DAYTONA BEACH, FL. Back in December 2025, a state inspector walked into La Aldea Bakery on a visit triggered by concerns about the shop operating without a valid food permit, and found raw egg wash stored directly above ready-to-eat food items in the reach-in cooler.
That single observation, recorded on December 12, drove the most serious finding of the inspection. The inspector noted the egg wash was repositioned immediately: "Manager relocated the egg wash," the report reads. But the violation had already been made.
What Inspectors Found
The December 12 inspection produced four total violations, two of them priority-level. Neither priority violation was a repeat citation, but both pointed to problems in the bakery's backroom, where food is handled and prep surfaces are cleaned.
The second priority violation involved the chemical sanitizer at the three-compartment sink, which the inspector measured at 200 parts per million. The inspector noted the manager remixed the sanitizer to the correct strength during the visit. The report does not specify what the correct target concentration was, only that 200 ppm fell outside it.
Two additional violations rounded out the inspection. A pair of tongs used to serve food from the retail case was found hanging on the back of the case rather than stored on a clean surface during pauses in service. The manager had the tongs removed for washing. The three-compartment sink in the backroom was also found not sealed to the wall, a structural deficiency that cannot be corrected on the spot.
None of the four violations were corrected before the inspector arrived. The report shows zero corrected-on-site violations from the outset, with corrections made only after the inspector flagged each problem during the walkthrough.
What These Violations Mean
Raw animal food stored above ready-to-eat items is one of the more direct contamination risks in any food establishment. Egg wash, which contains raw eggs, can carry Salmonella. When stored above items that will be eaten without further cooking, any drip or spill transfers bacteria directly onto food that has no kill step ahead of it. In a bakery, ready-to-eat items often include finished pastries, breads, or fillings that go straight to customers.
The sanitizer finding matters for a different reason. Chemical sanitizers applied to food-contact surfaces at the wrong concentration can leave surfaces that appear clean but are not adequately disinfected. At 200 ppm, depending on the sanitizer type, the solution may have been either too weak to kill pathogens or, in some formulations, strong enough to leave a chemical residue on surfaces that contact food. Either scenario creates a risk that isn't visible to the customer or even to staff without testing.
The unsealed three-compartment sink, a basic violation, is a structural concern rather than an acute contamination event. Gaps between equipment and walls create spaces where moisture accumulates, bacteria establish themselves, and pests find harborage. It was the one violation that left the building unresolved.
The Longer Record
The December 12 visit was not the only inspection La Aldea Bakery received in that period. Eleven days later, on December 23, 2025, a focused follow-up inspection tied to the operating-without-a-valid-food-permit concern produced one additional violation, and that violation was marked as a repeat citation.
The inspection history on file covers two visits within a twelve-day window, both connected to the permit issue that triggered state scrutiny in the first place. The December 23 record shows the bakery had not fully resolved all concerns between the two visits, with at least one problem recurring.
The permit issue itself is significant context. A retail food establishment operating without a valid food permit has, by definition, been functioning outside the state's licensing framework, which means routine scheduled inspections may not have been occurring on the normal cycle. The December visits were enforcement-driven, not routine.
Where Things Stood
By the end of the December 12 inspection, both priority violations had been addressed in the inspector's presence. The egg wash was relocated. The sanitizer was remixed. The tongs were pulled for washing.
The three-compartment sink remained unsealed to the wall. That structural gap, documented on December 12, was not something a manager could fix before the inspector left.
Whether the sink was addressed before the December 23 follow-up visit, the record does not say. What the December 23 report does show is that at least one violation found that day was a repeat, meaning a problem inspectors had seen before came back.
