Failure to Maintain Safe Hot Food Temperatures During Meal Service
Penalty
Summary
The deficiency involves the facility’s failure to maintain and serve food at safe temperatures in accordance with professional standards and its own food safety policy. A cognitively intact resident with severe protein-calorie malnutrition and multiple comorbidities, including spinal stenosis, history of stroke, COPD, poly-osteoarthritis, and anxiety disorder, reported that the food served was cold and that not all aides would reheat it. During the evening meal observation, the resident consented to have the temperature of her meal checked as it was removed from the transport cart for delivery. The Dietary Manager measured the temperature of the chicken and noodles on the resident’s tray and found it to be 93.7°F as it came off the cart, acknowledging that the last cart had arrived on the floor earlier and that the food was not hot enough. The Dietary Manager stated the need to reheat the food to 165°F. Review of the facility’s Food Safety policy showed that staff are required to monitor food temperatures while holding for delivery and to follow FDA Food Code standards, including reheating cooked and cooled food to 165°F and heating ready-to-eat foods to at least 135°F. Federal guidance cited in the report explains that bacterial growth can occur when food remains in the “Danger Zone” (between 40°F and 140°F/135°F) for too long, and that hot food should be kept at or above 140°F.
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