Failure to Maintain Safe and Palatable Food Temperatures During Meal Service
Penalty
Summary
Facility staff failed to ensure that food was served at safe and palatable temperatures during a lunch meal service. During observation in the dining room, about half of the residents had already been served when a dietary staff member reported that they took cooking temperatures but not holding temperatures. Surveyor temperature checks of items on the steam table showed green beans at 184°F, mashed potatoes at 178°F, burger patties at 120°F, salmon patties at 74°F, and potatoes at 146°F. After surveyor intervention, the burger and salmon patties were returned to the oven. The dietary staff member stated that if the puree food had not taken so long, the food would not have been outside the required temperatures. The kitchen manager later stated the goal temperature for food held on the steam table was 150°F. Further observation of a test tray revealed that holding temperatures in the kitchen before plating were already below the facility’s hot-holding standard of 135°F, with the salmon patty at 119.5°F, potatoes at 106°F, and green beans at 139°F. The tray was then placed on a non-insulated cart and transported to a resident hallway that did not have a warming cart, only a metal rack, despite the facility having plate warmers and three insulated carts used elsewhere. After tray delivery, the test tray food temperatures dropped further, with the salmon patty at 106°F, potatoes at 96°F, and green beans at 109°F, and the food was described as tasting cold. The kitchen manager declined to taste the food and confirmed it would be cold. Review of the facility’s “Holding Food Temperatures and Guidelines” policy showed that it required serving line temperatures to be taken at the beginning, middle, and end of meal service, and that hot foods should be held at 135°F or higher using methods such as a proper steam table and heated plates, which was not followed in this instance.
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