TAMPA, FL. Back in February 2026, state inspectors walked into Bearss Food Mart and found bags of flour, sugar, cornmeal, rice, and pasta sitting on the retail floor, all of them infested with insects.
That was not the only problem. The store was operating without a valid food permit, a condition inspectors tied directly to documented rodent activity on the premises.
What Inspectors Found
The inspector's report on the drink storage room was direct: "Rodent droppings observed in travel path, behind shelving and under equipment in drink storage room." A stop use order was issued for that room. The store had failed to meet the requirements for a food permit because of that rodent activity, the report states, yet it was open and selling to customers.
The infested staple foods were voluntarily discarded by the person in charge as the inspector watched. Stop sale and release orders were issued for those products.
The ice maker carried its own contamination. Inspectors documented black mold-like buildup on the ice deflector shield and on the internal top of the ice bin. That violation was corrected on site, with the unit cleaned and sanitized during the inspection.
The walk-in drink cooler presented a separate concern. Dust, grime, and what the inspector described as "black mold-like buildup" coated the condenser fan guards and the ceiling in front of the fans. That was not corrected during the visit.
The floor throughout the retail area, the soda storage room, and the entire back storage area showed old spills, grime, and debris. The self-service under-counter cabinets were unclean. The restroom handwashing sink was unclean, and the restroom door was not self-closing.
Kratom, Ice Testing, and a Repeat Violation
Inspectors also found multiple kratom products on the retail floor that were improperly labeled under Florida's emergency rule 5KER25-6. The rule requires kratom products to display the concentration of 7-Hydroxymitragynine in parts per million on a dry-weight basis. Some products were voluntarily discarded. Stop sale orders were issued for the remainder.
A second set of kratom products lacked a supplement facts panel or nutrition facts panel entirely. Those also received stop sale orders.
The ice testing violation was marked as a repeat. The store bags ice on site, which requires periodic microbial analysis by an approved laboratory. Inspectors noted that the last ice test had been conducted more than three months before the February visit, and no results were available. The establishment was given 30 days to obtain and submit satisfactory results.
That same bagged ice was not labeled with the store's name and address, a separate violation that was corrected on site during the inspection.
Raw bacon was found stored above ready-to-eat foods in the stand-alone meat and dairy cooler. The bacon was moved to the bottom shelf during the visit. Spoons used for dispensing boiled peanuts had not been cleaned and sanitized within the required four-hour window. They were cleaned during the inspection.
When the inspector arrived, no person in charge was present. The clerk on duty confirmed it. Three additional intermediate violations followed from that absence: employees had not been informed in a verifiable manner of their responsibility to report health conditions related to foodborne illness, the person in charge could not correctly answer questions about preventing foodborne illness, and the store had no written procedures for responding to vomiting or diarrheal events.
The store also had no certified food protection manager.
Of the 20 violations documented that day, not one was corrected before the inspector left, except those specifically noted as corrected on site during the visit. The inspection was classified as a re-inspection required.
What These Violations Mean
Operating without a valid food permit, and failing to obtain one because of active rodent activity, is not a paperwork problem. Rodents contaminate surfaces and food packaging with droppings, urine, and fur, all of which carry pathogens including Salmonella and Hantavirus. A stop use order on the drink storage room means inspectors determined that area was not safe for continued use. Anyone who purchased a beverage from that cooler before the inspection had no way of knowing rodent droppings had been found in the path leading to it.
Insect-infested staple foods represent adulteration under Florida law. Flour, cornmeal, rice, and pasta compromised by insects cannot be safely consumed and cannot be traced to any specific harm after the fact, which is exactly why stop sale orders exist.
The kratom labeling violations carry a different kind of risk. Kratom products contain alkaloids with psychoactive and physiological effects. Without required concentration labeling, a customer purchasing those products at Bearss Food Mart had no way to assess the dose they were buying.
The repeat ice testing violation matters because bagged ice is a food product. Without periodic microbial analysis, there is no documented verification that the ice being sold is free of bacterial contamination. The last test was more than three months old at the time of the February inspection.
The Longer Record
The February 4, 2026 inspection was not the first time inspectors found serious problems at Bearss Food Mart. Records show seven inspections on file going back to September 2023.
The most comparable prior visit came on September 2, 2025, when inspectors documented 25 violations and required a re-inspection. A focused inspection two weeks later found no violations, but the pattern resumed. The September 16, 2025 re-inspection still turned up 11 violations, including one repeat, and required yet another follow-up.
By February 4, 2026, the store was back to 20 violations, operating without a permit, and carrying a repeat citation for the same ice testing deficiency that had appeared before. A re-inspection on February 18, 2026 found 9 violations, still including one repeat. A focused inspection on March 5, 2026 recorded zero violations.
The ice testing violation had been flagged before the February 2026 inspection. It was flagged again on February 18. That is the same deficiency, across multiple visits, still unresolved weeks after inspectors first documented it.