LAUDERDALE LAKES, FL. Back in March 2026, a state food safety inspector walked into Super Star K #4100 on a routine visit and found chicken wings sitting on a preparation table measuring between 65 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit. The wings were moved into the walk-in cooler during the inspection, but the temperature reading told a story that extended well beyond one tray of poultry.
By the end of the March 24 visit, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services had documented 18 total violations at the Lauderdale Lakes convenience store, including four priority violations and one repeat citation. Not a single violation was corrected on site before the inspector's arrival, meaning every problem found that day was already in place when customers walked through the door.
What Inspectors Found
The raw egg situation appeared in two separate locations. In the food service cold unit beneath the preparation table, raw shell eggs were stored on a shelf directly above containers of sauces. In the retail reach-in cooler, a second tray of raw shell eggs sat above milk gallons and limes. Inspectors moved the eggs in both locations during the visit.
Employees were observed not washing their hands between entering and exiting the food preparation area, and not washing before putting on gloves to handle food items. Inspectors had them wash their hands and don new gloves on the spot.
The backroom handwash sink next to the ware wash sink had no soap and no paper towels. It also had a drink pitcher, a knife, and wiping cloths stored inside it, rendering it unusable for hand washing. Both problems were corrected during the inspection, but they existed together, meaning the sink designated for hand hygiene was simultaneously blocked and unstocked.
The ice machine in the backroom had black mold-like grime encrusted on its interior. The inspector had it washed, rinsed, and sanitized during the visit.
In the retail area, cardboard with a heavy accumulation of grease had been placed to line the shelves where individually prepackaged chips are stored. The vent hood above the fryer units carried a heavy accumulation of grease as well.
The store also lacked a written employee health policy, no written procedures for responding to vomiting or diarrhea incidents, and no chlorine sanitizer test strips to verify the strength of the sanitizing solution being used.
The Repeat Violation
One citation carried the weight of prior history. The inspector noted that no probe thermometer was available anywhere in the food establishment to assess cooking, cooling, reheating, or hot and cold holding temperatures. That violation was marked as a repeat.
A store that cannot measure food temperatures has no way to verify that the chicken wings, the cold-held items, or anything cooked or cooled on the premises is safe. The 65-to-80-degree chicken wings found during this same inspection illustrate exactly what that gap can look like in practice.
What These Violations Mean
The chicken wings measured between 65 and 80 degrees represent the most acute food safety risk documented that day. Bacteria like Salmonella and Staphylococcus aureus multiply rapidly in the temperature range between 41 and 135 degrees Fahrenheit. Chicken sitting at 80 degrees on a preparation table, with no thermometer in the store to catch the problem, is a direct pathway to foodborne illness for anyone who eats it.
Raw shell eggs stored above ready-to-eat items like milk, limes, and sauces create a cross-contamination risk that is straightforward and well-documented. If an egg leaks or cracks, its contents drip onto the food below. Salmonella is the primary concern, and it does not require visible contamination to cause illness.
The absence of soap and paper towels at the handwash sink, combined with employees observed not washing hands before handling food, compounds every other risk in the building. Hand hygiene is the single most effective barrier between contamination and customers, and on March 24, that barrier was not functioning.
The lack of a written employee health policy matters because it means there is no formal guidance in place telling sick employees to stay away from food. Without that policy, an employee with symptoms of a transmissible illness has no documented instruction to report it or stay home.
The Longer Record
The prior inspection record at this location is short and, on its surface, clean. FDACS conducted focused inspections in December 2023 and May 2024, and both returned zero violations.
Focused inspections, however, are narrower in scope than full sanitation inspections. They are not designed to surface the full range of violations that a comprehensive review would find. The March 2026 inspection was a full sanitation review, and it produced 18 violations where the two prior visits had found none.
The repeat citation for no probe thermometer is the most telling data point in that record. It means the thermometer problem was documented before March 2026 and was not resolved before inspectors returned. A store with prior clean focused inspections and a recurring gap in its ability to measure food temperatures presents a specific kind of risk: the appearance of compliance without the infrastructure to verify it.
None of the 18 violations cited on March 24 were corrected before the inspector arrived. The store met sanitation inspection requirements by the end of the visit, meaning most problems were addressed in the moment. The repeat thermometer violation, however, had already survived at least one prior inspection cycle without being fixed.