Failure to Store and Handle Food According to Professional Standards
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to store, prepare, and distribute food in accordance with professional standards, as evidenced by multiple observations in the kitchen, refrigerator, dry pantry, and freezer. Surveyors found several food items left open to air on kitchen countertops, including partial bags of cereal, chips, and thawed toaster waffles. In the refrigerator, numerous items such as servings of fruit cocktail, protein drinks, snack sandwiches, butter, jalapenos, lunch meat, cheese slices, iced tea, eggs, bacon, dough sheets, and whipped topping were found either uncovered, unlabeled, or undated. Some eggs had broken shells, and several items were open to air or lacked any indication of when they were received or prepared. In the dry pantry, a variety of food items including beans, refried beans, seasonings, pancake mix, croutons, food thickener, potatoes, pasta, muffin mix, and other packaged goods were found either open to air, unlabeled, undated, or covered in dust. Some items were past their expiration date, and many bulk or partial containers were not properly sealed. The freezer also contained numerous food items such as rolls, cinnamon rolls, ham chunks, dough sheets, biscuits, tater tots, bread, cookie dough, chicken breasts, potato wedges, meat pies, crab cakes, sausage, yellow squash, Philly steaks, chicken wings, and churros that were open to air, unlabeled, or undated. These findings were confirmed through interviews and a review of the facility's food storage policies, which require all food items to be properly sealed, labeled, and dated, and to follow first-in, first-out rotation. The dietary manager acknowledged that serving foods that are expired, unlabeled, undated, or left open to air could result in residents being served items that may cause illness or not meet nutritional needs. The facility's failure to adhere to its own policies and professional standards for food storage and handling was evident in the observed conditions.