Food Storage, Sanitation, and Equipment Failures in Main Kitchen
Penalty
Summary
Surveyors identified that the facility failed to store, prepare, distribute, and serve food in accordance with professional food safety standards in the main kitchen. Policy required that food be labeled, dated, rotated using first-in/first-out, and discarded when outdated or showing evidence of spoilage, and that refrigerators and ovens be cleaned per daily and weekly schedules. During observations, surveyors found multiple unlabeled food items, including a bag of meat, cheese slices, a white bag of food, and a meat salad in the upstairs walk-in cooler, preparation refrigerator, and salad refrigerator. They also found expired food in the upstairs walk-in cooler, including two large containers of sour cream past the labeled expiration date and two cases of milk beyond their expiration date. The sandwich, preparation, and salad coolers contained accumulated debris and residue, and the ovens had dried-on, burnt food spillage on the bottom despite procedures requiring immediate cleanup of spills and daily or weekly cleaning. Surveyors further observed that the dish machine was not functioning properly while staff were actively washing breakfast dishes. The dish machine temperature dial did not move above 120°F during the wash and sanitation cycles, and the temperature for that day had not been checked or recorded at the time of observation, contrary to staff statements that temperatures were normally taken and recorded daily after the machine warmed up. The Executive Chef and Food Service Director both acknowledged that dishes should not be used if the dish machine was not cleaning or sanitizing at the required temperature. The Food Service Team Lead reported they usually recorded the dish machine temperature after warm-up but had forgotten that morning. Additionally, an LPN reported having previously found outdated and spoiled milk in a unit refrigerator and discarding it without serving it. These observations and interviews demonstrated noncompliance with the facility’s own food safety, labeling, rotation, and cleaning policies and procedures in the main kitchen and related food service areas.
We Help Long-Term Care Teams Stay Survey-Ready
We process and analyze inspection reports and plan of correction using AI to extract insights and trends so providers can improve care quality and stay ahead of compliance risks.