, FL. Southern Steer Butcher, a meat market retail operation, was open and serving customers without a valid food permit when a Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services inspector arrived on September 4, 2026, records show.
The inspector noted that a food permit application had been submitted, but no valid permit was in place at the time of the visit. Operating without that permit is a violation of Florida Statute 500.12, and it was among five violations documented during the inspection.
What Inspectors Found
The most immediate food safety concern documented inside the store was in the walk-in cooler. The inspector found raw in-shell eggs stored directly over ready-to-eat chicken salad, a cross-contamination risk that was corrected on the spot: the eggs were relocated before the inspector left.
In the food prep area, the inspector observed a buildup of a "mold like substance" on the sliding door of the meat case. That finding was not corrected during the visit.
The inspector also noted that the store had no written procedures in place for employees to follow in the event of a vomit or diarrhea discharge on the premises. Information was provided to the owner at the time of inspection, but no written plan was produced during the visit.
At the warewash station, quaternary ammonium test strips, used to verify that sanitizing solution is at the correct concentration, were not available when the inspector arrived. Test strips were acquired before the end of the visit.
What These Violations Mean
The raw egg and chicken salad finding is the kind of violation that public health officials flag as a direct contamination risk. Raw shell eggs can carry Salmonella on their shells, and storing them above an uncovered, ready-to-eat product like chicken salad means any drip or shell fragment could contaminate food that will not be cooked again before a customer eats it. The violation was corrected on site, but it reflects a storage practice that should not have required an inspector's intervention.
Operating without a valid food permit is not a paperwork technicality. The permit process exists to ensure that a facility has been reviewed for basic sanitation and food safety compliance before it opens to the public. A store selling raw meat and prepared foods without that permit in place means regulators have not formally cleared the current operation.
The absence of written procedures for handling a vomit or diarrhea incident matters more in a retail food environment than it might appear. Norovirus, one of the most common causes of foodborne illness outbreaks, spreads rapidly through contaminated surfaces and food contact areas. Without a written response plan, employees have no documented protocol to follow, and the risk of cross-contamination in those moments rises sharply.
Quaternary ammonium sanitizer, used throughout food service and retail food environments to sanitize surfaces and equipment, loses effectiveness at the wrong concentration. Test strips are the only way staff can verify the solution is working as intended. Not having them on hand means sanitizing may have been happening without any confirmation that it was actually effective.
The Longer Record
The data provided does not include a prior inspection count for Southern Steer Butcher, which limits what can be said about the facility's longer history with state regulators. What the September 4 inspection record does show is that none of the five violations were marked as repeat citations, meaning inspectors did not flag any of them as problems previously documented and left unresolved at this location.
None of the five violations were corrected on site in the sense that the inspection record shows zero items marked corrected on site in the summary count, though the narrative notes for two violations, the raw egg storage and the missing test strips, indicate those specific issues were addressed before the inspector left. The mold-like buildup on the meat case sliding door and the absence of written illness procedures remained unresolved at the end of the visit.
What Remains Unresolved
The food permit application was submitted before the inspection, according to the inspector's notes, but the permit had not been issued as of September 4. Southern Steer Butcher was open and selling meat and prepared foods to customers on that date without one.
The mold-like substance on the sliding door of the meat case, in direct contact with the food prep area, was documented and not corrected during the visit.
