Failure to Maintain Safe Hot Holding Temperatures for Served Food
Penalty
Summary
Surveyors identified a deficiency in the facility’s failure to ensure hot foods were served at safe temperatures in accordance with professional standards and the FDA Food Code. The daily census documented 63 residents in the facility. One cognitively intact resident with diabetes, morbid obesity, heart failure, and chronic kidney disease, who was on a NAS diet with a 2-liter fluid restriction and protein supplements, reported that her corned beef hash at the noon meal was served cold. Her care plan required that her nutritional diet be prepared and served as ordered. When surveyors entered the dining room shortly after this complaint, dietary staff were serving the noon meal from roasting pans because the kitchen was being remodeled. At the time of observation, the cook checked the temperatures of the foods in the roasting pans using a facility thermometer she stated was calibrated and accurate. The thermometer showed the corned beef hash at 110.0°F and the green beans at 130.0°F. The dietary manager stated that the corned beef hash should be 155–165°F and the green beans 145°F. Later, the cook rechecked the temperatures and found the green beans at 168.0°F and the corned beef hash at 129.0°F. The facility was unable to provide a policy related to food temperatures. According to the 2022 FDA Food Code, hot holding temperatures for TCS food must be maintained at 135°F or greater, and the measured temperatures of the corned beef hash and green beans were below this standard at the time of the initial check.
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