Failure to Properly Store and Label Resident Food Items
Penalty
Summary
Surveyors observed that the facility failed to store resident food items in accordance with professional standards for food service safety. During inspections of the 4th and 5th floor resident refrigerators with the Certified Dietary Manager, multiple perishable food items were found to be expired, undated, or moldy, including cartons of milk, a deli sandwich, a brown bag lunch, bowls of cooked oatmeal, a bowl of chili, a container of raspberries, and a foam container with chicken and rice. When questioned, the Certified Dietary Manager indicated that nursing staff were responsible for ensuring food items in resident refrigerators were properly dated and discarded when expired. Review of the facility's policy confirmed that perishable foods brought by family or visitors must be labeled with the resident's name, item, and use by date, and that nursing staff are responsible for discarding perishable foods on or before the use by date.