Deficient Food Storage and Dishwashing Sanitation Practices
Penalty
Summary
Surveyors identified multiple failures in the facility's food storage and sanitation practices. Food items such as apple sauces, mandarin oranges, fruit cocktail, and boxes of milk were not dated with the received date, and several opened items including muffin mix, powdered sugar, baking soda, peanut butter, cottage cheese, cream cheese, pepperoni, salad dressing, and milk lacked an opened date. Additionally, a peanut butter canister was found with crusted peanut butter and jelly on its exterior and stored unsanitarily in dry storage. Other issues included undated grilled cheese sandwiches and expired chicken pozole in the refrigerator. The Dietary Supervisor confirmed that these items should have been properly dated and stored, and acknowledged the unsanitary condition of the peanut butter canister, which could attract pests. Further deficiencies were observed in the facility's dishwashing and sanitation procedures. The dishwasher's chlorine parts per million (ppm) was not checked before use, and a reading of zero ppm was recorded during the survey, indicating that dishes were not being sanitized. The Dietary Supervisor and Registered Dietician confirmed that the chlorine level should be between 50 to 100 ppm and that staff were not consistently monitoring or reporting out-of-range chlorine levels. Review of the facility's logs showed missing and out-of-range chlorine readings that were not reported or addressed. Facility policies required proper labeling, dating, and dishwashing procedures, but these were not followed, leading to the cited deficiencies.
Plan Of Correction
F812: Food Procurement, Store/Prepare/Serve - Sanitary CORRECTIVE ACTION Dietary supervisor/staff discarded apple sauces, mandarin oranges, fruit cocktail, and boxes of milk that were not dated. Removed the vanilla extract from the dry storage when it was opened on 11/22/2024 and removed the chicken pozole from refrigerator 1 (Ref 1) when the use-by date of 2/27/2025 had passed. Also removed opened muffin mix, powdered sugar, baking soda, peanut butter, cottage cheese, cream cheese, pepperoni, salad dressing, and a liter of milk, peanut butter, and a bag of grilled cheese sandwiches in Ref 1. On 03/11/25, Dietary Supervisor conducted a 1:1 staff in-service with dishwasher 1 regarding the facility policy and procedure of sanitizing, dishwashing practice, and handling equipment. On the same day, the Dietary Supervisor performed a skills check with dishwasher 1 regarding sanitizing, dishwashing practice, and handling equipment. Additionally, on 03/11/25, the Dietary Supervisor conducted an in-service to dietary staff regarding the facility policy and procedure of sanitizing, dishwashing practice, and handling equipment, followed by a skills check with dietary staff on the same topics. On 03/17/25, the Dietary supervisor/designee conducted an in-service and skills check regarding food safety, specifically focusing on labeling and dating of food. On 03/25/25, the Dietary supervisor conducted an in-service to dietary staff regarding the policies and procedures for Kitchen logs, including food temperature, dishwasher log, refrigerator logs, and thawing. OTHER RESIDENTS AFFECTED IDENTIFICATION The Dietary supervisor removed all other food that was not labeled and dated. Dietary supervisor/designee conducted an in-service and skill check on 03/17/25 regarding food safety, specifically labeling and dating of food. Dietary staff will check refrigerator temperature using the form titled "Refrigerator/Freezer Temperature Log" and check chlorine levels during dishwashing using the form titled "Daily Dishwasher Chlorine and Temperature Log." MEASURES AND SYSTEMIC CHANGES Dietary supervisor/designee will review the Refrigerator/Freezer Temperature Log and the Daily Dishwasher Chlorine and Temperature Log. Any significant findings will be discussed with the Administrator. Dietary supervisor/designee will conduct in-service upon hire, monthly on the 1st of the month for three months, and annually thereafter regarding food safety, including labeling and dating of food. They will also conduct competency skills training upon hire, monthly on the 1st of the month for three months, and annually thereafter on the same topics. The Administrator/Designee will review the daily dishwashing chlorine and temperature logs and the Refrigerator/Freezer Temperature Log weekly. Any significant findings or trends will be reported to the QAA committee during the monthly meeting for review and recommendations for three months.