Food Storage and Preparation Safety Deficiencies
Penalty
Summary
Surveyors identified several failures in the facility's food storage, preparation, and service practices that did not meet professional standards for food safety. During observation, a layer of dust was found on the stove hood, specifically on the sprinkler pipes and grease trap directly above the burners and food preparation area, creating a risk of dust falling into open food. Additionally, food items such as an opened bag of vanilla wafers were found in the dry storage area without proper labeling, sealing, or dating, contrary to facility policy requiring all food removed from original packaging to be labeled with the name and date. The Dietary Manager confirmed uncertainty about when the wafers were opened and acknowledged the lack of compliance with storage procedures. Further, a box of potatoes was observed sitting directly on the floor in the dry food storage area, which is against facility policy that requires all food to be kept off the floor and protected from contamination. The Dietary Manager acknowledged this issue and removed the potatoes from the floor. These deficiencies were observed to have the potential to affect 26 of 27 residents in the facility.