Improper Food Handling, Equipment Use, and Hand Hygiene in Dietary Services
Penalty
Summary
Surveyors identified multiple failures in food preparation and handling practices in the facility’s kitchen and related areas. During an initial kitchen tour, surveyors observed three full garbage bags placed on the floor near an active food preparation area. Several large containers of open seasonings, including paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, and Italian seasoning, were stored on a shelf without any open dates. A flour container with a lid was found with a scoop left inside the bin. In the employee break room, the ice machine was noted to have significant dirt on top and debris all over the machine. These observations were made while kitchen staff were actively preparing food for residents receiving oral diets. Further observations showed improper equipment handling and hand hygiene during food preparation. A cook preparing pureed diets washed a food processor between items but did not allow it to air dry before immediately reusing it, stating she rushed because the surveyor wanted to see the next pureed food. Multiple dietary staff were seen touching surfaces with gloved hands and then handling ready-to-eat foods such as sandwiches and desserts without changing gloves or performing hand hygiene. One staff member repeatedly changed gloves without washing hands or using hand sanitizer, and another wiped a table with a gloved hand and then used the same glove to handle cake pieces, despite the availability of utensils. The facility’s own hand hygiene policy, which requires hand hygiene before donning gloves and before and after glove use, and clarifies that gloves do not replace handwashing, was not followed during these observed food preparation activities.
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