ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, FL. Back in March 2026, a state inspector walked into a Chevron convenience store in Altamonte Springs and found hemp extract products sitting in a glass display case that were, in the inspector's own words, "in the shape of an animal, human, or cartoon" or bearing "any resemblance to an existing candy product." The manager voluntarily discarded them on the spot.
That was one of thirteen violations documented at Altamonte Chevron during a March 10 inspection by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. The store was operating that day without a valid food permit, and inspectors placed stop use orders on food service equipment throughout the building.
What Inspectors Found
The permit violation alone was enough to trigger a required re-inspection. The inspector noted the store "has not provided proper water and sewer documentation," a basic requirement for any food establishment to legally operate.
The hemp product problems went beyond the cartoon shapes. Multiple stop sale orders were issued for labeling failures: products in the display case had no expiration dates, no serving sizes, and no statement of milligrams of each cannabinoid per serving. Several also lacked a scannable barcode or QR code linking to a certificate of analysis, a requirement under Florida law. The manager discarded the non-compliant products during the visit.
The handwashing situation drew some of the most direct enforcement action of the inspection. Near the Dunn Brand slushi drink machine and a Peanut Patch boiled peanut crock pot in the retail area, the inspector found no handwashing sink with hot running water. Both pieces of equipment were placed under stop use orders. A second stop use order covered the warewash sink in the back room, also cited for lacking a nearby handwashing sink.
The inspector documented the path to getting those orders lifted: the store must contact the Business Center in Tallahassee and request a release once handwashing sinks with hot running water are installed in both the food service area and the back warewash room.
The person in charge that day was unable to correctly answer questions about foodborne diseases, symptoms, and employee reporting responsibilities. The inspector provided an employee health handout. No certified food protection manager was on site or available, and the store had no written cleanup procedures for vomit or diarrheal events.
In the back room, boxes, old shelving, and equipment were stacked in the warewash and storage area, which the inspector flagged as creating "possible harborage conditions." Packaged snack chips in the retail aisle were sitting on the bottom shelf, not the required six inches above the floor. Ice had built up along the interior walls of the reach-in ice cream coffin freezer.
What These Violations Mean
Operating without a valid food permit is not a paperwork technicality. It means the state has not verified that the facility meets minimum health and safety requirements, including water and sewer infrastructure, to legally sell food to the public. Anyone who bought food or drinks at this store in March 2026 was shopping at an establishment that had not cleared that threshold.
The missing handwashing sinks near food prep areas are a direct contamination risk. The slushi machine and the boiled peanut crock pot both involve food or drink that customers consume without further cooking. Without a handwashing sink nearby, employees handling those products had no compliant way to wash their hands between tasks. That is why both machines were shut down on the spot.
The hemp product violations carry a separate layer of concern. Florida law requires hemp edibles sold to the public to carry expiration dates, cannabinoid content per serving, and a QR code linking to lab testing results. Those requirements exist so consumers know what they are ingesting and so there is a paper trail if someone is harmed. Products shaped like cartoon characters or candy raise a specific child safety issue: state law prohibits hemp products designed to appeal to minors, and the inspector found multiple such items on the shelf.
The person in charge's inability to answer basic questions about foodborne illness reporting is a structural problem. When employees get sick and the person running the store does not know the reporting rules, sick workers can end up handling food, which is one of the most direct routes for illness to spread to customers.
The Longer Record
The March 2026 inspection was not the first time state inspectors had visited this location. FDACS records show one prior inspection on file, conducted on February 23, 2023, which turned up six violations but resulted in a "Met Inspection Requirements" outcome.
Three years later, the violation count had more than doubled, and the store was operating without a valid permit. The 2023 inspection left no documented repeat violations in the 2026 record, but the gap between the two visits, and the severity of what inspectors found on the second, suggests the intervening years did not bring the facility into stronger compliance.
None of the thirteen violations from the March 2026 inspection were corrected on site, with the exception of the hemp products the manager voluntarily discarded. The stop use orders on the slushi machine, the boiled peanut crock pot, and the warewash sink remained in place at the close of the inspection, contingent on the installation of handwashing sinks the store did not yet have.