APOPKA, FL. Back in February 2026, a state inspector walking the deli section of Key Food Supermarket on a routine sanitation visit found raw sausages stored directly on top of cooked ham, a cross-contamination risk that inspectors flagged as a priority violation.
That finding was one of 11 violations documented during the February 24 inspection by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Three of those violations carried priority status, meaning inspectors considered them the most direct threats to food safety.
What Inspectors Found
The raw meat storage problem was corrected while the inspector was on site. According to the inspection record, the raw sausages were moved to the bottom shelf, below the cooked ham.
In the kitchen, an inspector observed a food employee enter the service area and put on gloves without first washing their hands. The employee was directed to remove the gloves, wash their hands, and put on a fresh pair. That correction also happened during the visit.
Cut lettuce on the retail floor measured 44 degrees Fahrenheit, three degrees above the 41-degree maximum required for cold-held foods. The record notes the lettuce was cooled back down to 41 degrees before the inspector left.
Two additional intermediate violations rounded out the more serious findings. The handwashing sink in the deli was blocked by equipment, making it inaccessible to employees. A potato masher in the kitchen was described in the inspector's notes as "encrusted with old food debris." Both were corrected on site.
Beyond those, inspectors noted a rice scoop stored handle-down in the rice, a wiping cloth held in sanitizer that tested at the wrong concentration, gaps to the outside at both back entrances, unsealed concrete and cracked floor tiles in the meat room, a heavily scored cutting board in the meat room, and an employee jacket and drink cup stored on and near food preparation surfaces.
What These Violations Mean
The raw sausage and cooked ham finding is among the most straightforward food safety risks a grocery store can produce. Raw animal proteins carry bacteria such as Salmonella and Listeria. When stored above ready-to-eat foods like cooked deli meats, any drip or contact can transfer those pathogens directly onto food that will not be cooked again before a customer eats it. The corrective step, moving raw items below cooked ones, is standard protocol, but the violation documents that the separation was not in place when the inspector arrived.
The handwashing failure carries its own direct risk. An employee who skips handwashing before handling food becomes a transmission route for whatever pathogens are on their hands, including those from raw meat handled moments earlier in a grocery store environment. The blocked handwashing sink in the deli compounds this: when the sink is not accessible, employees cannot wash hands even when they intend to.
The temperature violation on cut lettuce matters because leafy greens cut and packaged for retail sale are a ready-to-eat product. Holding cut produce above 41 degrees accelerates bacterial growth. Three degrees may sound minor, but the 41-degree threshold exists precisely because bacterial multiplication rates increase sharply above that point.
The gaps at both back entrances are a longer-term concern. Unsealed openings to the outside are entry points for rodents and insects. Unlike a single correctable item, structural gaps require physical repair, and the inspection record does not indicate that repair was completed during the visit.
The Longer Record
Key Food Supermarket, Apopka: Inspection History
The February 2026 inspection was the eighth on record at this location going back to April 2023. The pattern is not one of steady improvement.
In April 2023, inspectors cited 17 violations and required a re-inspection. The follow-up that same month brought the count down to 8 violations but still met inspection requirements. A year later, in March 2024, the store drew zero violations. Then in April 2025, another 17-violation inspection triggered another required re-inspection, which was resolved two weeks later with 3 violations. Three focused inspections in 2025 found no violations. Then February 2026 produced 11 violations again.
The store has now had two inspections in its recorded history that each reached 17 violations and required mandatory re-inspection. Both were followed by rapid improvement on follow-up visits. But the 11-violation count in February 2026, coming after three consecutive clean focused inspections, suggests the underlying conditions at the store fluctuate significantly between visits.
None of the 11 violations cited in February were marked as repeats of previous findings. The inspection was categorized as meeting sanitation requirements, meaning no re-inspection was mandated. The structural problems in the meat room, including unsealed concrete, cracked floor tiles, and a heavily scored cutting board, were not among the violations corrected while the inspector was on site.