MIRAMAR, FL. Back in February 2026, a state food safety inspector walked into a Miramar Chevron and found the tongs being used to handle empanadas, hot dogs, and ham and cheese bread inside the hot box had gone more than four hours without being washed, rinsed, or sanitized.
The inspector's own notes described it plainly: "Tongs used for empanadas, hot dogs, ham and cheese bread inside hot box were found in use after more than 4 hours without being washed, rinsed, and sanitized." That is a priority violation, one of two flagged during the February 18 inspection of the Chevron convenience store in Miramar.
The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services conducted the inspection and recorded eight violations in total, including two priority violations, one priority foundation violation marked as a repeat, and several others in the priority foundation category. None were corrected before the inspector arrived. All corrections noted in the report happened during the visit itself.
What Inspectors Found
In the backroom, a bottle of Pine-Sol and a bottle of Windex were sitting on a shelf directly next to utensils. The inspector noted the chemicals were moved to appropriate locations during the visit. That is the second priority violation.
The hand wash sink next to the three-compartment sink was blocked by a rolling reach-in freezer. The same sink had no soap and no paper towels available. Both problems were corrected during the inspection, but neither should have existed when the inspector walked in.
The ware washing area had no chemical sanitizer available and no chlorine sanitizer test kit at the three-compartment sink. A test strip was provided during the visit. The establishment also had no written procedures for responding to vomiting or diarrheal events, and inspectors provided guidance by email.
The Repeat Violation
The certified food protection manager violation was not new. Inspectors flagged it as a repeat, meaning the same deficiency had been documented in a prior inspection. The certificate was not available at the time of the February visit.
State food safety rules require at least one employee with a certified food protection manager credential to be on record at a food establishment. The repeat designation means this store had already been told about the requirement and still had not resolved it.
The establishment also could not produce documentation showing employees had been informed of their responsibilities for reporting symptoms or illness that could be linked to foodborne illness. No verification of any kind was available.
What These Violations Mean
The unsanitized tongs are the most direct risk to anyone who bought a hot food item at this location. Tongs that handle ready-to-eat food, like empanadas and hot dogs sitting in a hot box, need to be washed, rinsed, and sanitized at least every four hours. After that window, bacteria that transferred to the tongs from earlier handling can multiply and transfer back to the next item a customer picks up. At this Chevron, the tongs had already passed that threshold when the inspector arrived.
The chemical storage violation carries a different kind of risk. Pine-Sol and Windex stored on the same shelf as utensils creates a direct contamination pathway. If either bottle leaked, spilled, or was mistakenly grabbed, cleaning chemicals could end up on surfaces that touch food. The inspector moved the bottles during the visit, but the placement suggests routine storage habits that pre-dated the inspection.
The blocked and unequipped hand wash sink is a foundational problem. When the sink next to the three-compartment sink has no soap, no paper towels, and is obstructed by a freezer, employees cannot wash their hands effectively after handling food, chemicals, or waste. That is not a paperwork issue. It is the most basic mechanism for preventing contamination, and it was not functional when the inspector arrived.
The absence of employee illness reporting documentation means there is no verifiable system to keep a sick worker away from food handling. That gap is harder to see than a blocked sink, but it matters just as much.
The Longer Record
The repeat violation for the certified food protection manager credential is the clearest signal in this inspection record. A repeat designation means the store had prior notice and did not fix it before the next inspection cycle. That is not an oversight. It is a pattern.
The February 2026 inspection resulted in a "Met Sanitation Inspection Requirements" outcome, meaning the store was not ordered closed and was considered to have addressed the violations during the visit. But zero violations were corrected before the inspector's arrival. Every fix in the report happened because the inspector was standing there.
The certified food protection manager certificate was still not available at the time of the February 18 inspection.