Pureed Food Served with Improper Consistency
Penalty
Summary
Facility staff failed to provide pureed food in a form that met the individual needs of residents during a dinner service. During test tray observations, pureed snow peas were served with pod fibers present, and the consistency was not smooth but appeared chopped. The food was tasted by the dietary district manager and two surveyors, who confirmed the presence of pod fibers and found the food unpalatable. The dietary manager acknowledged that snow peas may not be suitable for pureeing and that regular peas should have been substituted. The facility's policy requires pureed food to be blended to a smooth, lump-free consistency, which was not achieved in this instance. The dietary manager stated that the pureed food is typically prepared using a Robot Coupe blender to achieve a pudding-like consistency, but on the day in question, the pureed snow peas were not properly prepared and were served to residents. The issue was identified after the food had already been served, and the dietary manager admitted that the error occurred due to being busy and not catching the mistake. The facility's policy and diet consistency guidelines were not followed, resulting in the deficiency.