, FL. A bottle of chemical spray cleaner was hanging from the ice cream scoop dip well sink in the deli processing area when a state inspector walked into Harikrushna LLC on September 10, a finding serious enough to earn a priority citation and trigger an immediate correction on the spot.
The store, a convenience store with a significant food service and packaged ice operation, was also found to be running its deli without a valid food permit. An application had been submitted, according to inspection records, but the permit had not been issued.
What Inspectors Found
The inspector documented 13 violations in total, one of them a priority violation and three more at the priority foundation level, meaning they relate to practices and procedures that underpin food safety rather than an immediate contamination event.
In the deli service counter area, smoked sausage and heavy whipping cream that had been opened and cold-held for more than 24 hours were found without date marks. The inspector verified the correct dates with the person in charge and watched as labels were placed on the packages before leaving.
No written procedure was available for foods being held in the deli display unit using time as a public health control. The inspector noted that written procedures were created during the inspection itself.
There was also no sanitizer test kit on hand to verify the concentration of sanitizing solution used on food-contact surfaces. The inspector provided quaternary ammonia test strips to the establishment.
The Physical Gaps
Beyond the chemical and food safety findings, the inspector documented structural problems that create ongoing risk of pest entry. In the retail area, a gap between the two front entry doors was large enough to expose daylight. In the overstock storage room at the back, a wall-mounted exhaust fan had no screening to block the outside opening.
The inspector noted that food and beverage storage shelving inside the walk-in cooler was constructed of unsealed wood, a surface that absorbs moisture and cannot be properly sanitized. An accumulation of unused equipment was also found inside the overstock room.
Drain plugs were missing from the warewashing sink in the deli processing area. The inspector noted that a drain plug was acquired during the inspection.
A food employee working with exposed foods in the deli processing area was not wearing a hair or beard restraint. The deli slicer was stored directly next to the wash compartment of the warewashing sink with no splash guard between them. The inspector noted the slicer was relocated during the visit.
There was no written notification of major food allergens posted at the point of consumer selection for unpackaged foods offered at the deli service counter. The inspector provided an industry handout.
What These Violations Mean
The priority violation, a chemical spray cleaner stored hanging from the dip well sink, matters because any drip, spill, or aerosol from that bottle lands directly on or near equipment used to serve food. Cleaning chemicals are not food-safe at any concentration. The dip well sink is used to keep scoops clean between uses, meaning contamination there reaches customers through the food they are served.
The date-marking failure on the smoked sausage and heavy whipping cream is a temperature-and-time control issue. Ready-to-eat foods held under refrigeration for more than 24 hours require date marks so that employees, inspectors, and managers can track whether the food has been held too long to be safe. Without that label, there is no way to know how long the product has been in the cooler.
The absence of written time as a public health control procedures is a related gap. When a facility uses time rather than temperature to keep food safe in a display case, state rules require a written plan documenting what food is in the unit, when it was placed there, and when it must be discarded. Without that plan, the system has no accountability.
The pest-entry gaps at the front doors and the unscreened exhaust fan are not cosmetic problems. An opening large enough to show daylight is large enough for insects and rodents to enter. For a store selling packaged goods, produce, and deli foods, that is a direct pathway from the outside environment to food that customers will take home.
The Longer Record
The September 10 inspection was conducted under the category of operating without a valid food permit, a designation that triggered the visit in the first place. The inspection type was listed as "Operating Without a Valid Food Permit, Met Sanitation Inspection," meaning the store was found to meet baseline sanitation standards despite the permit gap, but the permit itself remained unresolved at the time of the inspection.
None of the 13 violations were marked as repeats, which means this is the first time inspectors formally documented these specific deficiencies at this location. That is a limited reassurance. Several of the findings, including the missing test kit, the absent date marks, and the lack of written procedures, suggest that basic food safety systems were not in place before the inspector arrived.
Zero violations were corrected before the inspection concluded without inspector involvement. Every correction that happened on September 10 happened because an inspector was present and prompted it. The permit violation, the unsealed wood shelving in the walk-in cooler, the pest-entry gaps at the front doors and the exhaust fan, and the allergen notification absence were not resolved by the end of the visit.
