Failure to Follow Food Safety, Sanitation, and Personnel Hygiene Protocols
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to adhere to food safety and sanitation protocols in several key areas, as observed during a kitchen and dining room tour. Cooked meats, including sausage patties, chicken breasts, and polish sausages, were stored in the refrigerator without any documentation of required cool-down temperatures. The dietary manager confirmed that cool-down logs were not maintained for these items, despite having received logs from the health department. Additionally, a gallon of milk was found stored at 49 degrees Fahrenheit, above the required 41 degrees or below, due to improper placement on ice. Sanitation procedures were not properly followed, as evidenced by the use of a sanitizing bucket with zero parts per million (PPM) of quaternary ammonium, well below the required 200-400 PPM. Staff members responsible for preparing the sanitizing solution were unaware of the need to add sanitizer, and this was confirmed by both the dietary aides and the dietary manager. The facility's policies require the use of properly diluted sanitizing solutions for cleaning food contact surfaces, but these were not implemented during the survey. Personnel hygiene standards were also not met, with multiple dietary aides observed working in the kitchen with full beards that were not restrained by hair nets, contrary to facility policy. Staff members admitted to not knowing that beard restraints were required. These lapses in food safety, sanitation, and personal hygiene protocols had the potential to affect all 60 residents residing in the facility, as documented in the facility's census.