health risks due to improper food handling.
Plan Of Correction
Plan of Correction: Approved February 20, 2025 What corrective action(s) will be accomplished for those residents found to have been affected by the deficient practice? Resident #53, #68, #94, #97, #131 were the impacted residents – two residents discharged (#131 & #53). The remaining 3 residents will have the director of dining services interview each of them related to the deficient practice. The director will continue to work with each of these residents to maintain their satisfaction. How you will identify other residents having the potential to be affected by the same deficient practice and what corrective action will be taken? All residents have the potential to be impacted by the same deficient practice. The director/designee will work with all residents. The director of social work/designee will interview all residents to determine satisfaction with their meals. The results of these interviews will be tracked and issues alerted to the dining services director/designee. What measures will be put in place or what systemic changes you will make to ensure that the deficient practice does not recur? The Director of Dining will provide in-service training to all dietary staff, no later than 2/28/25, to include appropriate food temperature requirements and holding time, the palatability of food, and appetizing meals. The director of dining services/designee will in-service the cooks on following the recipe, to ensure foods are prepared according to the appropriate method, ensuring taste and nutritional value. The director of dining services will educate the dietary staff on methods to keep cold food appropriately below 41 degrees, through the use of refrigeration/freezers/or ice. In order to maintain proper hot food temperatures (between 140 and 160), the team will use the newly purchased “hot plate warmer” and maintain food temperatures of hot items in the oven or steam-well. The use of the plate warmer will help to maintain proper hot food temperatures. The dietary staff will be pouring hot beverages just prior to meal service at each meal to ensure proper coffee/tea temperatures. The internal temperature of the coffee machine will be increased to improve temperatures at the time of service. The director of dining services/designee will monitor temperatures when food is ready to serve and at the end of service for resident meals. This will include hot and cold temperature checks to ensure both safe and palatable temperatures are maintained. Appropriate action will be taken if the food is not to proper temperatures – warmed up for cold food and refrigerated/chilled for items that are not cold enough. All cooks will record food temperatures to discover any variations to the required temperatures. Any issues discovered will be reported to the director of dining services/designee and issues will be corrected immediately to obtain proper temperatures. The director of dining services/designee will attend resident council, upon resident request to address any food concerns. Grievances related to food concerns will be reviewed daily in morning report and actions to address any concerns will be implemented. How the corrective action(s) will be monitored to ensure the deficient practice will not recur, i.e., what quality assurance program will be put into practice? Test trays will be conducted at each meal for one week, daily for 3 weeks, and then weekly for 2 additional months to observe palatability, temperature, and appearance. These observations will be provided to the Director of dining services/designee. Results of all audits will be submitted to the QA committee for review and results will be reviewed monthly. The administrator will be responsible for overseeing the completion of this plan of correction and will be completed on (MONTH) 12, 2025.