Ancient meat, unsafe pastelitos, filthy equipment at a Miami supermarket

Business admin October 11, 2026 0 Comments

Ancient meat, unsafe pastelitos, filthy equipment at a Miami supermarket

Myriad violations, from food that should’ve been trashed weeks earlier to filthy equipment, befouled the state inspection of a West Miami-Dade supermarket this week.

Monday’s visit to the Bravo Supermarket at 13659 SW 26th St. by Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services inspectors Wenndy Ayerdis and Luis Lopez wasn’t the first time this Bravo spectacularly failed inspection. While the last inspection, in January 2025, wasn’t a 20-page description of inept supermarket operation as Monday’s was, it was 13 pages of violations common and uncommon.

READ MORE: Condenser dripping on exposed meat and ice machine mold found at Miami supermarket

State records say this Bravo is owned by J H Meat Corp., a company run by President Jose Torres and Secretary Fredys Torres.

What follows is some of what Inspectors Ayerdis and Lopez found Monday.

In the food service, kitchen and meat areas, “Food employees did not wash hands after leaving and returning to the various processing areas to handle food items or clean utensils, or after touching their face/body.”

Also, in those same areas, food employees didn’t understand or didn’t care about the limits implied in “single-use gloves.” They kept on the same gloves as they went in and out of the processing areas, after they “touched unclean equipment” and “between changing tasks (washing utensils and serving food).”

Despite being a supermarket with paper towels for sale, the handwash sinks in the food service area, the kitchen and meat areas didn’t have paper towels. The food service area sink didn’t have soap, either.

A food service area worker wasn’t “wearing a hair restraint while present in areas with open food handling.”

There was “black, mold-like growth encrusted on the interior housing, ice-making portion and chute of the ice machine located next to the receiving door.” A Stop Use Order got slapped on this ice machine, an order that was released on Thursday.

The “ice scoop was placed on top of the ice machine with no protection against contamination.”

In the meat area, “old, brown food residue was encrusted in the corners of the bottom portion of the band saw and on the interior housing and auger of the meat grinder.” Similarly, over in the meat food service area, there was “old food residue encrusted on the corners of the bottom portion of the band saw and on the blades of the tenderizer.”

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Once deli meats are opened, they’ve got to be used or gone in seven days. In this Bravo’s deli case and reach in coolers, there was smoked turkey with trash dates from Sept. 26 through Oct. 1; mortadella pistachio that should’ve been gone Sept. 26 through Sept. 29; mortadella Italiana carando still present despite trash dates from Aug. 26 through Aug. 31; serrano ham gran reserva with disposal dates from Sept. 29 through Monday, the inspection day; ham pierna latino that should’ve been trashed on Sept. 21; and sembrador ham vicky latino, still there after Sept. 25.

The inspectors slapped Stop Sales on all of the above.

Also, the inspectors noted Bravo “received a delivery of milk gallons, of which they did not check temperatures. (Bravo) allowed half the merchandise to be stored in the dairy walk-in cooler prior to the inspector verifying internal temperatures of 51 degrees in the milk.”

That’s 10 degrees too warm. The inspection said, “management refused the milk shipment only after the inspector informed them of the internal temperatures of the milk.”

Also, in the dairy walk-in cooler, a “cardboard box was placed directly on top of uncovered bread pudding…” Stop Sale on the bread pudding.

“Raw meat was stored in buckets not meant for food contact.”

A food service employee “used paper towels to dry a sanitized milk cup,” thus unsanitizing the cup. Sanitized dishes, untensils and equipment have to air dry.

Another employee “washed and rinsed various pots and metal containers, but did not sanitize them prior to using.”

“Multiple wet wiping cloths were placed on preparation tables and shelving units, instead of being held in sanitizer between uses.”

“Multiple metal pans and trays were found stacked on top of each other, not inverted, and exposed to ceiling dust accumulation,” in the kitchen.

Foam trays used for meat sitting on shelves above equipment weren’t in their original packaging, which keeps them clean.

There were “black score marks on multiple cutting boards inside the kitchen.”

Also in the kitchen, “Liquid food residue and grease deposits were accumulated on the sides of the stoves and fryers. Heavy grease accumulation and droplets were present on fire suppression lines above the stoves and fryers.”

“Liquid food residue was accumulated on the walls and floors, beneath and behind stoves, the fryer, and the oven.”

The kitchenware wash sink’s cold water handle was broken, “not allowing the water to be turned off.”

Also broken: reach-in coolers in the food service area and the kitchen. Their one job is to keep food at or under 41 degrees, but they brought less cool than someone telling Dad jokes in a beige Chrysler. The food service area cooler measured 47 to 49 degrees and the kitchen cooler measured 53 to 54 degrees.

That brought a drizzle of Stop Sales on the food inside the coolers, including deli meats, bacon, garlic, cut tomatoes, diced ham and salami.

Meanwhile, the food service steam table and hot box had the opposite problem — unable to keep its food contents at or above 135 degrees. Here came the monsoon of Stop Sales on boiled eggs, scrambled eggs, fried eggs, pumpkin, boniato, sausage, fried sweet plantains, fried rice, fried yuca, boiled banana, ham croquetas, cheese pastelitos, beef pastelitos, guava and cheese pastelitos, beef empanadas, pan de bono and tequenos.

Watermelon in a retail area reach-in cooler measured 44 degrees. Stop Sale. Basura.