Failure to Maintain Safe Food Storage, Sanitation, and Staff Practices
Penalty
Summary
Surveyors identified a deficiency in the facility’s failure to store and serve food and beverages in accordance with professional standards for food safety in the main kitchen and multiple nourishment pantries. In the walk‑in refrigerator, an open 5‑pound package of American cheese was found without a date mark, and the Food Service Director stated it had been opened that morning. In the dish room, the fan in the window opening on the clean side of the dish machine, as well as the ceiling and ceiling vents above the tray line, contained a light grey fuzzy substance; the Food Service Director reported that maintenance was responsible for cleaning these areas, and the Nursing Home Administrator later stated that the fan and vents were not on a routine cleaning schedule. During tray line service, three kitchen employees with facial hair were working without beard coverings, and the Food Service Director acknowledged that facility policy required beard nets if facial hair was at a particular length, but the requested policy was not provided. In nourishment pantries A, B, Medbridge, and C, surveyors observed additional failures to follow food safety and storage standards. In the A station pantry, the microwave contained dried yellow and red liquid, and the refrigerator held a half submarine sandwich labeled with a resident’s name but not dated, and a stromboli without any resident identifier or date; the Food Service Director stated she did not know who was responsible for cleaning the microwaves and confirmed that resident food items should be labeled with an identifier and date. In the Medbridge pantry, dried food was present in the microwave. In the B station pantry, a lunch bag containing a salad, meal, yogurt, and an energy drink was found, and the Food Service Director confirmed it did not belong to a resident and that staff food should not be stored in the resident refrigerator. In the C station pantry, a thawed vanilla nutritional shake without a pull or use‑by date and an energy drink without an identifier were observed; the Food Service Director could not determine when the shake had been thawed and believed the energy drink belonged to a staff member. The Nursing Home Administrator acknowledged that food should be stored within professional standards, staff food should not be stored in nourishment refrigerators, and resident food should be labeled with an identifier and date.
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