Failure to Label, Discard, and Monitor Food Items and Refrigerator Temperatures
Penalty
Summary
The deficiency involves the facility’s failure to follow its own food labeling, storage, and monitoring policies for food served to residents. Surveyors observed in the main kitchen refrigerator multiple prepared food items without required labels, preparation dates, or use-by dates, including five covered containers with a white pudding-type substance and two prepared turkey sandwiches wrapped in plastic. They also found an opened one-gallon container of Caesar dressing with a manufacturer use-by date that had already passed, as well as fresh produce (zucchini squash and iceberg lettuce) that was wilted, soft to the touch, and discolored. The facility’s policy required all food containers to be labeled with the common name of the food, date prepared or opened, discard date, and staff initials, and the dietary manager acknowledged that staff had not consistently labeled and dated items and that fresh food should be checked and discarded if not fresh. In a south community refrigerator, surveyors observed additional failures to manage food items and temperature monitoring as required. They found an opened container of mayonnaise and an opened container of barbeque sauce, both past the manufacturer’s expiration dates, and an opened carton of lactose-free reduced-fat milk without an open or use-by date. The refrigerator temperature log posted on this community refrigerator had no dates or temperatures recorded for three consecutive days. Facility policy for LTC resident refrigerators required staff to document the date received, date opened, expiration date, and resident name on each food item, and to maintain the refrigerator at or below 40°F. The administrator stated that housekeeping was responsible for checking community refrigerator temperatures daily and outdated food weekly, and acknowledged that the temperature checks for the south community refrigerator had not been completed as required. A total of 41 residents were identified as receiving meals from the kitchen during this period.
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