La Bella of Mascoutah: Food Safety Failures Cited - IL
These are the residents of La Bella of Mascoutah, a 33-bed nursing home in southwestern Illinois. Federal inspectors visited in December 2025 following a complaint, and what they found over three days confirmed what residents had been saying for some time.
The food is bad. And sometimes it isn't safe.
On the afternoon of December 17, inspectors watched a dietary cook pull an industrial-sized pan of scalloped potatoes from the oven and set it on the stovetop beneath the hood vent. Thirty-four minutes later, the cook moved the pan to the steam table and began serving residents. No temperature check. After the last resident had been served, inspectors used a calibrated thermometer on the steam table and found the pork loin sitting at 123 degrees Fahrenheit, twelve degrees below the minimum safe holding temperature of 135 degrees.
The facility's own food temperature policy, revised as recently as December 30, 2024, states that hot foods must leave the kitchen or steam table at 135 degrees or above. The dietary manager told inspectors that afternoon that hot food temperatures should actually be between 170 and 190 degrees, and that temperatures are taken before serving specifically to prevent foodborne illness. On December 17, that didn't happen.
The resident council met the following afternoon, and the concerns came quickly.
One resident, identified in the report as R20, described a weekend meal of fettuccine where the noodles weren't cooked through. She said it wasn't fit to eat. She also described arriving late to the dining room one day because there wasn't enough staff to help her get there on time. She asked the cook for a grilled cheese. The cook said no, they didn't have time. R20 told inspectors she is hungry a lot because the food isn't edible. She added that she keeps snacks in her room, but acknowledged not everyone has that option.
Another resident, R1, said the portions are small, not even child-sized. R1 said the facility had recently switched to smaller drinking glasses as well, and attributed it directly to budget cuts.
R30 was more blunt. On weekends, R30 said, "we are screwed." The food is bad, there's an alternate menu available, but R30 said it's just as bad. That's when R30 mentioned the sardines and smoked ham, something to fall back on when the dining room comes up short.
A resident identified as R29, who is cognitively intact according to facility records and has been at the facility since at least late 2024, told inspectors on December 16 that the food is horrible, that she and other residents practically go hungry because it's awful, cold, and sometimes not enough of it.
The administrator, when interviewed on December 18, said the facility does not have a policy on food palatability or taste.
That's a notable gap. Whether food is safe to eat, measured in degrees, is one question. Whether food is actually edible, measured by whether residents will eat it, is another. La Bella of Mascoutah, by its own administrator's acknowledgment, has a written answer to the first question and nothing at all for the second.
Inspectors cited the facility under federal tag F0804, which covers quality and palatability of food served to residents. The citation was classified as minimal harm or potential for actual harm, with many residents affected.
Thirty-three people live at La Bella of Mascoutah. Some of them have family nearby, or snacks in their rooms, or the mobility to get to a store. R30 is planning a trip for sardines. But others, as R20 noted, don't have those options. For them, what comes out of that kitchen is what there is.
Full Inspection Report
The details above represent a summary of key findings. View the complete inspection report for La Bella of Mascoutah from 2025-12-19 including all violations, facility responses, and corrective action plans.
Additional Resources
Data source: Official federal inspection data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
Editorial process: AI-synthesized regulatory data, reviewed for accuracy by our editorial team.
Professional review: All content reviewed by Christopher F. Nesbitt, Sr., NH EMT & BU-trained Paralegal.
Last verified: June 19, 2026 · Our methodology
La Bella of Mascoutah in MASCOUTAH, IL was cited for violations during a health inspection on December 19, 2025.
These are the residents of La Bella of Mascoutah, a 33-bed nursing home in southwestern Illinois.
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.