Failure to Properly Label, Date, and Discard Food Items
Penalty
Summary
Surveyors identified multiple failures in the facility's food handling and storage practices across various locations, including the kitchen dry storage room, several kitchen refrigerators, a seasoning shelf, and dining room refrigerators. Observations revealed that numerous food items, such as bread, condiments, dairy products, and prepared foods, were not labeled with expiration or use-by dates as required by facility policy. In several instances, opened food items were found without proper dating, and some items were past their use-by or expiration dates but had not been discarded. Staff interviews confirmed that the facility's process required food items removed from the freezer or opened to be labeled with the date and, when applicable, a use-by date. However, staff acknowledged that these procedures were not consistently followed. For example, bread removed from the freezer was not dated, and various condiments and dairy products in the refrigerators lacked use-by dates. Additionally, expired items such as Dijon mustard, cherry filling, ground coriander, cranberry juice, thickened apple juice, and a sandwich were found and had not been discarded as required. The facility's policies on food receiving, storage, and date marking were reviewed and clearly stated the need for labeling and timely discarding of food items. Despite these policies, the observed deficiencies placed residents at risk for foodborne illness and cross-contamination. The administrator confirmed that the expectation was for staff to regularly check, date, and discard food items as appropriate, but this was not consistently done.