Unsanitary Food Handling and Surface Cleaning Deficiencies
Penalty
Summary
During a lunch service tray line, multiple instances of unsanitary food handling practices were observed among dietary staff. One dietary aide donned gloves and then touched various surfaces, including a thermometer, sink, and refrigerator handle, before touching the face of plates with the same gloved hand. A cook was also seen wearing gloves while touching oven doors, sink handles, and a spatula handle, then touching the face of plates prior to plating food for residents. Additionally, the cook slid plates across a white cutting board and used the same board to chop carrots without cleaning it before or after use. The chopped carrots were then plated and served to residents. Another staff member repositioned food on plates with gloved hands after touching multiple surfaces, including plates, covers, fridge door, cart, and sink handles, without performing hand hygiene or changing gloves before handling the food. Interviews with the cook and the dietary manager confirmed that staff should not touch the face of plates or food with dirty gloves and that gloves should be changed between tasks. Both acknowledged that the white cutting board, used for chopping food for mechanically soft diets, was not cleaned prior to use, despite being used to move plates along the tray line. The dietary manager admitted that this practice was inappropriate as the surface was dirty at the time food was prepared on it.