Failure to Serve Hot Foods at Appetizing Temperatures
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to ensure that hot foods were served at an appetizing temperature, as evidenced by resident reports and a test tray evaluation during a recertification/complaint survey. On 02/09/2026 at 9:12 AM, one resident reported that hot foods were not hot, and another resident reported that food was sometimes served hot and sometimes not, and that the taste was poor. Later that same day at 12:46 PM, a different resident reported that food was being served cold and sometimes this occurred due to waiting for assistance with feeding. On 02/13/2026 at 8:50 AM, the Food Service Director was instructed to provide a test tray on the last food cart for lunch delivery to a specified unit. Observation of the last food cart delivery began at 12:30 PM, with lunch tray service starting at 12:36 PM, during which staff delivered all resident trays before removing the last tray designated as the test tray. At 12:44 PM, the surveyor pulled the test tray from the delivery cart, and at 12:53 PM recorded food temperatures using two thermometers, finding the candied sweet potatoes at 115.3°F/112.8°F, the fish at 108.5°F/107.7°F, and the vegetables at 108.1°F/105.0°F, which were identified as low/abnormal when reported to the DON at 2:13 PM. These findings show that residents experienced inconsistently heated meals and that, at the time of surveyor testing, multiple hot food items on a sample tray from the last delivered cart were below expected warm holding or serving temperatures.
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