TAVARES, FL. Back in March 2026, state inspectors walked into Walgreens #4648 on the retail floor and found raw bacon stored directly against commercially processed ready-to-eat sausages on the bottom shelf of a reach-in cooler display, a food safety violation serious enough to earn a priority citation.
The sausages were relocated before the inspector left. But the visit turned up nine other violations, including a permit that had been expired for more than two months.
What Inspectors Found
The raw meat separation issue was not the only priority finding. On the clearance shelf in the retail area, commercially processed canned beverages were sitting on the bottom shelves directly below various chemical products. The inspector noted the beverages were relocated before the end of the visit.
A third item flagged during the inspection involved dented cans with damage along the top and bottom seams on a retail sales aisle. Those were pulled from the sales floor during the inspection.
The permit displayed in a frame in the back office had expired on December 31, 2025. The inspection took place March 9, 2026, meaning the store had been operating for more than ten weeks under an expired permit with no current authorization visibly posted.
The Condition of the Store
The physical state of the building drew repeated inspector attention. In the walk-in cooler, condensing unit fans, the ceiling, and the walls all had a buildup of dust. In the walk-in freezer, ice and old price tags had accumulated under the shelving units.
The restrooms were cited separately. Inspectors documented heavy cobwebs on and near the ceiling around the restroom doors, and a heavy buildup on the walls under the water fountains nearby. The plumbing fixtures and the basin of the mop sink in a closet near the restrooms had what the inspector described as a heavy buildup of debris.
Outside, trash had built up around the dumpster behind the back storage room. A manager cleaned up the debris before the inspection ended.
Inside the retail area, drink slides in a small cooler near the cash registers had a buildup of debris. Stained cardboard was being used as shelving for commercially processed prepackaged chips near the register area, a surface the inspector flagged as not free of unnecessary ledges, projections, and crevices.
The store also had no certified food protection manager certificate on hand. The inspector provided an industry handout on the requirement.
What These Violations Mean
The raw meat separation violation is one of the most direct food safety risks in a retail setting. Raw bacon carries bacteria including salmonella and E. coli. When it is stored pressed against ready-to-eat products, those bacteria can transfer to food that will never be cooked again before a customer eats it. The fact that it was corrected on site is meaningful, but it does not change what was on that shelf before the inspector arrived.
The chemical storage finding carries a different but equally serious risk. Cleaning products and other chemicals stored above food items can drip, leak, or spill onto the food below. Canned beverages with compromised packaging, or even intact cans exposed to chemical residue, become a contamination hazard with no visible warning to the shopper who picks them up.
The dented cans removed from the retail aisle matter because seam damage is not cosmetic. Dents along the top or bottom seam of a can compromise the seal that keeps the contents sterile. A broken seal allows bacteria, including the kind that produce botulism toxin, to enter. Cans damaged at the seam are not safe to sell, and the inspector's action in removing them was appropriate.
The expired permit is a compliance and traceability issue. An operating permit confirms that a facility has met current state requirements. A permit expired since the end of 2025 means the store was selling food, including perishables, without a valid current authorization on display for more than two months before the inspection.
The Longer Record
The data for this inspection lists no prior inspections on record for this facility under the FDACS system, which means this inspection stands alone without a documented comparison point for repeat violations. None of the ten citations were marked as repeat findings.
That absence of prior history cuts two ways. It means inspectors cannot point to the same problems appearing across multiple visits. It also means there is no documented baseline showing whether the dust accumulation in the walk-in cooler, the cobwebs in the restroom corridor, or the mop sink debris built up recently or over a longer period.
What the record does show is that on March 9, 2026, the store met sanitation inspection requirements overall, meaning it was not ordered closed and did not fail the inspection outright. The two priority violations and the priority foundation violation were all corrected during the visit.
The expired permit, the condensing unit buildup, the mop sink debris, and the cobwebs in the restroom corridor were not corrected on site.