Immediate Jeopardy: Failure to Maintain Kitchen Sanitation After Wastewater Backup
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to ensure that food was stored, prepared, distributed, and served in accordance with professional standards for food service safety in the main kitchen. Following a wastewater backup from the grease trap and drains that flooded the main kitchen, the facility did not adequately address the cleanup, monitoring, evaluation, or sanitization of cooking equipment and appliances. Staff continued to prepare and serve food during the wastewater backup, and contaminated water was tracked throughout the kitchen, including into walk-in coolers and food preparation areas. The cleaning process involved only a no-rinse floor cleaner, which was not a sanitizer or disinfectant, and there was no containment of aerosolization or spread of wastewater during cleanup. Observations revealed ongoing issues with the kitchen's sanitation equipment. The dish machine was not reaching the required sanitizing temperatures, and when chemical sanitization was used, there was no detectable level of sanitizer. Staff were not aware of the required sanitizer levels or how to check them, and logs showed inconsistent or missing documentation of temperature and sanitizer checks. The 3-bay sink also failed to maintain proper sanitizer levels, with test strips showing either no sanitizer or levels above the recommended range. Staff lacked training on how to properly check and maintain sanitizer concentrations, and there was no evidence of routine monitoring prior to the survey. The facility's policies required clean and sanitary conditions, proper equipment maintenance, and specific sanitizer concentrations, but these were not followed. Wastewater was squeegeed out of the kitchen into the parking lot, and racks were hosed down outside over a storm drain, further violating sanitation protocols. The Director of Nutritional Services and other staff acknowledged that the grease trap was not maintained as recommended, and that the kitchen, equipment, and dishware may not have been properly sanitized. The DON, Medical Director, and Infection Control Nurse were not informed of the incident at the time, and food prepared during the period of contamination was not immediately discarded.