Failure to Maintain Kitchen Sanitation and Proper Food Labeling
Penalty
Summary
The deficiency involves failure to maintain proper sanitation and food labeling practices in the main kitchen and nourishment areas. Surveyors observed a puddle of milk from two busted 8-ounce milk cartons on the floor under storage racks in the walk-in refrigerator during the initial kitchen tour with the Dietary Manager. Although the Dietary Manager stated the walk-in refrigerator floor was swept multiple times a day and had been swept the previous night, the same puddle of milk remained uncleaned several hours later during a follow-up observation. The Dietary Manager stated he planned to clean the floor after lunch and that his expectation was for staff to check the condition of the walk-in refrigerator between meals and clean spills as soon as they saw them. A dietary aide later stated the walk-in refrigerator should be checked and cleaned daily and that he cleaned spills right away when assigned those tasks, but he was not assigned those tasks on the day in question. The Administrator stated his expectation was that nothing should be on the floor in kitchen areas and that all spills should be cleaned up as soon as possible. Additional deficiencies were identified in food labeling and dating practices. In the dry goods pantry, surveyors observed two opened non-perishable food items (brown sugar and cereal) stored in their original clear packaging, without the original box containing the expiration date, and not labeled or dated. The Dietary Manager stated he expected staff to date all food items once opened and that he checked the pantry each morning, but he could not explain why these items lacked open dates. Another Dietary Manager stated the walk-in refrigerator, freezer, and dry pantry were supposed to be checked at least once a day, usually by the manager, though other staff could be delegated. In a nourishment room refrigerator, surveyors observed three plastic cups of apple juice with plastic lids that were not dated. The second Dietary Manager reported seeing a nurse aide place the cups in the refrigerator and stated that nourishment refrigerators were for resident use only and that kitchen staff were responsible for checking temperatures and contents daily. The nurse aide confirmed placing the juice cups in the refrigerator, acknowledged they should have been dated, and stated he normally dated items but became distracted and did not do so. The Administrator stated his expectation that anything placed in nourishment refrigerators must be labeled and dated.
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