PEMBROKE PINES, FL. Back in October 2025, a Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services inspector walked through Bravo Supermarket #0017 on a routine sanitation check and found a meat department employee who had left the service counter to retrieve soap, then returned to work with open foods without stopping to wash his hands. A manager had to be consulted before the employee washed up.
That was one of 23 violations inspectors documented at the Pembroke Pines store on October 24, 2025. Two of those violations were classified as priority, the highest severity level in the state's inspection framework.
What Inspectors Found
The handwashing failure in the meat department was not the only hand hygiene problem inspectors recorded that day. In the seafood area, an employee was observed washing hands in the ware wash sink rather than a designated handwashing sink. That violation was not corrected on site.
The meat cutting room also had no soap at its hand sink when inspectors arrived. Soap was provided during the inspection, but the absence means workers in that area had no means to properly wash hands before the inspector pointed it out.
Inspectors also found multiple spray bottles of chemical cleaner stored directly on top of a labeling machine in the meat cutting room. Those were moved during the inspection. A separate unlabeled spray bottle of cleaner was found under a prep table in the produce area, a violation that was not resolved before inspectors left.
The seafood area had assorted fish stored uncovered inside the walk-in cooler. A portable pressure cleaner was stored on a shelf directly above a cutting table at the seafood service counter, a physical facilities violation that was corrected after inspectors flagged it.
Band saws in the meat cutting room and at the service counter had rust buildup, chipped paint, and wood blocks used to level the equipment. Inspectors noted soil and dried food buildup on the band saw arm and the underside of the meat slide. The store's produce area had multiple cutting boards that were scored and pitted, and soil buildup was documented on the outside of ice machines and the produce wrap station.
Packaged foods in the backroom were stored on the floor inside walk-in coolers and freezers. Packaged corn meal was found on the floor in the retail area. Single-service meat trays and plastic containers were also stored on the floor in the storage room.
In-house packaged cheese bread in the retail area was not labeled with its ingredients. Inspectors noted it was removed from self-service retail sale and placed in a display case to be served to customers instead.
The store also could not produce written procedures for employees to follow in the event of a vomit or diarrhea cleanup, a requirement under state food safety rules. The person in charge at the time of the inspection could not show those written procedures when asked.
What These Violations Mean
The handwashing violations are the most direct public health concern in this inspection record. When a meat department employee handles open, unpackaged food without washing hands, any pathogens picked up on surfaces outside the counter, including raw meat residue, can transfer directly to product that customers will take home. The fact that a manager had to intervene before the employee washed his hands suggests the behavior was not self-correcting.
Using a ware wash sink for handwashing is a separate but related problem. Ware wash sinks are used to clean equipment and may carry chemical residue or food debris. They are not designed or maintained for hand hygiene, and washing hands there does not meet the same sanitation standard as a dedicated handwashing sink.
Unlabeled chemical spray bottles create a contamination risk that is easy to underestimate. If a bottle is not labeled, a worker cannot confirm what it contains before using it near food or food-contact surfaces. An unlabeled cleaner stored under a produce prep table is in close proximity to food that shoppers buy without additional cooking.
The absence of written vomit and diarrhea cleanup procedures may seem administrative, but it is not. Those procedures exist to prevent norovirus and other pathogens from spreading through a facility after an incident. Without written protocols, there is no guarantee that staff know to use the right disinfectant concentration or to isolate the affected area.
The Longer Record
The October 24 inspection was not the first time state inspectors have visited this location. Records show 33 total inspections on file for the facility, with 261 total violations accumulated across that history. The store has never been issued an emergency closure order.
The inspection record immediately surrounding the October 24 visit tells a mixed story. A focused inspection on October 13, 2025, just eleven days before, found zero violations. But a follow-up focused inspection on October 30, six days after the main inspection, found one violation marked as a repeat.
The most comparable prior inspection was in October 2023, when inspectors documented eight violations. The jump to 23 violations in October 2024 represents a significant increase in documented problems at the same time of year.
None of the 23 violations from October 24 were marked as repeats from prior inspections. But the overall record of 261 violations across 33 inspections places this location among facilities that inspectors have returned to frequently, and the October 30 follow-up finding a repeat violation suggests at least one problem from the main inspection had not been fully resolved within the week.
The seafood area employee washing hands in the wrong sink, the unlabeled chemical bottle in the produce area, and the uncovered fish in the walk-in cooler were all unresolved when inspectors left on October 24.
