Surveyors found that kitchen staff failed to properly label and date multiple food items stored in the walk-in cooler, including slimy sliced tomatoes, ground meat, sliced ham, roast beef, cheese, and strawberries. Staff reported that they sometimes picked moldy strawberries out of shipments and that moldy dinner rolls had been served and then collected from residents. These practices did not follow the facility’s written policy requiring labeling, dating, and monitoring of refrigerated foods so they are used by their use-by date or discarded, placing all residents at risk for foodborne illness.
Surveyors found that dietary staff preparing and serving food did not wear required beard restraints despite visible facial hair, contrary to facility policy on employee personal hygiene. In addition, review of refrigerator temperature logs showed that two kitchen refrigerators had no recorded twice-daily temperature checks for a two-week period, with notes indicating the logs were lost, in violation of the facility’s policy requiring documented cooler and freezer temperatures to be maintained at or below 41°F.
The facility failed to maintain sanitary kitchen conditions by not ensuring staff with facial hair wore beard coverings while working in the kitchen. An employee with facial hair was observed without a beard cover, and another employee with facial hair was also observed without one and stated he should have been wearing a beard covering. A staff member confirmed that employees with facial hair are required to wear beard coverings, and the facility policy states that beard guards are worn for employees with beards.
Kitchen sanitation and food safety practices were deficient. Surveyors observed a reach-in cooler at 50 degrees, uncovered and undated food items, opened milk and multiple juice containers without labels or dates, and fryer oil, stove surfaces, the oven, and surrounding areas soiled with food debris. A staff member was also observed handling clean trays and dishes with soiled hands during dishwashing without washing hands first.
Unsafe food storage, temperature monitoring, and kitchen sanitation were observed in the dietary area. Expired food items were found in storage, food and debris were on the kitchen, freezer, cooler, and dry storage floors, a box of foam containers was stored on the floor, and kitchen surfaces and storage shelves had dirt, grease, and food buildup. The walk-in-cooler logs showed repeated temps above 41 degrees with no documented follow-up and multiple missed entries, and a pitcher of orange liquid in the cooler was left undated.
Surveyors found that during ongoing plumbing repairs, one end of the kitchen had large sheets of bare, stained plywood laid over missing tile, with surrounding floor areas showing debris and stains. Staff reported that holes had been dug under the flooring to fix drainpipes over the prior two weeks, and that plastic sheeting and tenting were used to contain dust and construction materials. Staff also stated they used plywood to avoid a tripping hazard and were waiting for new tile to arrive. These conditions did not comply with the FDA Food Code and the facility’s sanitation policy requiring cleanable, sanitary nonfood-contact surfaces and clean food service areas.
Dietary staff failed to follow sanitary food-handling and infection control practices during meal preparation and service. During a COVID-19 outbreak, two dietary staff worked in the food preparation area without infection control face masks. At breakfast, one staff member used the same gloved hands to handle trays, tray cards, food racks, and open juice glasses without changing gloves or performing hand hygiene, while another staff member handled sausages, muffins, eggs, cereal bowls, and plate surfaces with bare hands and no gloves or handwashing. At lunch, staff used bare hands to cut and plate pizza, scrape and arrange beans, place buns, and cut and plate sandwiches. A staff member reported that kitchen staff should never touch food with bare hands, confirming that these observed practices did not follow expected infection control standards.
Opened sugar bags were left improperly closed and undated in dry storage, kitchen equipment and surfaces in the dish area and microwave were heavily soiled, and ground beef and sausage were thawing at room temperature on a rack. During breakfast tray assembly, an employee used the same gloves to handle a plate, biscuit, gravy ladle, eggs, diet card, and fruit cup without changing gloves.
Food items were not properly date-marked or stored. During a kitchen observation, opened dry goods, deli turkey, lemonade, and cranberry juice lacked required open, receive, prepared, or discard dates, and 14 servings of peach parfait on a tray cart were uncovered, not chilled, and warm to the touch. An LPN stated opened items should have a receive date sticker and written open date, and the parfait should have been covered.
Surveyors identified a failure to store food according to professional standards when they observed multiple open and prepared food items in the walk-in freezer and refrigerator without labels or dates, including an open bag of French fries, cut tomatoes and onion wrapped in cellophane, and a half-empty pan of red Jello. The dietary supervisor reported that staff are instructed to check received and expiration dates, label and date all open and cut items, and use a posted "Use by Date Guide" as a reminder, and facility policy requires labeling, dating, monitoring refrigerated foods, and keeping foods covered or in tight containers.
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