PALATKA, FL. Back in February 2026, a state inspector walked into Safeway Discount, a convenience store on in Putnam County, and found the establishment operating without a valid food permit, drawing its water from an unapproved well, disposing of sewage through an unapproved septic system, and selling multiple products that inspectors determined contained controlled substances prohibited under Florida law.
The February 2, 2026 inspection by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services documented 34 total violations, including 3 priority violations and 3 repeat violations. Not a single violation was corrected on site.
What Inspectors Found
The February 2026 inspection of Safeway Discount produced 34 violations across food safety, water sourcing, sewage disposal, product labeling, and controlled substance law, with none resolved during the visit.
The most alarming finding was the water supply itself. The inspector noted that the "food establishment is operating with an unapproved well water source" and issued a stop use order. A separate violation documented that sewage was "not conveyed through approved system," with the inspector writing that the store was "operating with an unapproved septic system." Both are priority violations, and both were marked repeat.
The store was also operating without a valid food permit, itself a repeat violation. The inspector's notes state simply: "Food establishment is operating without a valid food permit."
On the retail floor, the inspector found opened coffee creamers measuring 44 to 51 degrees Fahrenheit in a retail ice tray. A gallon of whole milk in the walk-in cooler measured 46 degrees. Sausage gravy in the same cooler reached 60 degrees. All three items were voluntarily discarded. The walk-in cooler had no ambient thermometer, and the cooler thermostat was adjusted during the inspection after the unit failed to maintain temperatures at or below 41 degrees.
Boiled peanuts and biscuits and gravy were found to have been produced under insanitary conditions because the three-compartment warewash sink was inaccessible. Those items were also voluntarily discarded.
The Products That Drew Stop Sale Orders
The inspection generated a striking volume of stop sale orders, spanning three distinct legal categories: controlled substance violations, labeling failures, and container requirement failures.
Multiple kratom products were cited for containing 7-Hydroxymitragynine at concentrations above the legal limit. The inspector noted: "Kratom products offered for retail sale observed to have 7-Hydroxymitragynine concentration at level above the legal limit." Additional kratom violations included missing manufacturer name and location, missing nutrition or supplement facts panels, missing net quantity labeling, and noncompliance with an emergency rule requiring disclosure of 7-OH concentration.
Hemp and hemp extract products drew their own wave of stop sale orders. The inspector found hemp products with delta-9 THC concentration above the legal limit per the product label. Other hemp products were cited for missing scannable barcodes or QR codes linked to a certificate of analysis, missing serving size, missing expiration dates, missing batch numbers, missing processor name and address, and packaging not in child-resistant containers. Several products were cited because their packaging was "designed in the shape of humans, cartoons, or animals," a violation of rules intended to prevent products from being attractive to children. Others were flagged for containing color additives, also prohibited.
Mushroom products labeled with "Proprietary Nootropic Blend" or "Proprietary Nootropic Mushroom Blend" were cited for missing ingredient disclosures. Alkaloid tablets sold under a "Proprietary Blend" label were flagged for the same reason.
The stop sale orders fell into three categories: products containing controlled substances prohibited under Chapter 893 of Florida Statutes, products violating hemp extract distribution and marketing rules, and products with labeling and container failures under Florida food law.
Sanitation and Staffing Failures
Beyond the water, sewage, and product violations, the inspector documented a facility where basic food safety infrastructure had broken down.
The handwash sink in the coffee preparation area was blocked by old soda fountain hoses zip-tied to the faucet fixture. The same sink was being used to wash peanut kettles rather than for handwashing. No handwash sink existed near the three-compartment warewash sink in the stockroom, prompting a stop use order. The handwash sink near the ice machine had no hot water, no soap, and no paper towels.
The three-compartment warewash sink itself was not clean. No sanitizer was provided for sanitizing food service equipment, and no sanitizer test kit was available. The area around the sink had no lighting.
The restroom door opened directly into the three-compartment warewash sink area, where food and food equipment were present. A stop use order was issued for that configuration.
No certified food protection manager was on staff. An employee failed to answer questions relating to employee health policy. No written procedures existed for handling vomiting or diarrheal events. No employee reporting agreement or illness policy was provided.
Boiled peanuts and gravy had been open for more than 24 hours with no date marking.
What These Violations Mean
The unapproved well water finding is among the most serious a food establishment can receive. Water from an unregulated source carries no guarantee of testing for bacterial contamination, nitrates, or other hazards. Every food item prepared with that water, every surface cleaned with it, and every ice cube made from it carries unknown risk to anyone who consumed it.
The sewage violation compounds that concern. An unapproved septic system means waste disposal has not been verified to meet health standards. In a facility where food is prepared and sold, the proximity of unregulated sewage handling to food handling surfaces is a direct contamination pathway.
The controlled substance findings are legally distinct from food safety violations but carry their own public health weight. Products with 7-OH kratom or delta-9 THC concentrations above legal limits are not simply mislabeled, they contain substances at levels the state has determined pose a risk of harm. Products packaged to appeal to children, with cartoon or animal shapes and color additives, raise the specific concern that minors could obtain and consume them.
Temperature violations matter because bacteria multiply rapidly in the range between 41 and 135 degrees Fahrenheit. Sausage gravy at 60 degrees and milk at 46 degrees had been held at temperatures that allow bacterial growth to accelerate. The absence of a working thermometer in the walk-in cooler means there was no way for staff to know how long those conditions had existed before the inspector arrived.
The Longer Record
The February 2, 2026 inspection was not the beginning of this story. Records show the store had been inspected at least four more times after that date, with each subsequent visit still triggering an "Operating Without a Valid Food Permit" designation.
On February 26, 2026, inspectors returned and found 3 violations. On March 4, 2026, another visit produced 7 violations, 2 of them repeat. On March 12, 2026, the same count: 7 violations, 2 repeat. On March 31, 2026, the same result again: 7 violations, 2 repeat.
The operating-without-a-permit violation, first documented in February, was still appearing as a repeat finding nearly two months later. The water source and sewage violations that drew stop use orders in February had not been resolved by the time of that first re-inspection.
None of the violations from the February 2 inspection were corrected during the visit itself.