KISSIMMEE, FL. Back in March 2026, a state inspector walked into a Ross Dress For Less and left with one documented finding: the store had no written procedures for employees to follow if a customer vomited or had a diarrhea incident on the premises.
That single violation was enough to flag the inspection record. It was also not the first time.
What the Inspector Found
The missing bodily fluid cleanup plan was flagged as a repeat violation, meaning inspectors had documented the same gap at this location before March 31, 2026.
The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services conducted the inspection on March 31, 2026, at Ross Dress For Less in Kissimmee. The store operates as a minor outlet and sells prepackaged food items, which places it under FDACS jurisdiction rather than the restaurant-focused Division of Hotels and Restaurants.
The inspector's own words were direct: "Food Establishment does not have written procedures for the clean up of vomit and diarrhea."
That is the entirety of the documented violation. One citation, no priority violations, nothing corrected on site.
The Violations
The violation is classified as a repeat, meaning FDACS inspectors had previously cited this same Ross location for the same missing documentation. The store had not produced a written cleanup protocol by the time of the March 31 inspection, and the record shows nothing was corrected during the visit.
No stop sale orders were issued. No food products were pulled. No temperature problems, pest activity, or employee hygiene violations appear in the inspection record.
The store met sanitation inspection requirements overall, meaning it passed the inspection despite the repeat citation.
What These Violations Mean
A missing written cleanup procedure for vomit and diarrhea may sound like a paperwork problem. It is not.
Norovirus, one of the most contagious pathogens in any retail or food service environment, spreads through exactly these kinds of incidents. A single vomiting episode can aerosolize particles that land on nearby surfaces, including packaged food products sitting on shelves within several feet. Without a written protocol, employees have no defined steps for isolating the area, using the correct disinfectant concentration, disposing of contaminated materials, or knowing when the area is safe for other customers.
The written plan requirement exists because improvised cleanup, with the wrong products or in the wrong sequence, can spread contamination rather than contain it. Ross Dress For Less sells prepackaged food items, which means customers pick up products in the same retail environment where an uncontrolled incident could occur.
The fact that this violation appeared again as a repeat citation means the store had prior notice and still had not addressed it by March 31, 2026.
The Longer Record
The inspection data for this Kissimmee location shows the March 2026 finding is part of a documented pattern, not an isolated oversight. The repeat classification is the critical detail: FDACS does not mark a violation as repeat unless the same deficiency appeared in a previous inspection at the same facility.
That means inspectors found this store without a written bodily fluid cleanup plan on at least two separate occasions. The store had the time between those inspections to draft and post a written procedure, a task that requires no equipment, no renovation, and no significant expense.
The March 31 inspection produced only one violation total, which reflects a store that is otherwise maintaining basic sanitation standards. But the one violation it did produce was one it had been told to fix before.
Nothing in the record indicates the cleanup plan was produced during the inspection visit. The violation remained unresolved when the inspector left.