PEMBROKE PINES, FL. Back in February 2026, state inspectors walked into Key Food on Pembroke Pines and found a pan of pork belly, five trays of empanadas, and a pan of fried chicken wings sitting in a steam table with internal temperatures ranging between 89 and 114 degrees Fahrenheit, far below the 135-degree threshold required to keep hot food safe.
The person in charge told inspectors the items had been in hot holding for less than an hour. The steam table's water level wasn't reaching the bottoms of the pans. Employees reheated all products to 165 degrees on the spot, and the water level was adjusted before inspectors left.
That was one of 28 total violations documented during the February 25 inspection, including three priority violations, six priority foundation violations, and at least one finding that inspectors had already cited at this location before.
What Inspectors Found
Beyond the temperature failure in the hot food section, inspectors found WD-40 stored alongside open single-service items on a shelf under a cutting table in the processing area. In the bakery, an employee's medicine was sitting in an open container directly above a prep table at the department entrance. Both were corrected on the spot.
Two hand sinks were blocked. At the juice bar service counter, items had been left sitting in the basin. In the produce cutting room, sugar cane stalks were piled against the sink. Both were cleared during the inspection.
Multiple containers of in-house prepared juices, including orange, coconut, and cantaloupe, were missing the required consumer warning label in the retail area. The label was added before inspectors left.
The can opener in the processing area had soil buildup on the handle, gears, and blade. The hopper of the juice machine had food spillage and buildup inside. Both were cleaned during the visit.
The Repeat Violation and the Unresolved Problems
The ambient air thermometer citation was marked as a repeat. Inspectors found no thermometer present in the deli sandwich prep cooler at the service counter, and no thermometer in the juice prep cooler, also at the service counter. That same category of violation had been cited at this location before.
Two thermometer failures were also noted separately: a digital thermometer on the meat display case was not recording temperature, and a wall-mounted dial thermometer on the walk-in cooler was also not functioning.
A threaded faucet at the food service counter was missing a backflow prevention device, and a direct connection was found at the ware wash sink in the produce cutting room. Neither of those plumbing violations was marked as corrected on site.
Leaking faucets were found at both the ware wash sink and the mop sink. An unshielded ceiling light hung over the juice prep area. Whole frozen fish in the seafood walk-in freezer were stored uncovered, though a seafood employee wrapped them during the inspection. Cases of packaged foods were sitting on the floor of the walk-in freezer.
Employee beverages were on prep tables in the processing area at the time of inspection. Wet wiping cloths were stored on prep tables in the processing area and on cutting tables in the meat area, rather than in sanitizing solution. Scoop handles in ingredient bins at both the stove top and the bakery prep table were touching product.
What These Violations Mean
The hot holding failure is the most direct risk to shoppers who bought prepared food at Key Food that day. When cooked food drops below 135 degrees, bacteria including Salmonella and Staphylococcus aureus can multiply rapidly. Chicken, in particular, is a high-risk protein. The fact that these items had been in the steam table for under an hour, per the person in charge, limits the window of exposure, but the cause, a water level that wasn't reaching the pan bottoms, is an equipment management failure that could recur.
Blocked hand sinks are a direct breakdown in the hand-washing chain. When a sink is obstructed, employees working in that area may skip washing rather than walk to another station. At a juice bar where produce is handled and drinks are prepared without heat treatment, that gap is especially consequential.
The missing warning labels on in-house prepared juices matter for a specific reason. Florida requires that unpasteurized juices sold at retail carry a consumer advisory because they have not been treated to eliminate pathogens. Without that label, shoppers have no way to know the product carries a different risk profile than commercially pasteurized juice, a distinction that matters most for pregnant customers, young children, and immunocompromised shoppers.
The missing ambient air thermometers in the deli and juice coolers mean there is no continuous record of whether those units are holding temperature. A cooler can appear to be running while actually cycling above safe range, and without a thermometer, neither employees nor inspectors can verify the food inside was kept cold.
The Longer Record
The February 25 inspection was the fourth FDACS visit to this Key Food location documented in recent records. The most significant prior visit was October 31, 2024, when inspectors found 21 violations and required a re-inspection.
That re-inspection followed on November 15, 2024, and found only one violation, suggesting the store addressed most of the October findings. A focused inspection on November 18 found zero violations.
The jump from zero violations in November 2024 to 28 violations in February 2026 is the sharpest data point in this location's record. The repeat thermometer citation, present in February after the store had passed two inspections, suggests that fix either wasn't sustained or wasn't complete.
None of the 28 February violations were marked as corrected on site in the aggregate inspection summary, even though individual notations show many were addressed during the visit. The backflow prevention device at the food service counter faucet and the direct connection at the produce cutting room ware wash sink carried no corrected-on-site notation.