Filthy equipment and unsafe empanadas among the problems at a Miami-Dade supermarket
Empanadas and shredded pork among food that needed to be thrown in the garbage, and equipment with “mold-like grime” were among the list of violations found at a Florida City supermarket.
When Florida Department of Agriculture Inspector Julio Azpurua left the Bravo Supermarket at 32955 S. Dixie Hwy., he left behind an inspection that stated “Re-Inspection Required,” the worst result possible for an Ag Department inspection.
According to state and Palm Beach County records, this Bravo is owned by Ama 32955 Food Corp., a company run by President Alejandro Paulino out of his four-bedroom, four and a half-bathroom 5,188-sq. ft. Boca Raton home.
Here’s some of what Inspector Azpura found.
▪ Multiple live flies flying throughout the preparation and packaging areas” in the meat and produce departments.
▪ A meat department tenderizer had “old food residue encrusted on the blades,” and the meat grinder attachment had matching “old food residue.”
▪ That tenderizer, grinder, the cutting boards, the knives and the band saw “were not washed, rinsed and sanitized after more than four hours of use.”
▪ The “foam meat trays stored on a shelving unit next to the walk-in cooler are not kept in the original protective package,” so the meat products might be put on foam trays with dust or other contaminants.
▪ The meat department’s warewash sink had only two basins, “insufficient space for washing, rinsing, and sanitizing equipment and utensils. All equipment and utensils must be properly washed, rinsed, and sanitized in the three-compartment sink in the seafood department until a new three-compartment sink is installed for proper dishwashing.”
▪ In the produce and seafood department, “no sink stoppers were available to wash, rinse, and sanitize equipment and utensils at the warewash sink.”
▪ The produce and seafood department’s warewash sink compartments sanitizer and detergent dispensing tubs had “black mold-like grime encrusted on the interior.”
▪ “Black mold-like grime and calcification are encrusted in the interior housing and ice-making portion of the ice machine,” in the seafood department.
▪ On top of that ice machine, “the ice scoop was placed on top of the unclean surface.”
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▪ Up front, the espresso machine used to make coladas and cafe con leche as well as the utensils and metal coffee jars weren’t sanitized after being cleaned.
▪ In the cooler next to the espresso machine, the shredded pork made the previous day still wasn’t under 41 degrees as proper food safety requires. Stop Sale Order on the shredded pork.
▪ The hot counter food needs to be kept at or above 135 degrees. Instead, the pork sandwich (108 degrees), cheese tequenos (107 to 111 degrees), pan de bono (106), and chicken empanadas (107) earned Stop Sales. Basura.
▪ No soap at a handwash sink for the seafood and produce department, as well as one in the meat department.
▪ A meat department employee didn’t “wash hands between entering and exiting food preparation area and handling food items.”
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▪ Other indications the handwash sinks might not be burdened with heavy usage: “multiple items stored” in the food service handwash sink; utensils in a produce area handwash sink; and a wet wiping cloth stored inside a seafood department handwash sink; and “old food debris” in the basin of another seafood department handwash sink.
▪ “Uncovered boxes of raw fish stored inside the walk-in freezer.”
▪ “Multiple raw fish species stored in reduced oxygen packaging found thawing in the seafood display unit without removing or opening this packaging prior to thawing under refrigeration.” Stop Sale on the fish.
▪ “Fish thawing, submerged in standing water.” This should be done in a cooler (what homes would call a refrigerator).
▪ Bugs can quickly get into products stored on the floor if the food isn’t in completely sealed packaging. “Multiple drinks are stored directly on the floor throughout the backroom area” and “multiple food items (box with pork and meat) stored directly on the floor in the walk-in freezer.”
▪ The in-use wiping cloths in the food service and meat departments were “not held in a sanitizer solution between uses.”
This story was originally published August 24, 2024 at 11:57 AM.
