Carmel Mountain Rehab: Expired Food Found in Fridges - CA
That was not all. A reach-in refrigerator nearby held six small plastic containers of peaches with a use-by date of April 20. The inspection was being conducted on April 21. The Dietary Services Supervisor, standing alongside the inspectors during the tour, acknowledged both items should have been thrown out on their use-by dates. The supervisor said expired food had the potential to cause foodborne illness to residents.
Three days later, inspectors moved to the nursing unit and opened those refrigerators too. Three containers of yogurt had expired. The Nurse Manager present said the yogurt should have been discarded and that checking the refrigerator for dates was her responsibility.
Nobody had.
The facility's own policy, dated 2023, spells out the system that was supposed to prevent exactly this. All food items in refrigerators must be labeled and dated. The use-by date is described in the policy as the absolute date by which food must be consumed or thrown away. A PM diet aide or PM staff member is assigned to inspect refrigerators and discard perishable items once daily.
The Registered Dietitian, interviewed on April 24 at 11 a.m., explained that residents were permitted to bring food from home and that staff were responsible for labeling and dating those items as well. Kitchen staff and nursing staff shared responsibility for monitoring expiration dates across both the kitchen and the unit refrigerators. The RD said monitoring refrigerated foods for expiration was important to prevent foodborne illness.
The inspection report classified the violation at a level of minimal harm or potential for actual harm, with some residents affected. The concern was straightforward: residents who received food from the kitchen or the nursing unit refrigerator could have consumed something past its safe use-by date.
Foodborne illness in a nursing home population carries risks that would not apply the same way to a younger, healthier group. Residents in long-term care facilities are often elderly, immunocompromised, or managing chronic conditions that make infections harder to recover from. The facility's own dietary supervisor used the words "foodborne illness" without prompting when asked about the expired items.
What the inspection captured was not a single oversight but a pattern across two separate areas of the building, discovered on two separate days. The cheese had been sitting in the walk-in refrigerator since at least April 17. The peaches since April 20. The yogurt containers in the nursing unit had their own expiration dates that had passed before anyone removed them.
The daily inspection the policy required had not caught any of it.
Carmel Mountain Rehabilitation & Healthcare Center operates at 11895 Avenue of Industry in San Diego. The inspection was completed April 24, 2025.
The Nurse Manager who said checking the refrigerator was her job did not offer an explanation for why the yogurt had not been removed. The inspection report does not record one.
Full Inspection Report
The details above represent a summary of key findings. View the complete inspection report for Carmel Mountain Rehabilitation & Healthcare Center from 2025-04-24 including all violations, facility responses, and corrective action plans.
Additional Resources
Data source: This article is based on inspection data downloaded directly from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) via Medicare.gov. CMS releases inspection reports in bulk; we publish the findings as documented by state surveyors in the official Form CMS-2567 Statement of Deficiencies.
Plan of correction: The CMS report we receive does not include the facility's plan of correction. Facilities submit plans of correction separately to state survey agencies and those responses may not be reflected in CMS data at the time of publication. The absence of a plan of correction in our data does not mean one was not filed. Readers who want information about corrective steps taken are encouraged to contact the facility directly or their state survey agency.
Corrections may have occurred: Inspection reports reflect conditions observed on the date of the survey. Facilities may have implemented corrections, staffing changes, additional training, or other remediation since the report was issued. We report what CMS provides and encourage readers to seek current information from the facility.
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Last verified: November 4, 2026 · Our methodology
CARMEL MOUNTAIN REHABILITATION & HEALTHCARE CENTER in SAN DIEGO, CA was cited for violations during a health inspection on April 24, 2025.
A reach-in refrigerator nearby held six small plastic containers of peaches with a use-by date of April 20.
Health inspections identify deficiencies that facilities must correct. Violations range from minor documentation issues to serious safety concerns. Review the full report below for specific details and facility response.