Failure to Properly Label, Date, and Discard Food in Kitchen Storage
Penalty
Summary
Surveyors observed that the facility failed to store food in a sanitary manner in the main kitchen. During a tour of the kitchen's walk-in cooler, several food items were found undated, unlabeled, or expired, including a container of blue liquid, two unopened packages of bologna past their use or freeze by date, and a half turkey breast wrapped in saran wrap without a date or label. In the walk-in freezer, additional items such as Ziploc bags containing pastry-rolled food, a bag of artichoke dip, multiple pieces of fish, a white piece of meat, and a steak—all wrapped or bagged but lacking dates and labels—were also found. The Dietary Manager confirmed during an interview that all food products should have been properly dated and labeled, and expired products should have been discarded. The facility's policy on food safety in receiving and storage, provided by the Dietary Manager, requires that food be covered, labeled, and dated with a use-by date, and that the day of preparation or opening is considered day one. These observations and staff statements demonstrate that the facility did not follow its own policy or professional standards for food storage, potentially affecting 82 of 83 residents who consumed food from the kitchen.