MIAMI, FL. Back in January 2026, state inspectors visiting El Faro Supermarket on Northwest 7th Street found that the grocery had no probe thermometer anywhere on the premises to check whether the food in its deli cases, coolers, or prep areas was being held at safe temperatures.
The inspector noted the absence plainly: "No probe thermometer available in the food establishment to assess cooking, cooling, reheating, hot and cold holding temperatures throughout the establishment." A thermometer was obtained during the inspection itself, but the gap meant staff had no way to verify food safety temperatures before that visit.
What Inspectors Found
The January 27 inspection by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services turned up 11 violations in total, including five classified as Priority Foundation, the level reserved for management and procedural failures that underpin all other food safety practices.
Among the deli case findings: "Multiple hams and cheeses missing date mark of when package was open," the inspector wrote. Without date marks, neither staff nor inspectors can determine how long a ready-to-eat product has been open, or whether it has exceeded the window during which it is considered safe to sell. The items were labeled during the visit.
The backroom employee restroom had no soap and no paper towels at the handwashing sink. That was corrected on site.
The Policy Gaps
Two of the five Priority Foundation violations pointed to a deeper organizational problem: El Faro had no written employee health policy and no written procedures for handling a vomit or diarrhea incident on the premises.
The inspector noted that the "person in charge does not ensure that food employees are informed in a verifiable manner of their reporting responsibility in regard to diseases transmissible through food." There was also "no employee health policy available in the food establishment."
Separately, the store lacked written procedures for responding to a discharge of vomitus or fecal matter, a requirement that covers how staff should contain, clean, and disinfect to prevent contamination from spreading to food or surfaces. Copies of both guidance documents were sent to the establishment by email during the inspection.
Neither of those policies was physically present at the store when inspectors arrived.
The Physical Conditions
Beyond the procedural violations, inspectors flagged conditions in the food preparation area that pointed to routine maintenance failures.
The cutting board on the preparation table had "deep, black grooves scored into" its surface, the inspector noted. Grooved cutting boards are a food safety concern because bacteria accumulate in those channels and resist sanitizing. The board had not been resurfaced or discarded as required.
Old food debris was found on the walls behind the preparation table. The outdoor dumpster lid was left open when not in use, a violation tied to pest attraction and containment.
A clean knife had been wedged between the wall and the preparation table rather than stored properly. That was removed and sent to the wash station during the inspection.
What These Violations Mean
The absence of a probe thermometer is not a paperwork problem. It means that on the day inspectors arrived, no one at El Faro had the basic tool required to confirm that deli meats, cheeses, and other temperature-sensitive foods were being held below 41 degrees Fahrenheit, the threshold above which harmful bacteria multiply rapidly. A store operating without that instrument has no reliable way to catch a failing cooler before the food inside becomes a hazard.
The missing date marks on deli hams and cheeses compound that risk. Ready-to-eat deli products that have been opened or sliced carry a seven-day use-by window under state rules. Without a mark showing when the package was opened, a product that should have been pulled days earlier can sit in a case with no visible indicator that anything is wrong.
The absence of an employee illness reporting policy matters because it removes a critical early-warning layer. When employees do not know they are required to report symptoms like vomiting, diarrhea, or jaundice, they may continue handling food while contagious. The same logic applies to the missing vomit and diarrhea cleanup procedures: without a written protocol, staff may not know to use the specific disinfectants and containment steps required to prevent norovirus or other pathogens from spreading to food contact surfaces.
The Longer Record
The violation that was not corrected during the January inspection, and the one that carries a repeat designation, is the absence of a certified food protection manager. State rules require at least one person at a food establishment to hold a recognized food safety certification. Inspectors had cited El Faro for this same deficiency before.
A repeat citation in this category is significant because a certified manager is the person responsible for training staff, enforcing policies, and recognizing the conditions that lead to violations. The store's January inspection turned up five Priority Foundation failures, all of them rooted in management and procedural lapses. The connection between the missing manager certification and those failures is direct.
The inspection was classified as having met sanitation inspection requirements despite the 11 violations, in part because several were corrected during the visit. But the repeat certification lapse remained unresolved when the inspector left the building.