NORTH MIAMI BEACH, FL. Back in April 2026, state inspectors walked into La Bodega De R & R on a routine food safety check and found the convenience store had been operating without a valid food permit, raw bacon displayed directly above milk in a reach-in cooler, and multiple packages of unlabeled food available for purchase.
The inspection, conducted on April 1 by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, documented seven violations at the North Miami Beach store, including one priority violation and one repeat citation.
What Inspectors Found
The priority violation that drew the sharpest attention involved raw meat placement. The inspector noted that "packages of raw bacon displayed directly above milk inside reach in cooler," a configuration that puts liquid animal drippings within reach of an open dairy product below. The bacon was moved to an appropriate location during the inspection.
The unlabeled food issue was more extensive. The inspector found "multiple packages of beans, Jamaican patties and tequenos" sitting in a reach-in freezer and dry storage without labels, available to shoppers. All unlabeled items were pulled from consumer reach before the inspector left.
The store had no written procedures for handling vomiting or diarrheal events, a requirement for food establishments. The inspector provided guidance via email during the visit.
Cases of bottled water were found stored directly on the retail floor, a violation that had appeared on a prior inspection record. That repeat citation indicates inspectors flagged the same floor-storage problem before, and the store had not corrected it between visits.
The outdoor dumpster was not covered at the time of the visit. A reach-in cooler described as unnecessary equipment was observed sitting in the backroom area.
The Permit Problem
The most significant finding may be the simplest to state: La Bodega De R & R was selling food without a valid food permit.
The inspection type was formally recorded as "Operating Without a Valid Food Permit, Met Sanitation Inspection," meaning the store passed the sanitation portion of the check but had no current permit authorizing it to operate as a food establishment. The inspector noted that an application for a permit had been submitted, and that the store was required to remit payment of the appropriate fee within 10 days.
Operating without a permit is not a technical paperwork lapse. A food permit is the mechanism by which the state tracks where food is being sold, conducts routine oversight, and maintains the ability to act quickly if a product is recalled or a contamination event is traced to a supplier.
What These Violations Mean
The raw bacon placement is the kind of violation food safety officials describe as a direct cross-contamination pathway. Raw animal proteins carry bacteria, including salmonella, that can transfer to ready-to-eat or packaged foods stored beneath them, particularly if packaging leaks or condensation carries drippings downward. In a retail cooler shared by meat and dairy, the separation requirement exists precisely because that transfer can happen without any visible sign that it occurred.
The unlabeled food packages raise a traceability concern. Beans, Jamaican patties and tequenos sitting in a freezer without source labels cannot be traced to a producer if a recall is issued or if a customer reports illness. The label requirement is not about aesthetics; it is the only link between a product on a shelf and the supply chain behind it.
The absence of a written vomiting and diarrheal event cleanup policy may seem administrative, but it is not. Norovirus, one of the most common causes of foodborne illness in retail settings, spreads rapidly through improper handling of contaminated surfaces. A written procedure ensures employees know to use the correct disinfectants, in the correct concentrations, in the correct sequence. Without one, a contamination event in the store can spread to products and surfaces that customers then handle directly.
None of the seven violations were corrected on site in the sense of being fully resolved. Two violations, the raw bacon placement and the unlabeled food packages, were addressed during the inspection itself, but zero violations were marked as corrected on site in the formal record. The permit issue, the floor-storage repeat, the uncovered dumpster, the missing written policy and the unnecessary equipment in the backroom remained unresolved at the time the inspector left.
The Longer Record
The floor-storage citation, the one noting "multiple cases of bottled water stored directly on the retail floor," is marked as a repeat violation. That designation means inspectors had documented the same problem at La Bodega De R & R before this April visit, and the store had not corrected it between inspections.
A repeat violation in the same category tells a specific story. It means the store was made aware of the problem, acknowledged it, and then allowed it to recur. Whether that reflects a resource constraint, a training gap, or simple inattention, the inspection record does not say.
The permit situation adds a separate layer. A store that has submitted a permit application but has not yet completed payment is, by the state's own classification, operating outside the bounds of licensed food retail. As of April 1, 2026, La Bodega De R & R owed that payment within ten days.