Failure to Maintain Sanitary Kitchen and Food Safety Standards
Penalty
Summary
Surveyors observed that the facility failed to maintain a clean and sanitary kitchen as required by professional standards and facility policy. During a kitchen tour, multiple food items were found past their best buy or use by dates, including dinner rolls, hot dog buns, diced tomatoes, sliced onions, leftover ham, and packages of cheese. The Food Service Director confirmed these items should have been discarded but remained in storage. Additionally, the facility was unable to provide evidence of completed daily staff cleaning logs for August, and only partially completed logs for September were available. Each of the three scheduled dietary aides was supposed to complete and submit a daily cleaning sheet, but this was not consistently done. Further review revealed that tray line food temperatures for August were not available, and several days in September lacked recorded temperatures for meals. The facility's policy requires that all local, state, and federal standards be followed to ensure food safety and sanitation, including proper handling, labeling, and timely use or disposal of perishable foods. The failure to adhere to these procedures had the potential to affect 99 residents who received meals from the kitchen, with three residents identified as not receiving food by mouth.