Unsanitary Food Storage, Preparation, and Serving Practices
Penalty
Summary
The deficiency involves the facility’s failure to store, prepare, and serve food in a safe and sanitary manner in accordance with professional standards, affecting 67 residents who received food from the kitchen. Surveyors observed an air vent in the kitchen ceiling leaking condensation water from the air conditioning unit, with droplets falling onto the floor adjacent to an actively used food preparation table and splashing onto clean dishes stored below. Additional observations in the kitchen included dust on the ceiling and black residue on the fan shields in the walk-in cooler, as well as an unclean sheet of wood with black residue covering a hole in the floor under a preparation area, which staff acknowledged could not be cleaned. Two knives with broken tips and two knives with chipped paint on the blades were stored on the magnetic knife strip, and the dietary manager confirmed these knives were not safe to use and should not have been stored in the kitchen. Surveyors also observed unsanitary practices related to food and utensil handling. An activities assistant was seen passing drinks using a metal water dispenser that was unclean, with brown residue and discolored tape on the lid; the assistant stated the tape was used because the lid frequently came off and acknowledged the dispenser was difficult to clean due to the tape. A staff member preparing food was observed adjusting his glasses with gloved hands and then pureeing steamed broccoli without changing gloves or washing hands, and later using a rubber spatula that had been dipped briefly in sanitizer and not allowed the required contact time or air-drying before returning it to food preparation. During tray line observation, food and utensils were placed on wet trays that still had sanitizer on them because the trays were stacked while wet and there was no place to allow them to air dry. These conditions and practices were inconsistent with the facility’s sanitization policy, which required kitchen areas, utensils, and equipment to be kept clean, in good repair, free from damage, and allowed to air dry.
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