A Hialeah pharmacy sold perishables for 4 months without a valid food permit. Inspectors kept coming back.

HIALEAH, FL. Back in April 2026, a state agriculture inspector walked into Navarro Discount Pharmacy #11601 on a focused inspection and found the store still open, still selling perishables, and still operating without a valid food permit. The inspector noted that the establishment had not provided proof of water source or sewage disposal. It was the ninth time in four months that inspectors had flagged the same core problem at this location.

The violation was marked repeat. Nothing had been corrected on site.

What Inspectors Found

The April inspection produced a single violation, but it carried weight. The inspector's own notation read: "Food establishment is open and operating without providing proof of water source and sewage disposal."

That is not a paperwork technicality. Water source and sewage disposal documentation are foundational requirements for any food establishment in Florida. Without verified records, inspectors cannot confirm that the water used to clean surfaces and equipment, or to prepare any food sold in the store, comes from an approved and tested supply.

The store sells perishables. That detail matters. A minor outlet with perishables handles food that can spoil, that requires temperature control, and that customers buy with an expectation that the basics of safe food handling are in place. The permit process exists precisely to verify those basics before a store opens its coolers to the public.

What These Violations Mean

Operating without a valid food permit is not the same as failing a single inspection item. A food permit is the mechanism by which the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services confirms that an establishment meets minimum standards before it sells food to the public. When a store operates without one, it has bypassed that confirmation entirely.

The specific finding here, no proof of water source and sewage disposal, points to something more concrete than missing paperwork. Florida requires food establishments to document where their water comes from and how wastewater is handled. Those requirements exist because contaminated water is a direct pathway for bacteria and pathogens to reach food, food-contact surfaces, and the hands of employees handling products. If a store cannot show inspectors where its water comes from, inspectors cannot rule out an unapproved or untested source.

For anyone who shops at this Hialeah location, that means buying perishables from a store that, as of April 3, 2026, had not demonstrated to state inspectors that its most basic infrastructure met food safety standards. The permit violation was not corrected during the inspection.

The Longer Record

The April 3 inspection was the ninth time since November 14, 2025, that FDACS inspectors visited this location and documented the same foundational problem. Every single inspection in that stretch, spanning more than four months, resulted in a re-inspection required outcome or, in the case of the final visit, a focused inspection that still found the permit issue unresolved.

The violation count dropped over time, from three violations at each of the first seven inspections to one violation at the March 20 re-inspection and one again in April. That narrowing could suggest the store addressed some of the earlier cited issues. But the core problem, operating without a valid food permit and without documented proof of water and sewage infrastructure, remained every time an inspector walked through the door.

Nine inspections. Same outcome. The April visit marked the violation as repeat, which in FDACS records means inspectors had already cited the same condition at a prior visit. The store had not corrected it before the follow-up arrived.

Where Things Stood in April

When the April 3 inspection closed, the one violation on record had not been corrected on site. The inspector documented an open, operating food establishment that had not provided proof of its water source or sewage disposal.

Navarro Discount Pharmacy is a well-known South Florida chain. This inspection record applies specifically to location number 11601 in Hialeah. The FDACS inspection data does not indicate what steps, if any, the store had taken between November 2025 and April 2026 to resolve the permit status. What the record does show is that as of the most recent inspection in this sequence, the answer inspectors received was still the same one they had been getting since late fall.

The violation remained unresolved as of April 3, 2026.