Failure to Properly Label and Store Food Items
Penalty
Summary
Surveyors identified a deficiency in the facility’s failure to ensure food was labeled and stored in accordance with professional standards. During a kitchen observation, a container of cooking wine was found in the walk-in dry storage with a use-by date of August 25, 2025, indicating it was past its use-by date at the time of the survey. In the large three-door freezer, peas and sliced carrots were stored in a blue plastic bag without any date labeling. Further observations of a nourishment refrigerator near a nurse station showed it was almost full and unorganized, with multiple food items that were unlabeled and undated. These included a plastic container with diced fruit in liquid, individual snacks and two triangle-shaped pieces of bread, a rectangular container with two round yellow substances on a white substance with dark speckles, a black container with pancakes and bacon, a styrofoam cup with what appeared to be vegetable soup with ice formation on top, and a large fruit cup with grapes, watermelon, and cantaloupe that had a past sell-through date but no facility-applied label. Additional items included a light blue container with what appeared to be meatballs and pasta with only “August 26” on the container and no complete date, and a black container with raspberries covered with light brownish fuzz mixed with blueberries that was also unlabeled and undated. Interviews with staff revealed inconsistent understanding and practices regarding responsibility for labeling and cleaning nourishment refrigerators. One cook stated the expired cooking wine was no longer good and acknowledged using the undated peas and carrots from the blue bag to prepare food the previous night. The cook also stated that CNAs were responsible for cleaning and discarding expired food from the nourishment refrigerator, while the Kitchen Dietary Director stated that specific kitchen staff were responsible for cleaning nourishment refrigerators on designated days. A dietary aide reported that she and the Dietary Director were responsible for cleaning all refrigerators and that food brought in by families should be labeled, dated, and used within 5 to 7 days. A CNA, however, stated that maintenance staff were responsible for cleaning nourishment refrigerators and that staff or families would label and date food brought in for residents. Facility policies reviewed by surveyors required that all refrigerated food be covered, labeled, dated, and monitored, and that foods brought from outside sources be labeled with the resident’s name and date and stored separately from facility food, which was not consistently followed in these observations.
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