Failure to Follow Food Safety and Sanitation Practices in Dietary Services
Penalty
Summary
Surveyors observed that a cook failed to follow standard food safety practices during meal service by not changing gloves or washing hands after touching multiple surfaces and items, including food containers, utensils, meal cards, microwave doors, and food packaging. The cook continued to use the same pair of gloves throughout the meal service, including when handling ready-to-eat food items, and admitted that it was her normal practice not to change gloves during food service. The dietary manager and another cook confirmed that gloves should have been changed after touching multiple surfaces and that tongs should have been used to retrieve certain food items. Additionally, the kitchen environment was found to be unsanitary, with food spatter and debris observed on pans, lids, prep table shelves, and the steam table. The steam table also had exposed bare wood, making it uncleanable. The dietary manager acknowledged that cleaning schedules for kitchen equipment had not been followed, and records showed inconsistent documentation of cleaning. Facility policies required cleaning and sanitizing of work surfaces and equipment after each use, as well as proper glove use and handwashing, but these were not adhered to during the observed period.