Deficient Food Handling, Storage, and Temperature Control
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to store, prepare, and serve food in a manner that prevents the potential for foodborne illness, as evidenced by multiple observations and staff interviews. Staff were seen handling ready-to-eat foods such as bread, sandwiches, and salad with bare hands, and in some cases, gloves were not used or hand hygiene was not performed before or after glove use. Additionally, staff were observed not washing their hands for the required 20 seconds, and hand hygiene was not performed after touching personal items like cell phones or after removing gloves. The facility's own policies require hand hygiene before donning gloves, after glove removal, and prohibit bare hand contact with food, but these were not consistently followed. Food storage practices were also deficient. Opened bags of macaroni noodles, raw hamburger, bread, spices, and vanilla were found unsealed, undated, or both in dry storage and refrigerators. A milk refrigerator was found without a thermometer, and staff confirmed that thermometers should be present in all refrigerators. These lapses in labeling, sealing, and temperature monitoring are contrary to the facility's food safety policies, which require all food to be stored, labeled, and maintained at safe temperatures. Temperature control of food and fluids was not maintained according to policy or professional standards. Observations showed that hot foods such as cauliflower/broccoli, tuna melt sandwiches, and hamburger patties were served below the required holding temperatures, and milk was found above the safe cold temperature threshold. Staff interviews revealed inconsistent knowledge of the correct temperature standards, with some staff citing different minimum temperatures for hot food. The facility's policy requires hot foods to be held at 135°F or greater and cold foods at or below 41°F, but these standards were not met during the survey.