Failure to Label and Date Food Items in Dietary Department
Penalty
Summary
During a tour of the Dietary Department, surveyors observed that multiple food items in both the basement dry stock and walk-in freezer were not labeled with expiration dates. Specifically, 16 bags of sliced white bread, two 1-gallon jars of coleslaw dressing, and four 1-pound cans of chicken base in the dry stock, as well as 12 packages each of hot dog and hamburger buns, two 5-pound beef chucks, a 5-pound bag of chicken tenders, and a 10-pound bag of chicken breast in the freezer, all lacked expiration dates. The Dietary Director was unable to provide a policy for expiration dating and stated that items were removed from their original boxes due to space constraints, making it unclear how expired items would be identified. Facility policies reviewed required all food to be labeled and dated for proper rotation and storage, but these procedures were not followed.