DELAND, FL. Back in March 2026, state inspectors walked into Stoltzfus Produce Inc., a minor retail outlet with significant food service on the outskirts of DeLand, and found salads sitting in the retail salad case registering between 46 and 50 degrees Fahrenheit.
The safe upper limit for temperature-controlled foods is 41 degrees. These salads were nearly 10 degrees above that threshold, according to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services inspection record dated March 27, 2026.
What Inspectors Found
The temperature finding was one of two priority violations documented during the inspection. The second involved the walk-in cooler, where raw shell eggs were stored directly above ready-to-eat food intended for customer purchase. The inspector noted that eggs were relocated during the visit.
In the same walk-in cooler, staff food and drinks were found stored directly above food meant for consumer consumption. That, too, was corrected while the inspector was present.
None of the five violations documented that day were corrected on site in the formal sense, however. The inspection record shows zero violations marked as corrected on site in the summary tally, even though the inspector's own notes describe several items being moved or pulled during the visit.
The Unlabeled Products
Beyond the temperature and storage problems, inspectors flagged a wide range of house-made and repacked products on the retail sales floor that carried no ingredient list. The inspector's notes identified pickled eggs, prepared-in-house parfaits, various dessert items, salads with dressings, dips, and seasonings as lacking the required labeling for sub-ingredients.
The manager removed the products from the retail floor during the inspection.
For a produce market that makes and packages its own food, the scope of that labeling gap is notable. It was not a single mislabeled item. It covered multiple product categories across the store's prepared food and specialty sections.
A Repeat Problem
One of the five violations was marked as a repeat citation. Stoltzfus Produce did not have written procedures for employees to follow in the event of a vomiting or diarrheal incident on the premises.
That is not a paperwork technicality. State food code requires food establishments to maintain a specific written cleanup protocol because norovirus and other pathogens spread rapidly through surface contamination if employees do not follow precise decontamination steps. The inspector provided a guidance document during the visit.
The fact that it was cited as a repeat means inspectors had flagged the same missing documentation before, and the store had not produced the required written plan in the time between inspections.
What These Violations Mean
The temperature finding is the most direct public health concern from this inspection. Salads at 46 to 50 degrees are sitting in a range where bacteria including Salmonella, Listeria, and Staphylococcus aureus can multiply. The longer food stays above 41 degrees, the greater the bacterial load a customer could consume. A salad that looks and smells fine can still carry a dangerous concentration of pathogens if it has been held at elevated temperatures for any period of time.
The raw egg storage violation carries a specific risk. Shell eggs are a known Salmonella vector. When they are stored above ready-to-eat foods, any liquid that seeps through a cracked shell or drips during handling can contaminate food that will not be cooked before a customer eats it. That cross-contamination pathway is one of the most common routes to a foodborne illness outbreak traced back to a retail environment.
The unlabeled prepared foods matter for a different reason. Customers with food allergies rely on ingredient labels to make safe choices. Pickled eggs, dips, dressings, and parfaits can contain allergens including eggs, dairy, tree nuts, and gluten. A store that sells those products without ingredient lists removes the only tool an allergic customer has to protect themselves.
The missing vomiting and diarrheal event procedures are a systemic gap. When an incident occurs and employees do not have a written protocol, they improvise. That improvisation is how norovirus spreads from a single surface contact point to a broad area of a retail floor or food prep space.
The Longer Record
The March 27, 2026 inspection resulted in an overall finding of "Met Sanitation Inspection Requirements," meaning the store passed despite the five violations. That is not uncommon under FDACS standards, where a facility can accumulate violations and still receive a passing designation if the most critical issues are addressed during the visit.
What the repeat citation signals is that at least one of these problems, the missing written cleanup procedures, had been identified in a prior inspection and was not resolved before inspectors returned. That is a different category of finding than a first-time citation.
The inspection record does not specify how many prior inspections Stoltzfus Produce has received or over what time period. What it does confirm is that the store had been told before that written vomiting and diarrheal event procedures were required, and those procedures were still not in place when inspectors arrived in March.
As of the inspection date, the salads had been moved to a freezer to cool, the eggs had been relocated, and the unlabeled products had been pulled from shelves. The written cleanup procedures that triggered the repeat citation, however, were not something the inspector could produce on the store's behalf.