Failure to Label, Date, and Discard Outdated Food Items in Nourishment Refrigerators
Penalty
Summary
Surveyors observed that the facility failed to ensure that food items stored in the snack/nourishment refrigerators on both nursing units were properly labeled and dated with open and use by dates. During a tour of the west wing nourishment room, the Unit Manager confirmed the presence of multiple undated and unlabeled food items, including thickened juice, cheese, bologna, containers of peaches and applesauce, unidentified leftover resident food, and salami. The Unit Manager stated that nursing staff were responsible for labeling and dating food items when received or opened, while the dietary department was responsible for monitoring and discarding expired or outdated resident leftovers. In the east wing nourishment room, the Certified Dietary Manager verified that the refrigerator contained undated cartons of thickened water and nutritional supplements, as well as several expired or unlabeled food items. These included a sandwich and a bag of food items dated several weeks prior, an unlabeled loaf of bread, a plastic container of leftover chicken dated over a month prior, and other resident-labeled containers of food that were also significantly outdated. The Assistant Director of Nursing confirmed the responsibilities of nursing staff and the dietary department regarding labeling, dating, and discarding food items. The facility's policy required all food items held for residents to be labeled with the resident's name, food item, and use by date, and for nursing staff to discard perishable foods on or before the use by date.