Failure to Use Standardized Portioning Utensils During Food Service
Penalty
Summary
Kitchen staff failed to use appropriate portioning utensils during meal preparation, as observed when a staff member used a regular metal teaspoon instead of a standardized portioning utensil to serve cottage cheese for a resident. The staff member was preparing cottage cheese and strawberry salads to accommodate special requests, and used a small, regular metal spoon to scoop and portion two scoops of cottage cheese into each container. The resident's dietary order specified an exact amount—8 ounces of cottage cheese and fruit for a morning snack—to support stable weight trends. The kitchen had measuring cups, scoops, and spoodles available, and staff interviews confirmed that regular spoons should not be used for portioning food. The resident involved had diagnoses including dementia and hypertension, but was assessed as having no cognitive impairment. Interviews with other kitchen staff, the Registered Dietitian, and the Certified Dietary Manager confirmed that recipes and dietary orders require the use of standardized portioning tools to ensure accurate and consistent meal portions. Facility policies also required the use of standard tools for portion control. The failure to use the correct utensil resulted in the resident not being served the specified portion as ordered.