Culinary Department Information

Your Apron or Uniform is NOT an appropriate place to dry your hands- or get something off your hands. Use
hand washing sinks and dry your hands thoroughly.

Your clothes are clean AND dirty. Don’t use your body to support clean or soiled dishes when carrying them.

If you must pick something off the floor (dropped utensils, etc.), wash your hands before going back to
serving. (Wash the utensil as well).

Open Garbage Cans using the foot Lever- Avoid touching with your hands (wash hands if directly working with
foods). Garbage lids must always be closed.

No BARE HAND CONTACT with Ready to eat foods- gloves doesn’t replace hand washing so make sure to use
your gloves appropriately. Use utensils whenever possible.

Hairnets are required in the kitchen. Beard nets if facial hair longer than stubble.

Hand washing Procedures

Follow the policy on hand washing- Soap/water, 20 seconds, dry/clean paper towel, turn off
water using clean paper towel.

When do you Wash your hands?

When beginning a task, when ending a task, before putting on gloves, after taking off gloves,
when switching tasks, after going to the bathroom, after eating, after drinking, when going
from the soiled side of the dish machine to the clean side, when your hands are visibly soiled.

What is your FIRE policy?

We use the acronym “RACE” to explain what we’d do if there were a fire
R= RESCUE/RESIDENT SAFETY (make residents safe, close door, isolate fire)
A= ALARM the fire and Pull the fire ALARM, notify other staff
C= CONFINE the fire (fire doors close, put wet towels under door)
E= EVACULATE and EXTINGUISH (brining any fire extinguishers available, extinguish if safe)
If the Fire is under the Hood- Pull the suppression system located on wall by the kitchen entrance.

What would you do if an emergency or disaster happens?

 Make sure residents are safe; follow the proper policy for the plan (fire/tornado/etc.).
 See the disaster plan book. Follow instructions given by charge nurse or management staff.
 There’s a special policy for Emergency Supply Foodservice

Keep it Clear
18” from the ceiling
3 ft in front of or ABC type
6” off the floor

Clear path to handwashing sinks

How many kinds of ABUSE are there?
6: Verbal, Sexual, Neglect, Physical, Emotional, Misappropriation of Property

What would you do if you saw a resident getting abused?

1. STOP the abuse… makes sure the resident is safe
2. Tell the nurse in charge
What would you do if you feel like nothing was getting done?
1. Tell Supervisor
2. Tell Director of Nursing
3. Tell the Administrator
3. Tell the CEO
What would you do if you still thought there was abuse or the investigations weren’t handled correctly?
1. Call the Bureau of Quality Assurance
2. Call the Ombudsmen
BOTH NUMBERS AND previous inspection information is located in the 1st floor lounge.

To sanitize surfaces, you must spray the area with Sanitation spray bottle, allow to air dry.

Clean Equipment Means

ALL Dust, debris, grease, food particles, stains and marks
are removed on ALL parts of the item.
Consider the workstation too dirty to put spoons or foods directly on counter.

If equipment is damaged or broken- notify supervisor immediately.

Discard broken, cracked or damaged small wares like plates, cups, acrylic pitchers and lids.

These items require daily cleaning: Ice Scoops, Dish Room Mats, Snack Carts, drink mix pitchers.

Wet towels need to be stored in sanitizing solution when not in use.

The slicer must be covered when not in use.

Wet Floor Signs are placed over wet floors for safety.

Cleaning supplies must be labeled with OSHA label!

If you have a bottle or bucket without a label- see the
Supervisor!

Cleaning supplies must be kept at least 12 inches away from food

contact surfaces to reduce risk for contamination.

Personal beverages must be covered and kept away from food.

(*Remember to wash your hands!)

You must wash your hands after touching your hair, face, nose – be conscious of not
touching!
SDS (Safety Data Sheets) book contains important info re: chemicals.
One specific for Dining is found near the office.
Sanitation/Ware washing
The dish washing temperature needs to 150°

The rinse cycle temperature needs to reach 180° on gage. We use test strips daily to ensure temperatures are
reached and Ecolab rep comes in routinely to check chemicals. Record temperatures on log each meal.

Three Compartment Sink works when you Wash, Rinse and Sanitize. We run everything through the
dishwasher to make sure it is sanitized to protect our residents.

Run sticker through machine daily to ensure temperature is high enough. (160°F). Place sticker on log.

Putting away dishes: clean hands, clean dishes, dry dishes (dishes are air-dried, do not use a towel or cloth)

Sanitizer Cleaning Buckets Test for correct concentration each morning - If the water gets dirty, change it,
otherwise change every 4 hours.

How do you test the sanitizer solution in the buckets/spray bottles?

Fill bucket at room temperature, take a test strip and hold it solution for 10 seconds. Compare test strip to
strip holder. It needs to read 150-400 ppm. Record in Log. Notify supervisor if outside range

Food Storage: We label and date everything that will not be used within 24 hrs.
 Label items with the delivery date as we take them out of the case –
unless the product has an expiration date on the container.
 Then label with the date you opened the item and SEAL TIGHTLY!

