Unsanitary Food Storage and Expired Products in Dietary Areas
Penalty
Summary
Surveyors identified a deficiency in the facility’s food service operations related to storage and sanitation in the walk-in refrigerator and dry food storage area. During an observation of the walk-in refrigerator with the Dietary Manager, the floor under the food storage racks was found to have a buildup of grey-white debris that crumbled when touched, and several areas of the floor were raised, white, and fuzzy in appearance. The food storage racks themselves had a thick, grey, sticky substance on the metal shelving. The Dietary Manager stated that the food storage racks were last cleaned in January of the current year and reported that the walk-in refrigerator floor was scheduled to be replaced and, for that reason, had not been cleaned. In the dry food storage area, surveyors observed two unopened cartons of thickened liquid on a storage rack shelf with a use-by date that had already passed, as well as five cases of bottled water stored directly on the floor beneath the racks. The Dietary Manager stated she was responsible for putting away food stock upon delivery and acknowledged that the expired thickened liquid had been overlooked. She also explained that the bottled water had been placed on the floor approximately three weeks earlier during a facility water line break. The Administrator later stated that kitchen cleaning protocols, including those for the walk-in refrigerator, should have been followed, and that water should not be stored on the floor and expired food should be discarded.
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