Failure to Maintain Food Safety and Hand Hygiene During Meal Preparation
Penalty
Summary
Food was not prepared and served in a sanitary manner for a resident on a mechanically-altered diet. Specifically, pureed foods prepared for the resident were served at temperatures below the required 135 degrees Fahrenheit, with recorded temperatures of 102, 106, and 108 degrees for various food items. The facility's policy requires hot pureed foods to be reheated to at least 165 degrees for 15 seconds if they fall below 135 degrees, but this was not done before the food was served to the resident. Additionally, improper glove use and hand hygiene practices were observed in the kitchen. The cook was seen changing gloves multiple times without washing hands between glove changes, and at one point, reused a glove after opening a drawer without handwashing or using a new glove. The facility's policy and training materials clearly state that hands must be washed before putting on gloves and between glove changes, but these procedures were not followed during food preparation.