Failure to Properly Store, Label, and Handle Food and Food Service Items
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to store, label, date, and discard food items in accordance with professional standards for food service safety. During a kitchen tour, multiple leftover and previously opened food items were found in the walk-in refrigerator without labels or dates, including various cheeses, meats, and prepared dishes. Several items were also found with expired dates, and raw meats were stored longer than recommended. Additionally, some food items and unopened cases were stored directly on the floor in both the refrigerator and freezer, contrary to facility policy. There was no signage in the kitchen to reference acceptable storage periods for perishable foods. In the dish machine area, trays of plastic drinking glasses and coffee cups were observed sitting inverted on wet trays, and dietary staff reported drying them with towels rather than allowing them to air-dry, which does not meet sanitary standards. During meal service, residents were served beverages in glasses and cups that had been transported and served from wet trays, with the lips of the cups in contact with water. In the dry storage room, a container without a handle was used as a scoop in a bin of sugar, and several food items were stored on the floor, further violating storage protocols. Interviews with dietary staff and management confirmed that all kitchen staff were responsible for labeling and dating foods, and acknowledged the importance of these practices for food safety. However, the staff admitted that these procedures were not consistently followed. In the nourishment room, previously opened and undated nutrition supplements and thickened juice were found, and nursing staff were unsure of the appropriate timeframes for use after opening. Facility policies required food to be labeled, dated, and stored off the floor, but these standards were not met in multiple areas.