WEBSTER, FL. Back in March 2026, a state inspector visiting Shop N Go, a convenience store on the edge of Sumter County, found a chemical spray bottle stored next to the prep table where the store makes pizza, and cleaning soap stored directly above the ice machine in the back area.
The inspector's notes are direct: "Chemical spray stored near prep table for pizza. Back area: cleaning soap stored directly above ice machine." All of the chemical products were moved to a designated area before the inspector left, but the placement had been there long enough to document.
That was one of ten violations recorded during the March 30 inspection conducted by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
What Inspectors Found
The single priority violation involved the person in charge leaving the cash register and switching tasks without washing hands before putting on gloves to begin food service. The inspector's notes read: "Person in charge left cash register area and changed tasks without washing hands before putting on gloves to begin food service." The person in charge washed their hands after the inspector intervened.
The undated milk is a separate citation. A gallon of milk in the prep area had been open for four days with no date label. An employee dated it during the inspection.
The handwashing sink had no paper towels or hand drying devices available. An employee brought paper towels to the sink during the visit.
Other violations were on the basic level but covered the store from front to back. Assorted beverages were stored directly on the walk-in cooler floor rather than six inches above it. Ice had built up in the retail ice cream chest. The walk-in cooler floor had excess debris and spilled food and drink residue. A wet mop in the back hallway had been left flat rather than hung to dry. The dumpster lid outside was open. A food employee was wearing a bracelet while working with exposed food. An employee's open drink container and water bottle were stored in a reach-in cooler alongside products sold to customers, a violation the employee corrected by removing the items during the inspection.
What These Violations Mean
The chemical storage finding is the most acute concern for anyone who bought food or drinks at Shop N Go in the days before the March inspection. Cleaning chemicals stored above an ice machine or adjacent to a food prep surface can contaminate whatever is below or nearby, either through spills, drips, or aerosol drift when sprayed. The ice machine is a direct route to beverages sold to customers. The pizza prep table is where food is assembled for sale. Neither location is an appropriate place for chemical storage under any circumstances.
The handwashing violation matters because the person in charge, the employee responsible for overseeing food safety in the store, was the one who skipped the step. Handling money at a register and then moving directly to food preparation without washing hands is a documented transmission route for pathogens including E. coli and norovirus. The fact that it was the person in charge, not a junior employee, is significant.
Undated ready-to-eat food is a traceability problem. When a gallon of milk has been open for four days with no label, there is no way for any employee, or an inspector, to know how long it has actually been open. State food safety rules require date labels on opened ready-to-eat products precisely because time and temperature together determine whether a product is still safe.
The Longer Record
The March 2026 inspection was not the first time inspectors found problems at this location. FDACS records show two prior inspections on file, both resulting in the same outcome: met sanitation inspection requirements, but with substantial violation counts.
In May 2025, inspectors recorded 14 violations. In May 2024, the count was also 14. The March 2026 inspection brought that number down to 10, but the categories of concern overlap across all three visits.
None of the March violations were flagged as repeats in the inspection record. That is a technical classification, not a clean bill of health. A facility can accumulate similar problems across multiple inspection cycles without triggering a formal repeat designation if the specific violation codes differ slightly or if prior violations were corrected on site.
What Was and Was Not Resolved
The inspection outcome was "Met Sanitation Inspection Requirements," meaning the store was not ordered closed and was not issued a stop sale order on any products.
Several violations were corrected on site during the March 30 visit. The chemicals were relocated. The milk was dated. The person in charge washed their hands. Paper towels were brought to the sink. The employee drinks were removed from the retail cooler.
What the record does not show is whether the dumpster lid was closed, whether the walk-in cooler floor was cleaned, whether the ice buildup in the ice cream chest was addressed, or whether the wet mop was hung before the inspector left. Those four violations carry no corrected-on-site notation in the inspection record.