Improper Storage of Food Items in Kitchen
Penalty
Summary
Surveyors observed that the facility failed to store, prepare, distribute, and serve food in accordance with professional standards for food service safety. During two separate walk-throughs of the kitchen, multiple food items in the walk-in freezer and refrigerator, as well as in dry storage, were found open to the air, including plant-based patties, frozen dinner rolls, pork sausage, ground beef patties, bread dough, mixed vegetables, cut green beans, potato chips, and sliced ham. The Dietary Manager confirmed that food in the refrigerators and freezers should be properly sealed to prevent ice burn and preserve food quality, and described the audit and education processes conducted by the Registered Dietitian and himself. However, the observed open food items indicated that these procedures were not consistently followed.