Failure to Monitor Personal Refrigerators for Food Safety
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to implement a process for monitoring personal refrigerators located in resident rooms, as evidenced by the lack of temperature monitoring, absence of thermometers, and no documentation of maintenance or food checks. During an observation, a small dorm-style refrigerator in a resident's room was found to contain various food items, including sausage, sliced cheese, bottles of nutritional supplement, soft chocolate candy, and a meat product labeled with a freeze-by date that had already passed. Neither the refrigerator nor the freezer compartment had a thermometer, and there was no log or record indicating that staff were monitoring the appliance or its contents. Interviews with the facility administrator and the infection preventionist confirmed that the facility was not monitoring personal refrigerators and acknowledged that this was a concern due to the potential for food-borne illness. The facility's policy stated that residents or their families were responsible for maintaining the refrigerator and ensuring safe temperatures, but staff recognized that residents in the facility require care and should not be expected to manage this responsibility themselves. The lack of monitoring and maintenance of personal refrigerators led to the deficiency identified during the survey.