Unsanitary Food Handling During Meal Service
Penalty
Summary
During a meal service, the dietary manager (DM) was observed handling food items in a manner that did not meet sanitary standards. After washing hands and donning gloves, the DM removed covers from food items and began preparing plates, using utensils for some items. However, the DM repeatedly touched meal choice slips with gloved hands and then handled bread slices directly, buttering them and placing them on plates without changing gloves between tasks. The meal choice slips had been filled out by residents, nursing assistants, or activity staff the previous day, and were considered dirty. The DM continued to alternate between touching the slips and handling bread, as well as operating the toaster, without consistently changing gloves or using utensils as required by facility policy. The DM later confirmed in an interview that the usual process was to avoid touching food with hands and to use utensils, and acknowledged that gloves should be changed after touching potentially contaminated items like meal choice slips. The facility's policy on food procurement and serving specifies that gloved hands are a food contact surface that can become contaminated, and that failure to change gloves and wash hands between tasks can contribute to cross-contamination. This practice had the potential to affect all residents who were served bread during the meal.