Failure to Store and Serve Food According to Professional Standards
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to store and serve food in accordance with professional standards for food service safety, affecting 95 of 108 residents who receive food from the kitchen. Surveyors observed multiple instances of partially used and undated food items in dry storage and walk-in coolers/freezers, including open bags of graham cracker crumbs and noodles, undated containers of chicken and ham base, and a dented can of condensed milk stored with undamaged cans. Some food items were left uncovered and open to air, and a box of cups was found on the floor. These practices were not in line with the facility's own policies, which require all opened food to be dated, sealed, and stored properly to prevent contamination and spoilage. In addition to improper food storage, surveyors observed repeated failures in hand hygiene among kitchen staff. Staff members were seen moving between tasks and kitchen stations, touching unclean surfaces such as clipboards, pens, ear buds, phones, hairnets, and their own bodies, and then handling food or clean utensils without washing their hands as required by facility policy. Handwashing, when performed, was often inadequate, with some staff washing for less than five seconds instead of the required twenty seconds. There were also instances where staff used bare hands to touch clean serving utensils and plate holders, and then used these items to serve food to residents without proper sanitation in between. Contaminated utensils were also placed back into food that was ready to be served, further increasing the risk of cross-contamination. For example, after a thermometer was dropped into soup, a staff member used a clean utensil to retrieve it but then placed the utensil back on the clean tray line without sanitizing it. Another staff member was observed placing a ladle that had come into contact with their shirt back into a food container. These actions were contrary to both facility policy and professional standards for food safety, and were directly observed by surveyors during meal service.