, FL. A can of WD-40 was sitting on a shelf directly above a food preparation table at Cao Bakery and Cafe when a Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services inspector arrived on September 17, 2026.
That finding, along with employee medications stored in the same area, put toxic and pharmaceutical materials within reach of open food in the bakery's prep zone. Inspectors documented 11 total violations during the visit, four of them priority-level, meaning they carry the highest risk of causing foodborne illness.
What Inspectors Found
The toxic storage violation was straightforward in the inspector's account. A can of WD-40 was stored on a shelf above the food preparation table. Management removed it during the inspection. A separate notation documented employee medications in the same overhead position, also removed on site.
The temperature failure involved croquettes that had been fried just minutes before the inspector measured them. The inspector recorded temperatures between 118 and 129 degrees Fahrenheit, well below the 135-degree minimum required for hot-held food. The croquettes were placed in an oven, reheated to at least 165 degrees, and the inspector witnessed the correction.
The hand-washing violation captured a specific sequence: a food employee changed tasks, touched their face while wearing gloves, and then continued working with open foods without removing the gloves and washing their hands. The inspector noted the employee washed hands properly after the issue was raised, and proper procedures were discussed with management.
Ham and cheese sandwiches made on site were found wrapped during the cooling process in the walk-in cooler, which prevents heat from escaping and slows cooling to unsafe rates. Inspectors moved the sandwiches to the walk-in freezer until they reached the correct temperature.
An insect electrocution device was mounted on the ceiling directly over food preparation areas. That installation is a separate code concern: devices designed to kill flying insects by electrocution are not permitted over food prep surfaces because insect fragments can fall onto food below.
The establishment also could not produce documentation verifying that food employees had been informed of their responsibilities to report foodborne illness symptoms. That gap was not corrected on site.
What These Violations Mean
The storage of WD-40 above a food preparation table is not a paperwork problem. Petroleum-based lubricants are classified as toxic materials under food safety code for good reason: even trace contamination of food or food-contact surfaces can cause illness. The inspector's own notes place the can directly over the area where food is handled, not in a storage room or utility closet.
The temperature violations carry a different kind of risk. Hot-held food maintained below 135 degrees enters a range where bacteria multiply rapidly. Croquettes measured at 118 to 129 degrees, even if fried minutes earlier, had already dropped into that zone. The correction, reheating to 165 degrees, eliminates the bacteria that may have grown, but the violation documents that the monitoring system in place failed to catch the drop before the inspector arrived.
The hand-washing failure matters because gloves create a false sense of barrier protection. An employee who touches their face with gloves on and then handles open food transfers whatever is on the glove surface directly to the product. The inspector's account describes exactly that sequence happening in the food processing area.
The missing illness reporting documentation means there is no verified system in place to ensure employees know when they are required to report symptoms or stay home. That procedural gap remained unresolved when the inspector left.
The Longer Record
The inspection data for this visit does not include a prior inspections count, which limits a direct comparison to earlier visits. What the record does show is that none of the 11 violations documented on September 17 are marked as repeats, meaning inspectors did not flag any of them as problems previously cited and uncorrected.
The inspection concluded with a finding that the establishment met sanitation inspection requirements overall, which means the facility was not ordered closed and was not placed on an emergency stop-sale for any product category. That outcome reflects the number of corrections made during the visit itself.
Four of the priority violations were corrected on site and witnessed by the inspector. The missing illness reporting documentation, however, was not resolved before the inspector departed, and neither was the insect control device positioned over the prep area.
The thermometer the establishment provided for measuring food temperatures was found to be in disrepair. An accurate thermometer was provided during the inspection, but a facility whose own temperature-measuring equipment is broken raises a direct question about how temperature monitoring was being conducted before the inspector arrived.