When putting away boxes up from delivery – face all vendor product labels to the
front - The delivery date is located under the barcode.

During Delivery – Get cases off the floor ASAP. Nothing can be stored on the floor!

Dented cans that have dents on seam, sharp dents or dents bigger than a finger
can’t be used. Pull from storage and give to the supervisor.
If you drop a can that causes a dent like above – sanitize the outside of can, open and store it appropriately- it
can be used within 3 days.

If you transfer individual foods to another container – put the sticker from the case on the new container, or
date with the day the case was delivered.

When stocking foods- do not “add” to the low container. Put fresh contents in clean containers, then label
and date that container. When the older container is empty- run it through the dishwasher.

How do you use foods (e.g. if there were 2 packages what would you check?)
A: FIFO, which is “First in, First Out” because we always use the items that have been here the longest, first.
 Discard leftovers within 3 days.
 Milks opened are good for 7 days or before expiration, whichever comes first.
 Dressings, Sauces, Chocolate Syrup, etc. should be discarded after 30 days, unless otherwise indicated.
Day One is the prep or pulled date.
 The temperature danger zone is the temperatures at which
bacteria rapidly grow- so we want to keep foods outside of
these temperatures. 41° to 135°

Minimum Cooking Temperatures

Leftovers 165° Ground Beef to at least 155° Eggs to
min 155° Pork to min 155° Chicken/turkey to min 165°
135 °F
Cold food should be held under 41°

Hot foods need to be held above 135°

If the temperatures are not ideal?

A: Re-Cook hot foods to 165°- If after serving, items are
discarded
B: Cool Cold foods down to < 41- If after serving, items are
discarded

Cooling Items: Bring food temperature down from 135°F to

below 70° within 2 hours and below 40° within another 4
hours. Cut roasts down, so they are in smaller pieces. Put
foods in shallow pans.

Thaw foods in the refrigerator. If it is a last-minute item, we thaw under cold running water

Take temperatures of items when taking out of oven/steamer, to ensure minimum temperature was met.
Check all items and every texture on steam table. Record holding temperature from the steam well.
When processing mechanically altered textures, ensure they maintained at least 135°F, or reheat to 165°F

Refrigerators must be maintained less than 41°F

Freezers must be cold enough to keep items frozen. We
target 0°F
Record refrigerator temperatures on log.

***NEVER store these items next to raw meats***

Top Shelf - -> Prepared Foods
Next shelf -> Vegetables/Fruits

Store raw meats on the bottom shelf on pan or tub

Fish -> Bottom shelf or above other meats
Beef Pork -> Bottom shelf or above ground meats/poultry
Ground Meat -> Bottom shelf or above Poultry
Poultry -> Bottom Shelf

ALL STORED ITEMS MUST BE SEALED TIGHTLY

 There are times you CAN’T work – Tell your supervisor immediately if you have
Fever – above 100.5°F
Sore throat with fever
Vomiting
Jaundice
Lesions containing pus on the hand, wrist or an exposed body part
(e.g. boils, infected wounds)

If you’re diagnosed with …

Salmonellosis (Salmonella spp.), Shigellosis (Shigella spp.), Shiga toxin-
producing E. coli, Hepatitis A (hepatitis A virus)
or other pathogen that can be transmitted through food such as:
Entamoeba histolytica, Campylobacter spp.; Norovirus; Cryptosporidium
spp.; Giardia spp.; Yersinia enterocolitica; Staphylococcus aureus; or
Listeria monocytogenes.

If you’re unable to come in for your shift

- call into work at least 2 hours before the start of your shift
- call your supervisor
- If you cannot get ahold of supervisor – call the facility. You MUST talk with a real live person

The staffing ratio is posting outside the DON’s office.

The entire kitchen is backed-up by a generator in case of emergency

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Special Notes
 Always wear your nametag. If you’ve misplaced yours, see the Dining Supervisor
 Always address residents by name, NOT “honey”, “dear” or “the hip fracture in room 99”
 Always knock on the resident’s door before entering their room. Wait for response to come in if
resident can respond.
 Everyone is responsible for answering call lights. If you can’t help the resident, let them know you will
find someone who can (and find them)!
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Inspection Questions If an inspector asks you ANY question that you are not 100% sure on, or are too
nervous to answer --- it’s ok to say “I will find out and get back to you”.

Common Problems
 Improper food storage- (No Label/date – Dirty, Not sealed tightly
 Improper glove use
 Improper hand washing (when, where, how)
 Cleaning! Floors and Equipment
 Improper Handling and Storage of Dishes- Storing of Dishes- Clean, Dry- handling utensils by bases/ends.
 Improper Food Temperatures- heating and cooling
 Keeping Hot Foods Hot and Cold Foods Cold (don’t leave on counters) - put in shallow pans and take out in
small batches when serving).
 Improper handling of Dirty Linen (linens/aprons)

Ask Questions if you need Clarification!