Failure to Accurately Portion Pureed Diets
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to serve appropriate portions of pureed diets to five residents. During meal preparation, the cook and Certified Dietary Manager (CDM) prepared pureed fish, rolls, and coleslaw for five residents by blending unmeasured amounts of ingredients and water, without measuring the total volume of the pureed food. The staff then portioned the pureed food into serving dishes using a disher, but the last servings were noticeably smaller, and there was not enough pureed fish to serve all five residents. The CDM confirmed that the staff should have used the volume method to ensure equal and adequate portions, as outlined in the facility's policy, but the cook was unfamiliar with this method and had not been trained on it. Observations and interviews confirmed that the menu serving chart was used to select the disher size, but the actual volume of pureed food was not measured or divided equally among the residents. The deficiency was identified through direct observation of meal preparation, review of the resident diet list, and staff interviews, which revealed a lack of adherence to the facility's policy for pureed food preparation and portioning.