Unsanitary Food Storage, Preparation, and Staff Hygiene Practices in Facility Kitchens
Penalty
Summary
Surveyors identified a deficiency in the facility’s failure to store and prepare food under sanitary conditions in both the South and North kitchens. During an initial tour of the South kitchen, surveyors observed grime build-up on a handwashing sink and backsplash, grime along the baseboards in a kitchen alcove, and a freezer without an internal thermometer, despite a temperature log entry having been taken from another freezer. In dry storage, bread was found unsealed and unlabeled, and in the refrigerator there were unsealed and unlabeled ham spread sandwiches, unlabeled salad dressing bottles, an unlabeled container of pancake batter with congealed batter on the outside, and an unsealed, unlabeled bread/bun bag with buns missing. Additional issues included two unlabeled bags of potato chips, an open and undated bag of Cheetos, plate covers stored upright rather than inverted, and the absence of sanitizing strips in the South kitchen. Equipment and surfaces were also unclean: fryer baskets were dirty, fryer oil contained old food pieces across the surface and on the sides, the dipping spatula was greasy and dirty, the floor had dirt, grease, and food debris, and the spike can opener and mounting bracket had rust and debris. The ice machine had hard water and calcium build-up and holes on its outer surface, and a cart labeled as clean, used for an ice chest for resident ice service, had dirty lower shelves with food debris, dirty napkins, and unsheathed straws. In the North kitchen, surveyors observed a dietary staff member with a beard and no hair restraint entering the food preparation area and later standing over the steam table to check food temperatures without a beard guard, contrary to facility policy requiring hair restraints in food preparation and serving areas. Environmental and equipment sanitation issues were also noted, including grease build-up on the outside panel of a deep fat fryer, crumbs at the bottom of a food steamer door, food debris around and on the counter next to a sink near the puree area, and a dirty, stained, wet wooden board behind the sink faucet with a rusty garbage disposal tool lying on the sink. The counter around the large electric food steamer had food debris underneath, in front, to the sides, and behind the unit. Dietary staff interviewed acknowledged that food should be sealed, labeled, and dated; that each refrigerator and freezer should have an internal thermometer with temperatures checked and logged daily; that staff with facial hair should wear beard guards; and that the observed practices did not follow facility policies on food storage and hair restraints. These observations formed the basis of the deficiency for failure to procure, store, prepare, and serve food in accordance with professional standards and facility policy.
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