Deficient Food Storage and Temperature Control Practices
Penalty
Summary
Surveyors identified multiple failures in food storage and handling practices within the facility's kitchen and nutrition storage areas. During an initial kitchen tour, frozen omelets were found in an open, unlabeled, and undated plastic bag in the freezer, and an opened container of Tajín seasoning was also found unlabeled and undated. Additionally, a sandwich in a Ziplock bag labeled with a resident's name was observed in the refrigerator without a date. The Certified Dietary Manager (CDM) confirmed that facility policy requires all opened and stored food items to be labeled with the date and, for resident food, with the resident's name and date of placement. These findings were acknowledged by the CDM and the Administrator. Further observations during breakfast service revealed that cold food items, such as milk and orange juice, were served at temperatures above the required 41 degrees Fahrenheit, with recorded temperatures of 49 and 50.5 degrees Fahrenheit, respectively. Hot food items, including fried eggs and hot ham, were found at temperatures below the required 135 degrees Fahrenheit, with readings as low as 126 degrees Fahrenheit. Facility policy explicitly requires cold foods and beverages to be maintained at 41 degrees Fahrenheit or below and hot foods at 135 degrees Fahrenheit or above. These temperature violations were confirmed by the CDM and Administrator during on-site observations.