Failure to Maintain Food Storage, Sanitation, and Staff Hygiene Standards
Penalty
Summary
Surveyors identified multiple failures in the facility's food storage and kitchen sanitation practices. During a kitchen tour, several opened food items in the walk-in cooler, including containers of garlic, mayonnaise, cherries, mustard, margarine, and various bags of produce and prepared foods, were found without labels indicating the date and time they were opened or their use-by dates. These findings were confirmed by the dietary aide present, who acknowledged that the items should have been labeled according to facility policy. Additionally, the deep fryer’s cooking oil collection area was observed to have a thick layer of debris and large pieces of fried food material, with staff confirming that the fryer had not been cleaned after its last use the previous week. Further observation revealed a cook in the kitchen with exposed facial hair while preparing to puree a lunch meal, in violation of the facility’s dress code policy requiring facial hair to be properly covered. The staff member confirmed that his facial hair should have been covered. These deficiencies were found despite the facility’s written policies mandating proper food labeling, storage, and employee hygiene practices.