JACKSONVILLE, FL. Back in February 2026, state inspectors walked into Carroll's Meat Shoppe, a meat market retail operation in Jacksonville, and found raw beef stored directly above ready-to-eat hams in the walk-in cooler.
That was not the only cross-contamination problem. In the retail display case, raw chitterling loaves were positioned above ready-to-eat hot dogs. Inspectors noted both issues and had products rearranged before they left.
What Inspectors Found
The February 13 inspection produced five violations in total: one priority, one repeat, and three priority foundation citations. None were corrected before the inspection began; all were addressed during the visit.
The repeat violation involved thawing. Inspectors found cases of meat sitting out at room temperature in the meat room, a practice the state prohibits. The inspector's notes read: "Cases of meat thawing at room temperature." Products were moved to the walk-in cooler to finish thawing, but the citation was marked repeat, meaning inspectors had flagged the same problem at Carroll's before.
Two separate handsinks were blocked when inspectors arrived. In the smoker room, a bucket had been stored in the basin. In the meat room, utensils were sitting in the sink. Both were cleared during the inspection.
Several chubs of deli meat in the service area carried no date mark. Inspectors determined when the products had been opened and required staff to label them on the spot.
The shop also lacked written procedures for handling vomiting and diarrheal events, a document state rules require every food establishment to have on hand. Inspectors provided a guidance document before leaving.
What These Violations Mean
The most serious citation, raw animal food stored above ready-to-eat products, is a direct contamination risk. Raw beef and raw chitterlings carry bacteria including Salmonella and E. coli. When stored above products like hams and hot dogs that will not be cooked again before a customer eats them, any drip or leak can transfer those pathogens directly onto food with no kill step remaining. At Carroll's, this was happening in two separate locations: the walk-in cooler and the retail display case.
The repeat thawing violation carries its own risk. Thawing meat at room temperature allows the outer surface of the product to warm into the temperature danger zone, between 41 and 135 degrees Fahrenheit, while the interior is still frozen. Bacteria multiply rapidly in that range. The fact that inspectors had cited this same practice at Carroll's before and found it again in February makes it a documented pattern, not a one-time lapse.
Blocked handsinks are treated seriously in food safety law because they are a proxy for whether handwashing is actually happening. A sink with a bucket or utensils stored in the basin is a sink that employees cannot use quickly. In a meat market where workers handle raw product continuously, that matters.
Missing date marks on deli meats are not a paperwork technicality. Ready-to-eat foods held under refrigeration can grow Listeria monocytogenes over time, even at proper temperatures. Date marking exists so that staff, and inspectors, can verify that products are not being held past safe limits. When the marks are absent, there is no way to know.
The Longer Record
The state's inspection data for Carroll's Meat Shoppe does not include a detailed count of prior inspections in this data set, but the repeat designation on the thawing violation confirms that FDACS inspectors have been to this location before and documented the same room-temperature thawing problem. A violation earns that label only when the same issue appears across multiple inspection cycles.
The February 2026 visit was recorded as a Met Sanitation Inspection Requirements outcome, meaning the shop was not ordered closed and was considered to have met standards by the end of the inspection. That outcome reflects the corrections made on site during the visit.
What the record does not show is whether the corrections held. None of the five violations were addressed before inspectors arrived. The repeat thawing citation, in particular, had been identified previously and was still present when inspectors walked in on February 13.
Corrections and What Remained
Every violation documented during the February inspection was corrected during the visit. Raw products were rearranged in the cooler and in the retail case. Meat cases were moved from the counter to the walk-in to finish thawing. Both blocked handsinks were cleared. Deli meats were date marked. A vomiting and diarrheal event procedure was provided by the inspector.
What the inspection record cannot resolve is whether the room-temperature thawing practice, cited at least twice now at this location, will appear again the next time an inspector walks through the meat room door.