Improper Food Storage and Inadequate Hair Restraints in Dietary Services
Penalty
Summary
The deficiency involves the facility’s failure to store and prepare food in accordance with its own policies and professional standards for food safety, potentially affecting 106 residents who received food from the kitchen. Surveyors reviewed the facility’s “Food Storage” policy, which required all foods to be covered, dated, and labeled, including dating items removed from shipping containers, and the “Employee Sanitary Practices” policy, which required hair restraints for all food and nutrition services employees. Despite these policies, observations in dry storage and the walk-in freezer revealed multiple food items that were opened or removed from original packaging without any received or opened dates. During an observation of dry storage, surveyors found two unopened 128-ounce jars of mayonnaise and one unopened 128-ounce jar of sweet pickle relish that were out of their original box packaging and undated, a 36-ounce box of au gratin potatoes with no opened date, an opened bag of cereal that was rolled up, unsealed, and undated, and an opened box of 1000 coffee creamers with no received date. In the walk-in freezer, they observed an opened 30-pound bag of frozen sweet peas inside an opened box with no opened date, and an opened case of 210 frozen biscuits with no opened date. The Head of the department acknowledged that received dates were important to calculate use-by dates and confirmed that all items should have been dated. The deficiency also included failures in employee sanitary practices related to hair restraints. Surveyors observed a dietary aide at a food preparation table wearing a hair bonnet that only partially restrained her hair, with bangs and hair on both sides of her face loose. The Dietary Manager stated that the aide should have worn a hairnet under the bonnet to fully restrain her hair and that hairnets were required for anyone entering the kitchen. Multiple dietary staff, including dietary aides and the Head of the department, confirmed in interviews that staff were expected to date delivered and opened food items and that everyone entering the kitchen must wear hair restraints that fully contain all hair, including beards, to prevent contamination. The Administrator also stated his expectation that kitchen staff follow policy for dating stored and opened food items and wear hair restraints with all hair covered.
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