GULFPORT, FL. Back in February 2026, state inspectors visiting Palm Seafood Market on a permit compliance check found raw tuna stored directly above raw ready-to-eat oysters in the back cooler, a handling error that inspectors flagged as a priority violation and required immediate correction.
The inspection, conducted February 3 by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, turned up four violations total. One was classified as priority, meaning it carries the most direct food safety risk. None were repeats from prior visits.
What Inspectors Found
The back cooler finding was corrected on the spot. According to the inspector's notes, the oysters were moved to a separate location during the visit.
The more consequential finding was in the outdoor processing and smoking area. The inspector documented no hot water at the employee handwash sink, a condition serious enough to trigger a Stop Use Order covering all processing activity in that area. The order cited Florida statutes 500.04 and 500.172, both governing sanitary equipment and contamination prevention. Processing could not resume until corrections were made and a follow-up food safety inspection was requested.
The front retail area had its own problem. The market sells live oysters, clams, and tuna, items that can be consumed raw or undercooked, but no disclosure was posted identifying which products the consumer advisory applied to. That was also corrected during the visit.
No written procedures for handling vomit or diarrheal events were on file. That violation was not corrected on site.
What These Violations Mean
The raw tuna over oysters finding matters because of how contamination travels. Raw fish can carry pathogens including Salmonella and Listeria. Oysters sold ready to eat, meaning a customer may consume them without any cooking step that would kill those organisms. Storing raw fish above them creates a direct drip contamination path. At a seafood retail counter, that risk is not theoretical.
The hot water violation at the outdoor processing sink is what prompted the Stop Use Order. Handwash sinks without hot water are not functional handwash sinks. In a processing environment where workers handle raw fish and shellfish, the inability to wash hands effectively with hot water and soap is a direct contamination route to every product handled afterward. The state's position, formalized in the Stop Use Order, was that processing could not safely continue under those conditions.
The missing consumer advisory disclosure is specifically required for seafood markets selling products that may be consumed raw or undercooked. Oysters and clams carry a real risk of Vibrio vulnificus and other pathogens, particularly for people with liver disease, diabetes, or compromised immune systems. The disclosure requirement exists so customers can make an informed choice. Without it posted at the point of sale, shoppers have no way of knowing which products carry that warning.
The absence of written cleanup procedures for vomit or diarrheal events is a foundational preparedness failure. Those written protocols are not bureaucratic paperwork. They govern how staff respond if a customer or employee becomes ill on the premises, including how to contain and disinfect in a way that prevents norovirus and similar pathogens from spreading through a food retail environment.
The Longer Record
The February 2026 inspection stands out against Palm Seafood Market's prior history. The three FDACS inspections on record before this visit, going back to 2022, each resulted in zero violations.
The April 2024 FDA inspection found nothing. The October 2023 met-requirements inspection found nothing. The June 2022 focused inspection found nothing.
That clean run makes the February findings harder to dismiss as routine. A facility that passed three consecutive inspections without a single violation, then accumulated four violations including a Stop Use Order on its next visit, suggests something changed in operations, staffing, or maintenance in the intervening period.
None of the four February violations were marked as repeats, which is consistent with the prior record. These were not problems inspectors had flagged before and found again. They were new findings at a location that had not previously drawn citations.
What Remained Unresolved
Three of the four violations were corrected during the inspection itself. The oysters were moved. The consumer advisory disclosure was added to the products. Those fixes happened in the inspector's presence.
The Stop Use Order on the outdoor processing area required a separate follow-up inspection before operations there could resume. As of the inspection date, that area remained shut down pending corrections and a requested food safety reinspection.
The written vomit and diarrheal event cleanup procedures were not corrected on site and no notation in the inspection record indicates they were produced during the visit.