DELAND, FL. Back in December 2025, state inspectors visiting Popshelf Store #25816 on the last day of the year found candy and peanut butter sitting on shelving units in the back storage room, directly next to and below fabric softener, shampoo, and body wash. It was not the first time inspectors had flagged the same problem at this location.
The December 31 inspection, conducted by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, turned up eight total violations, including one priority violation and two that were marked repeat. None were corrected on site before the inspection closed.
What Inspectors Found
The priority violation was the most serious finding. The inspector's own notes describe "pre-packaged foods including candy and peanut butter stored on shelving units and in bins in back storage room next to and below poisonous or toxic material including fabric softener, shampoo and body wash." A manager relocated the toxic materials during the inspection, but the violation was recorded as a repeat.
The reach-in freezer at the back of the retail floor, used to store ice cream, had no ambient temperature measuring device. Inspectors cannot verify that frozen products are being held at safe temperatures without one. That, too, was a repeat finding.
The store also had no written procedure for employees to follow in the event a customer or employee vomits or has a diarrheal incident on the premises. That violation is classified as a priority foundation item, meaning it relates to the basic operational systems a food establishment is required to maintain.
Beyond those three flagged items, inspectors documented dust build-up on shelving units in the back storage area, debris accumulation on customer water fountains near the restrooms, a damaged wall near the receiving area with cement debris creating an opening, a general build-up of debris throughout the backroom, and dust accumulation on intake and exhaust air duct covers in the retail space.
What These Violations Mean
The most urgent finding, storing packaged food alongside household chemicals, carries real risk even when the food is sealed. Fabric softener, shampoo, and body wash contain compounds that can contaminate food packaging and, in the event of a spill or leak, reach the food itself. Pre-packaged does not mean impervious. State food safety rules require toxic and poisonous materials to be stored separately precisely because proximity creates contamination risk that customers would have no way to detect after purchase.
The missing thermometer in the ice cream freezer is a quieter but meaningful gap. Without a working ambient temperature measuring device, neither store staff nor inspectors can confirm that the unit is maintaining safe holding temperatures. Ice cream that partially thaws and refreezes can harbor bacterial growth, and there is no reliable way to catch that failure without a functioning thermometer.
The absence of a written vomit and diarrhea response procedure matters because these events are direct transmission routes for norovirus and other pathogens. Without a posted, written protocol, employees may not know to use the correct disinfectant concentration, the correct contact time, or the correct disposal method. A response done incorrectly can spread contamination rather than contain it.
The Longer Record
Popshelf Store #25816, Deland: Inspection History
This location has only two inspections on record with FDACS. The first, in August 2023, turned up three violations and the store met requirements. The December 2025 inspection found eight violations, nearly three times as many, with two of them flagged as repeats of problems that should have been resolved after the prior visit.
A gap of more than two years between inspections means there is no documented record of how conditions evolved in the interim. What the record does show is that at least two problems, the missing freezer thermometer and the toxic materials stored with food, were present in a prior inspection and remained unaddressed when inspectors returned.
The store passed both inspections under the "Met Sanitation Inspection Requirements" standard, but the December visit closed with zero violations corrected on site and two documented repeats still on the books.
The wall near the receiving area, described in the inspector's notes as having "damage to lower wall near receiving area with cement debris causing an opening in the inner portion of the wall," was not corrected before inspectors left.