Failure to Properly Store, Label, Date, and Monitor Food Items and Temperatures
Penalty
Summary
Surveyors observed multiple failures in the facility's kitchen regarding the storage, labeling, dating, and discarding of food items. Specifically, in the backroom cooler, several food items were found either past their use by date, not labeled, not dated, or not properly covered. Examples included tortillas with an expired use by date, a potato-like item wrapped in foil without a label or date, beef and mushrooms in pans or bags without labels or dates, uncovered and unlabeled hotdogs, ground beef, deli ham, sausages with only a date, and chicken with two different dates. Staff confirmed that the use by date should be seven days after opening, and facility policy requires proper labeling, dating, and timely use or disposal of refrigerated foods. Additionally, the refrigerator next to the juice dispenser lacked a temperature log, and there was no evidence of temperature monitoring for that unit. Staff confirmed that all refrigerator units should have their temperatures monitored. Facility policy also mandates daily and routine monitoring of food temperatures and refrigeration equipment to ensure safe storage. These failures may affect any resident consuming food from these storage areas.