Improper Hair Restraint Use and Storage of Expired Food in Dietary Services
Penalty
Summary
Surveyors identified deficiencies in the facility’s food service operations related to improper use of hair restraints and failure to discard expired food items. During an initial kitchen observation, a cook was seen preparing vegetables at the food preparation counter without a beard net, despite having a beard. Multiple staff interviews, including with another cook and the Director of Nutritional Services, confirmed that facility policy requires hairnets and beard guards to be worn upon entering the kitchen to prevent hair from falling into food or onto plates. The facility’s written Kitchen Sanitation policy, last revised January 1, 2025, also states that all kitchen staff must wear hairnets and beard guards when needed. Surveyors also observed expired food items stored in the kitchen refrigerator. A container of pickled beets with a use-by date of February 27, 2026 was found on the third shelf of the refrigerator during the initial observation. On a subsequent observation, a gallon-sized ziplock bag containing several partial blocks of pasteurized processed white Swiss cheese was found with a received date of February 23, 2026 and a use-by date of March 3, 2026, but it had not been discarded. Staff interviews revealed that cooks and the Director of Nutritional Services are responsible for checking food dates twice weekly and labeling food with received and use-by dates, and that food is not to be served past the use-by date. When shown the expired cheese, a cook acknowledged it should have been discarded and stated that expired food could cause residents to get sick. Another cook and the Director of Nutritional Services similarly stated that food not discarded by the discard date could cause a potential outbreak and foodborne illness, and both acknowledged that the observed situations did not meet expectations or policy requirements.
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