Deficient Food Storage, Labeling, and Sanitation Practices in Kitchen
Penalty
Summary
Surveyors observed multiple failures in the facility kitchen related to food storage, labeling, dating, sealing, and sanitation. During a kitchen tour, the Director of Dining Services placed a sanitizer bucket that had been on the floor onto a food preparation counter and did not sanitize the counter until prompted by the surveyor. The Director acknowledged that the counter should be sanitized after contact with items from the floor to prevent bacterial contamination, in accordance with facility policy. Further inspection of the kitchen revealed numerous food items in various storage areas that were either expired, unlabeled, undated, unsealed, or uncovered. These included bins of crab salad and ground beef without labels or dates, expired tomato paste and strawberries, uncovered sausage links and prime rib, unlabeled and undated bags of meat and pies, open bags of chocolate chips and graham crumbs, and an unsealed carton of heavy whipping cream. The Director of Dining Services confirmed that all food items should be labeled, dated, sealed, and expired items removed to prevent serving unsafe food, as outlined in the facility's policies.