MIAMI, FL. Back in February 2026, state inspectors walked into ASF Minimarket on Miami and found a convenience store operating without a valid food permit, selling hemp products it had no license to carry, and running a food service area where the hot water heater had been switched off.
The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services conducted the inspection on February 3, 2026, classifying it as an "Operating Without a Valid Food Permit" visit. Inspectors documented 13 total violations, including one priority violation and four priority-foundation violations. None were corrected before the inspection began.
What Inspectors Found
The single most direct food safety risk inspectors documented was in the retail area: raw shell eggs stored directly above milk inside a reach-in cooler next to a Bitcoin ATM. That is a priority violation, meaning inspectors consider it an immediate threat to public health. The eggs were moved during the inspection.
The hot water heater was turned off when inspectors arrived. Inspectors issued a stop-use order under Florida Statute 500.04 and 500.172, citing unsanitary equipment and improper plumbing. The heater was turned back on during the visit, but the stop-use order was formally issued and documented.
Hemp products were on display and available for sale. Inspectors noted the store "was found to be operating beyond the scope of their food permit" and that management agreed to voluntarily discontinue those sales. The products were removed from service during the inspection.
The store was also operating without a valid food permit altogether. An application had been submitted, according to the inspection record, and the establishment was directed to remit the appropriate fee within 10 days. A supplemental report was issued to management.
The person in charge could not correctly answer questions about foodborne illness symptoms or employee reporting responsibilities. Inspectors provided an employee health guide and reporting agreement by email.
No probe thermometer was available anywhere in the store to check temperatures of foods that require temperature control for safety. No sanitizer test kit was present at the three-compartment sink. Paper towels were missing at both the employee restroom handwashing sink and the sink next to the slicer in the food service area.
The Violations
The food service area produced a cluster of basic but compounding problems. Squeeze bottles holding condiments on the sandwich prep table were not labeled with a common name. A food employee was working with open food items without a hair restraint. There was no divider between the hand sink, three-compartment sink, and slicer, a setup that inspectors flagged as a single-service article storage violation.
There was no handwashing sign at the sink inside the employee restroom or at the sink next to the slicer. The store had no certified food protection manager and no certificate on file.
The establishment also had no written procedures for responding to vomit or diarrheal events on the premises, a priority-foundation requirement under food code section 2-501.11. Guidance was provided by email during the inspection.
Several violations were corrected on site during the visit, including the egg relocation, condiment labeling, handwashing signs, and hemp product removal. Others, including the lack of a certified food protection manager, the absence of a probe thermometer, and the operating-without-a-permit finding, were not resolved during the inspection itself.
What These Violations Mean
Operating without a valid food permit means the store had not been cleared by the state to sell food at all at the time of inspection. It also means the state had no routine inspection record for this location under a current license, making it harder to track whether problems had been accumulating undetected.
The raw egg and milk cross-contamination issue carries real risk. Raw shell eggs can carry Salmonella on their shells. Stored above ready-to-drink milk in an open cooler, any drip or crack transfers that contamination directly to a product customers consume without cooking. The fix is simple, but the fact that it required an inspector to prompt it is the concern.
The absence of a probe thermometer is a foundational gap. Without one, no one at the store could verify whether deli meats, dairy, or any other temperature-controlled food was being held at safe temperatures. A food that looks and smells fine can still carry dangerous bacterial loads if it has been sitting above 41 degrees long enough.
The person in charge's inability to answer basic questions about foodborne illness reporting is not a paperwork issue. It means that if an employee came to work sick, the person running the store may not have known to send them home or what symptoms require reporting to health authorities.
The Longer Record
The FDACS inspection record for ASF Minimarket does not reflect a long history of prior inspections at this location. The February 3, 2026 visit was triggered specifically because the store was found to be operating without a valid food permit, which is itself an unusual starting point for an inspection. A store without a current permit has not been subject to routine oversight.
That context matters. Thirteen violations on a first formal inspection, including an unlicensed operation finding, an unpermitted product line, and a stop-use order, paint a picture of a store that had been running outside the regulatory framework rather than one that had been inspected repeatedly and kept failing. Whether the store completed its permit application and remitted the required fee within the 10-day window the inspector specified was not reflected in the inspection record available at the time of this report.