Failure to Label and Date Opened and Repackaged Food Items
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to properly label and date repackaged and opened food items in both reach-in freezers and at a kitchen preparation station. During an initial tour of the second-floor kitchen, surveyors observed multiple food items, including bags of carrots, shaved coconut, chicken tenders, hamburger sliders, and potato chips, stored in plastic bags without open dates in the freezers. Additionally, two opened 5-gallon buckets of ice cream and heavily buttered thick sliced bread in plastic grocery bags were also found without open dates. Staff interviews confirmed that it was their responsibility to label and date opened food items, and that these items had not been properly labeled as required. The Executive Chef and Dietary Aides acknowledged during interviews that staff were trained to label food items with the date they were opened before storing them in the freezer, but this procedure was not followed. The Executive Chef indicated that the second-floor kitchen was primarily managed by Dietary Aides, and the Administrator confirmed that food was often removed from its original container and sent from the first-floor kitchen to the second-floor kitchen, but staff were still expected to label and date the items. The failure to label and date these food items constituted a deficiency in food storage practices.