Failure to Label and Date Food Items in Refrigerator
Penalty
Summary
Surveyors observed that the facility failed to handle and store food items in accordance with professional standards and its own policy. During a joint observation of the reach-in cooler with a Nutrition Assistant, several food items were found to be either unlabeled or undated, including an opened container of Ultra brand milk, an opened container of Thick & Easy dairy beverage, a resealable plastic bag containing brownish-colored sliced food items identified as cooked roast beef, and a food item wrapped in aluminum foil identified as kielbasa sausage. Staff interviews confirmed that these items should have been labeled and dated upon opening or preparation, as required by facility policy. The facility's policy on Food Receiving and Storage, revised in November 2022, specifies that all foods stored in the refrigerator must be covered, labeled, and dated. Both the Nutrition Assistant and the Executive Chef acknowledged during interviews that the observed food items did not meet these requirements. The Administrator also confirmed the expectation that staff properly label and date food items. The failure to follow these procedures was identified during the survey and documented as a deficiency.