LUTZ, FL. Back in December 2025, a state inspector walked into a Lutz gas station convenience store and found a turkey bacon sandwich that had been sitting in a retail cooler for two days at 48 to 49 degrees Fahrenheit. Management voluntarily threw it out. A stop sale order was issued.
That finding was one of 14 violations documented at Lutz Petroleom 01 LLC, a convenience store on the corner of a Pasco County stretch of road, during a December 5 inspection by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. The store, which houses two in-house food concepts called "Bad Ass Cafe" and "Taco Bus," was also operating without a valid food permit under its new ownership at the time of the visit.
What Inspectors Found
The cold holding failure was the most serious documented finding. A ham and swiss sandwich packaged at 8 a.m. on the day of inspection measured 52 to 54 degrees Fahrenheit at 11 a.m. at the retail display cooler. The inspector noted it was moved to a freezer for rapid cooling and the temperature drop was verified. The turkey bacon sandwich, packaged two days before the inspection, measured 48 to 49 degrees in the same cooler. That product was discarded and a Stop Sale and Release order was issued.
The inspector also found an open bag of vegan cheese in the Taco Bus area marked with a date that would have exceeded the seven-day maximum hold time, showing an original date of October 28, 2025. A manager told the inspector the cheese had actually been opened three days prior. An employee wrote the correct date on site.
Unlabeled squeeze bottles of barbecue sauce, mustard, and ranch dressing were found in a cooler in the Bad Ass area, not identified by contents. Food workers in that same area were wearing watches while handling exposed food, which state food safety rules prohibit. A spray bottle of chemical cleaner had no label indicating what was inside.
The Taco Bus reach-in cooler had an accumulation of dirt, debris, and old food residue. Walls near the three-compartment sink in that area showed black residue buildup and grease. Single-use plastic forks were stored with handles not extended outward, and wooden coffee stirrers at the retail dining area were not individually wrapped or dispensed in a sanitary manner.
Handwashing sinks in both food areas were missing basic supplies. The Taco Bus sink had no soap. The Bad Ass Cafe sink had no hand-drying devices. Both were corrected on site after the inspector noted the deficiencies.
The establishment could not produce written procedures for handling vomiting or diarrheal events, and could not show documentation that employees had been informed of illness reporting requirements.
What These Violations Mean
The two priority temperature violations are the most direct risk to anyone who bought food from this store's prepared food sections in the days before the December inspection. Cold held food kept above 41 degrees Fahrenheit allows bacteria like Listeria, Salmonella, and Staphylococcus aureus to multiply. A turkey bacon sandwich sitting at 48 to 49 degrees for two days is not a borderline case. At that temperature range, bacterial growth accelerates significantly, and the sandwich had been available for retail purchase before the inspector arrived.
The ham and swiss sandwich measured at 52 to 54 degrees three hours after packaging is a separate failure. Food assembled from ambient-temperature ingredients and placed into a cooler must reach 41 degrees within four hours. At 11 a.m., it had not.
The absence of soap at one handwashing sink and no paper towels at another is not a paperwork problem. Those are the stations where food workers are supposed to wash their hands between tasks. Without functional handwashing setups, cross-contamination between raw and ready-to-eat food becomes more likely.
The unlabeled chemical spray bottle found in the Bad Ass area is a direct contamination risk. Without a label, any employee could mistake a cleaning chemical for a food-safe product, or apply the wrong chemical to a food-contact surface.
The Longer Record
The December inspection was not the first time state inspectors had found problems at this location. A March 2025 inspection, conducted under the same address, turned up 10 violations and still resulted in a Met Sanitation Inspection Requirements outcome. That visit came roughly nine months before the December inspection that produced 14 violations and a stop sale order.
Two focused inspections in August and September of 2023 each resulted in zero violations. Those visits were narrower in scope than a full operating inspection, which limits their comparability to the March and December findings.
The December inspection was triggered specifically because the establishment was operating without a valid food permit under new ownership. The permit application had been submitted at the time of the visit, but the store's food operations were running without current authorization when the inspector arrived.
None of the 14 December violations were marked as repeats from the March inspection. But the jump from 10 violations in March to 14 in December, combined with the stop sale order and the permit lapse, shows a location still working through basic compliance under its new management. As of the December 5 inspection, none of the violations were corrected on site in advance, and zero had been proactively addressed before the inspector's arrival.
