TAMPA, FL. Back in March 2026, state inspectors walked into a Tampa Publix and found bagged kale sitting at 47 degrees Fahrenheit in the produce retail cooler, six degrees above the maximum safe threshold for perishable food.
That temperature reading was not the first time inspectors had flagged a cold-holding problem at this location. It was a repeat violation.
The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services inspected Publix #0398 on March 19, 2026, and documented four violations, two of them priority-level and one of those marked as a repeat. The store met sanitation inspection requirements overall, but the repeat cold-holding failure stood out in the record.
What Inspectors Found
The inspector's notes on the produce cooler were specific. Daiya non-dairy mozzarella cheese measured 44 degrees Fahrenheit. Bagged kale measured 47 degrees Fahrenheit. Both items were quick-chilled back to 41 degrees before being returned to refrigeration, and the remaining stock was repositioned in the cooler to allow air to circulate.
Cut watermelon in the same produce retail cooler measured between 42 and 43 degrees. The inspector noted it had been cut one hour prior and was returned to the walk-in cooler to finish the cooling process.
In the deli and produce back room, paper towels were not supplied at either handwashing sink. Staff provided them during the inspection.
The bakery turned up a separate, non-priority issue. The inspector documented old food buildup on a Hobart floor mixer at the dough mixing utensil connection over the mixing bowl. That violation was not marked as corrected on site.
What These Violations Mean
Cold-holding failures are among the most direct food safety risks in a retail grocery setting. State rules require that perishable foods, including cut produce and dairy alternatives, stay at or below 41 degrees Fahrenheit to slow the growth of bacteria like Listeria and Salmonella. Kale sitting at 47 degrees for an undetermined period of time creates conditions where bacterial populations can multiply, even if the product looks and smells unchanged. Shoppers have no way to detect the difference.
The fact that this violation is marked as a repeat makes it more significant than a first-time citation. Inspectors had flagged the same cold-holding standard at this location before, which means the problem was identified, presumably addressed, and then recurred. A single temperature excursion in a produce cooler can reflect a momentary equipment issue. A repeat citation suggests the fix did not hold.
The missing paper towels at handwashing sinks in the deli and produce back room are classified as an intermediate violation, one step below priority. Handwashing is the most basic contamination barrier between food handlers and the products they prepare. When the supplies needed to complete a handwash are absent from a sink, the sink becomes decorative. Both sinks in the deli and produce back room were affected.
The food buildup on the Hobart mixer in the bakery was the least urgent finding, but old residue on food-contact equipment creates its own contamination risk over time. That violation was not corrected during the inspection visit.
The Longer Record
Publix #0398 Inspection History
The four inspections on record before March 2026 produced zero violations combined. Two of those were focused inspections in late 2025, one was a full inspection in January 2024, and one was a focused inspection in December 2022. The store had a clean run across all of them.
That makes the March 2026 findings more notable, not less. A location with a consistent zero-violation history does not typically accumulate a repeat citation unless the underlying condition went unresolved between inspection cycles. The cold-holding repeat means the same standard was violated, addressed, and then violated again, despite the otherwise strong record.
None of the four violations documented in March were corrected on site in the sense that the record shows zero corrected-on-site resolutions in the summary field, though the inspector notes describe staff taking immediate action on the cheese, kale, watermelon, and paper towels during the visit. The Hobart mixer's food buildup had no such notation.
That mixer, with its documented old food residue at the dough mixing utensil connection over the mixing bowl, was the one item in the March inspection that left without a confirmed fix.