HOMESTEAD, FL. Back in December 2025, a state inspector visiting Party Snacks, a mobile food vendor operating out of Homestead, found something straightforward but consequential: no probe thermometer anywhere on the premises to verify that cold foods were being held at safe temperatures.
The inspection, conducted on December 23, 2025, was categorized as meeting sanitation requirements overall. But the two violations documented that day pointed to gaps that inspectors had seen before, at least in one case, and neither was corrected before the inspector left.
What Inspectors Found
UNRESOLVED VIOLATIONS
INSPECTION OUTCOME
The thermometer finding was direct. The inspector noted: "No probe thermometer available at the food establishment to be able to measure cold food temperatures to ensure safe foods." The inspector added that a probe thermometer must be available by the next inspection, signaling that the violation was not resolved on site that day.
The second violation was a repeat. The inspector documented that the establishment does not have written procedures for employees to follow when responding to a vomit or diarrhea event. That same deficiency had been flagged in at least one prior inspection, meaning the vendor had been put on notice before December and still had not produced the required written plan.
Neither violation was corrected on site.
What These Violations Mean
The missing probe thermometer matters most for anyone buying cold food from a mobile vendor. Without a thermometer, there is no way for the vendor, or the inspector, to confirm that perishable items are being held below 41 degrees Fahrenheit, the threshold at which bacterial growth accelerates. A mobile vendor operates without the fixed refrigeration infrastructure of a brick-and-mortar store, which makes temperature monitoring more critical, not less. Cold food that looks and smells fine can still carry dangerous bacterial loads if it has been held even a few degrees too warm for a few hours.
Party Snacks is a mobile vendor, meaning its cold storage is portable and subject to fluctuation from ambient heat, equipment performance, and the length of time products spend in transit or on display. A probe thermometer is the most basic tool available to catch a temperature problem before it reaches a customer. The inspector's note that one "must be available" by the next inspection confirms this is not a paperwork technicality. It is a functional requirement.
The repeat violation involving vomit and diarrhea response procedures is a different kind of concern. State rules require food establishments to maintain written protocols so that employees know exactly how to contain and clean up a bodily fluid event without spreading contamination to food contact surfaces or product. At a mobile vendor where space is limited and surfaces are close together, an uncontrolled cleanup of that kind of event poses a direct cross-contamination risk. The fact that this requirement had already been cited before December 23 and still was not met suggests the written plan simply was not a priority for the operation.
The Longer Record
The inspection data on file for Party Snacks does not include a detailed count of prior inspections, but the presence of a repeat violation confirms that state inspectors had visited the mobile vendor before December 2025 and flagged the same written-procedures gap on at least one earlier occasion. A repeat citation is not issued the first time an inspector sees a problem. It means the problem was documented, the operator was informed, and the next inspector found it unresolved.
For a mobile vendor, the inspection record carries particular weight. These operations move, serve customers in varied locations, and often lack the permanent staff and infrastructure of a fixed retail food establishment. When the same administrative gap reappears across multiple inspections, it reflects a decision not to address something the operator already knew was required.
The December inspection did not result in any stop sale orders, and no products were pulled from sale. No priority violations, the most serious category in state food safety classification, were cited. But both violations that were documented remained open when the inspector left, and the thermometer requirement carried an explicit deadline: compliance by the next inspection.
Where Things Stood After the Inspection
As of the December 23 inspection, Party Snacks met the overall threshold for sanitation requirements. That designation means the facility cleared the bar for continued operation, but it does not mean the outstanding violations were resolved. The probe thermometer was absent. The written response plan for illness events was still missing, for at least the second time.
The next inspection will determine whether the vendor acquired a probe thermometer and drafted the required written procedures. Until then, the December record stands: a mobile food vendor serving Homestead with no on-hand tool to verify the temperature of its cold food.