Failure to Properly Label, Date, and Store 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. Specifically, multiple food items in the walk-in refrigerator, dry storage, and freezer were found to be opened but not labeled or dated, including cooked Spanish rice, ham chunks, diced tomatoes, orange juice, instant food thickener, cereal, rotini pasta, and vanilla ice cream. Additionally, an expired container of tomato soup was found in dry storage, and a scoop was left inside a flour container. These issues were confirmed through interviews with dietary staff, the dietary manager, and the administrator, all of whom acknowledged that open food items should be labeled, dated, and discarded if expired or if the date of opening is unknown. Record review of the facility's Nutrition Services policy and the FDA Food Code confirmed that food should be labeled, dated, and stored in a manner to minimize contamination and bacterial growth. The staff interviewed stated that failure to follow these procedures could result in residents consuming unsafe food. The facility's own policies required labeling and dating of all open food items and discarding expired or undated food, but these procedures were not followed as observed during the survey.