Failure to Ensure Food Safety and Proper Hygiene During Meal Preparation and Service
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to ensure proper food safety and hygiene practices in the kitchen and during meal service. Multiple staff members were observed not wearing appropriate hair restraints while preparing food, including hair nets that did not fully cover hair, lack of beard coverings, and staff entering the kitchen without any hair covering. Staff interviews revealed a lack of awareness and inconsistent enforcement of the facility's hair covering policy, with some staff unaware of the requirements and others acknowledging difficulty in monitoring compliance due to high turnover. Signage reminding staff to wear hair coverings had been removed, and the kitchen doors were routinely propped open, further compromising food safety standards. Additionally, the facility did not provide food at an appetizing or safe temperature for a resident. Observations showed that a resident received breakfast that had been left in the room and later reheated in a microwave, resulting in food that was cold in some areas and described as unappetizing by the resident. Staff responsible for reheating food were unaware of required food temperatures and timelines for safe consumption, and did not use thermometers to check food temperature after reheating. Facility policy required reheated food to reach 165 degrees for 15 seconds, but this standard was not followed. Some staff stated that reheating food was not standard practice and that trays should be refrigerated or replaced if not eaten promptly, but this was not consistently implemented or communicated.