Rodents and roaches caused a Miami Beach market to throw out food during an inspection
All the food in a hot case and a reach-in cooler at a Miami Beach store got thrown in the garbage after a state inspector spotted roaches and rodent dung.
That was the worst of the Friday inspection at Marlin Food Market and Cafe at 1635 Washington Ave. in South Beach.
The inspection says the store is owned Chowdhory Manirul Islam.
Florida Department of Agriculture inspectors check packaged food handlers and sellers, from supermarkets down to Barnes & Noble bookstores. Unlike restaurant inspectors from the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, Ag Department inspectors can’t close down an establishment when an establishment gets the lowest inspection result, Re-Inspection Required.
They can, however, issue Stop Sale orders on food and Stop Use Orders on equipment and areas. Enough of those in the wrong places and opening a store might be impossible or, at best, fruitless.
Marlin Food Market was open Saturday, the day after Inspector Pedro Llanos found the following violations.
READ MORE: Inspector finds rodent poop, roaches near food and drink at Miami 7-Eleven
▪ A food service area employee didn’t wash hands when coming back into the area.
▪ Another food service employee was “not wearing an effective hair restraint while working with open food items.”
▪ Knock boards used to empty the espresso machine’s coffee holder can be in a trash can, but the can must only be used for coffee grounds. Marlin’s knock board was “found with old food debris on the surface and was stored on a receptacle used for general trash disposal.”
▪ Packaged lady grapes, watermelon, ham and cheese croissants, ham & cheese sandwiches, and salads weren’t labeled with several elements, most importantly, ingredients and name of the packing business.
▪ Pans on the wire rack in the kitchen were “wet nesting.”
▪ In the food service area, “Numerous rodent droppings and live roaches found under the three-compartment sink. Live roaches found in the hot case and reach-in cooler under the sandwich prep table.”
▪ And, in the kitchen area, “Numerous rodent droppings and live roaches found under and behind stove.”
The inspection says all the food in the hot case and reach-in cooler were “voluntarily discarded,” but it also says Inspector Llanos hit the food with Stop Sale orders.
This story was originally published June 24, 2023 at 12:20 PM.
