Outdated and Unlabeled Food Items Found in Resident Refrigerator
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to ensure that the resident food refrigerator was free of outdated food items. During an observation, the refrigerator contained food containers with dates from over a month prior, take-out food with similarly old dates, and a jar of soup with no date. The freezer section also had two opened and partially used ice cream containers with no open date. Some food containers did not have resident room numbers identified. The Dietary Manager acknowledged responsibility for monitoring the refrigerator but admitted it had not been done recently. Facility policy required foods to be removed after three days unless unopened and unexpired, and all items should be marked with resident room numbers. The Director of Nursing Services confirmed that staff should be marking foods with the room number of the resident.