Failure to Maintain Food Safety Standards in Main Kitchen
Penalty
Summary
Surveyor observation, record review, and staff interviews revealed that the facility failed to store, prepare, distribute, and serve food in accordance with professional standards for food service safety in the main kitchen. Specific findings included the presence of mold on the walk-in refrigerator walls, dirty racks where food was stored, and food with mold that reportedly went unnoticed for weeks. During a kitchen tour, surveyors observed multiple food items in the walk-in refrigerator that were not properly labeled or dated, including a pan of red beans, fried rice, roasted potato wedges, and tomato soup, all of which were past their discard dates or had illegible labels. Additionally, a pan of red liquid had an illegible label, and there were approximately a dozen orange juice containers that were sticky, wet, and included one open, leaking container. Three broken eggs were also found, with their contents covering the inside of a box containing several dozen whole, raw eggs. The Regional Food Service Director acknowledged that the observed food items should have been discarded after seven days and should have had legible labels with the contents and preparation dates. The Director also confirmed that the leaking orange juice container and broken eggs should have been discarded. The facility Administrator acknowledged the findings in the main kitchen during a subsequent interview. These observations and acknowledgments indicate a failure to adhere to the 2022 FDA Food Code requirements for package integrity and date marking of ready-to-eat, time/temperature control for safety foods.