F0812

F

Failure to Enforce Beard Restraints for Dietary Staff

Marietta, Georgia Survey Completed on 02-18-2026

Penalty

No penalty information released

Summary

Surveyors identified a deficiency in the facility’s food service operations related to failure to ensure kitchen staff wore appropriate beard restraints in accordance with professional standards and facility policy. During an initial kitchen tour on 2/15/2026 at 11:39 a.m., a cook and the Food Service Director (FSD) were observed to have facial hair without beard nets. On 2/16/2026 at 10:49 a.m., during a comprehensive kitchen tour, another cook and the FSD were again observed with facial hair and no beard nets. Later that day at 12:05 p.m., during a food temperature observation, both cooks and the FSD were observed not wearing beard restraints while one cook took temperature readings for fifteen food items, leaning over the steam table so that his beard came into proximity to hot foods. The facility’s written policy on Dietary Employee Personal Hygiene, revised 9/1/2025, stated that all dietary staff must wear hair restraints, including beard restraints, to prevent hair from contacting food, and that employees should never use bare hand contact with any foods. The facility had a census of 127 residents at the time of the survey, and the surveyors determined that the failure to use beard nets had the potential to contaminate food and cause food-borne illnesses.