ORLANDO, FL. Back in January 2026, a state inspector walked into a convenience store on the east side of Orlando and found a chicken sandwich on the open-air cooler shelf with a green mold-like substance directly on the food product. The store, Usa Red N Green Inc, a convenience store with limited food service, was also operating without a valid food permit at the time of the visit.
The inspection, conducted January 20, 2026, by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, turned up eight violations total, two of them priority-level, the most serious classification in the state's system.
What Inspectors Found
The moldy chicken sandwich triggered a Stop-Sale Order and Release under Florida Statute 500.04 and 500.10, citing adulteration. Management voluntarily discarded the product during the inspection.
A second Stop-Sale Order was also issued, this one citing a violation of Florida Food Law related to food temperature control, specifically improper cooling methods or equipment. That order was also released during the visit.
The raw egg problem was a separate priority violation. Cartons of raw shell eggs were stored in the open-air cooler directly above various beverages, a configuration that puts ready-to-drink products at risk of contamination from egg leakage or breakage. The inspector noted the eggs were relocated and properly stored before leaving.
The store had no thin-tip probe thermometer available for checking food temperatures, and no sanitizer test strips to verify cleaning solution concentrations. Both items were provided during the inspection.
The person in charge could not correctly answer questions related to preventing foodborne illness, and it could not be verified that employees had been told about their reporting responsibilities when sick. The inspector provided industry guidance on both points, but neither issue was marked as corrected on site.
The walk-in cooler fan covers had a visible buildup of dust and debris.
Operating Without a Permit
The permit violation is the legal foundation of the entire inspection. Under Florida Statute 500.12, no food establishment may operate without a valid permit issued by the state. The inspector's notes are direct: "Establishment is found to be operating without a valid Food Permit." A supplemental report was also issued during the visit, described as containing important information for management.
Operating without a permit means the state had no current record of the store meeting baseline sanitation and safety requirements before this visit. It also means routine oversight inspections, which depend on active permit status, were not occurring on the normal schedule.
What These Violations Mean
The adulterated food finding is the most immediate public health concern. A chicken sandwich with visible green mold on the product itself is not a borderline case. Mold on ready-to-eat food means the product was either stored improperly, held past its safe date, or both. Customers who purchased a similar item before the inspector arrived on January 20 had no way of knowing the condition of what they were buying.
The raw egg storage violation is a cross-contamination risk that is easy to overlook but well-documented in foodborne illness cases. Eggs can carry Salmonella on their shells. Storing them above open beverages or any ready-to-consume product creates a direct pathway for contamination if a carton leaks, tips, or breaks. The risk is not theoretical.
The person-in-charge failures compound everything else. When the individual responsible for the store cannot correctly answer questions about foodborne illness prevention, and when employees have not been told they must report symptoms like vomiting or diarrhea before handling food, the store has no internal check on any of these problems. The permit violation, the moldy food, the egg placement, the missing thermometer: each of those is more likely to persist, or go unnoticed, when the person in charge lacks basic food safety knowledge.
The missing thermometer matters specifically because without one, there is no way to verify that food in the cooler is being held at safe temperatures. A store selling prepared food items, like the chicken sandwich found during this inspection, needs a probe thermometer to confirm product safety. The store did not have one until the inspector provided it.
The Longer Record
The data available for this inspection does not include a prior inspection count for Usa Red N Green Inc, which limits direct comparison to past visits. What the record does show is that none of the eight violations documented on January 20 were marked as repeat citations, meaning this was the first time inspectors formally documented these specific problems at this location, at least under the current inspection cycle.
That context matters in both directions. The absence of repeat flags does not mean the conditions were new. Mold on a packaged food product and a cooler with dusty fan covers are not conditions that develop overnight. They suggest maintenance and monitoring gaps that existed before the inspector arrived.
The permit violation is its own category. A store does not accidentally lose its food permit. The lapse requires either a failure to renew or a suspension, and the inspection record does not specify which. What it does confirm is that the store was selling food to customers, including prepared items like the chicken sandwich, without the state authorization required to do so.
None of the person-in-charge violations, which covered both employee illness reporting and basic foodborne illness knowledge, were corrected on site.