Improper Food Labeling, Storage, and Kitchen Sanitation in Dietary Services
Penalty
Summary
Surveyors identified a deficiency in food labeling, storage, and protection from contamination affecting all 103 residents who received food from the facility’s kitchen. During an initial kitchen observation, multiple food items in the walk-in freezer, refrigerator, dry storage, countertop, and reach-in freezer were found open to air, without lids, and lacking open or expiration dates. These included a bag of frozen chips, a box of cinnamon rolls, an open container of beef base without a lid, elbow macaroni removed from original packaging and placed in an unlabeled plastic container, multiple bags of sliced bread and buns in various locations, and an open box of frozen hamburgers. On the spice rack, an open container of dill weed seasoning without a lid was observed, and on the back cabinets, Raisin Bran and Trix cereals had been removed from their original packaging and placed into plastic containers without open dates. The Dietary Manager stated that facility practice was to label and date all items when opened and to follow manufacturer expiration dates when items remained in original packaging, and confirmed that the observed items were not labeled or dated and that food should not be left open to air. Surveyors also observed sanitation and cleanliness issues in the kitchen environment. A set of keys was found sitting on the steam table serving area, the handwashing sink contained brown chunks and white debris, and the grill had black buildup between and underneath the grates, with a large accumulation of black residue on the grill foil. A review of the facility’s weekly cleaning list showed that the grill foil, grill grates, shelving, grill, and stovetop had been documented as cleaned on the two days prior to the observation. The Dietary Manager attributed the black buildup on the grill to cooking breakfast and suggested that staff may have had food on their hands when using the handwashing sink, and also acknowledged that keys should not have been left on the kitchen serving area. These conditions were inconsistent with the facility’s written policies requiring all foods stored in refrigerators, freezers, and dry storage bins to be covered, labeled, and dated, and requiring food service equipment and food-contact surfaces to be cleaned and sanitized at a frequency that prevents contamination.
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