Old food. Dirty equipment. More Presidente stores in Miami and Broward fail inspection

Presidente Supermarkets’ summer of filth continued last week as two more stores failed Florida Department of Agriculture inspections, the sixth and seventh Presidente stores to fail state inspection since June 10.

READ MORE: Unclean equipment. Unsafe food. A fifth Miami Presidente fails inspection

While this run of poor food safety isn’t unprecedented — it’s hard to beat rodents running and chewing five Florida Family Dollar stores into failed inspections, two of those into closures in 2019 — but it’s rare for a major regional supermarket chain.

Unlike inspections of restaurants by the state Department of Business and Professional Regulation, failed Florida Department of Agriculture inspections of supermarkets, grocery stores, convenience stores, retail bakeries, food storage and food distribution facilities don’t result in shutdowns.

The inspector can, however, put Stop Use Orders on equipment or areas of the store or equipment. Sometimes, when several areas of the store are under Stop Use Orders, the business decides opening isn’t worth the time or effort until the Stop Use Orders are lifted.

Presidente Supermarket, 18350 NW Seventh Ave., Miami Gardens

When Inspector Simeon Carrero stopped by on July 11, he saw “several fruit flies” in the produce department around the onions and malanga roots.

The deli area had “several” packs of meat that had been open longer than seven days. In the cafe area, the meat and spinach patties that the hot holding unit needed to keep at 135 degrees or above measured 110 to 122 degrees. The ham and cheese croissants that the cold holding unit needed to keep at 41 degrees or below measured 52 to 54 degrees.

All of the above, basura.

In the meat, seafood, and produce departments, and back room coolers and freezers, the inspector saw “doors, floors and walls with soil build up” and “hole on wall, cracks on floors and broken cooler frames.”

The meat tenderizer in the meat department cutting room had “old food particles” that had been there longer than 24 hours.

Presidente Supermarket, 1035 NW Ninth Ave., Fort Lauderdale

READ MORE: Old food. Moldy food. Dead rodent. Two Miami Presidente Supermarkets fail inspection

When Inspector Leni Zunino checked out this store on July 13, he found that you can’t trust the dates on the meat in the deli department. Zunino saw “deli meat opened on July 11, 2022 labeled as opened on July 13, 2022 as well as deli meat missing date marking.”

So, who knows how old that meat was?

Also, in the deli department, Inspector Zunino found a can of condensed milk ready to be used in food preparation with “a major dent in the can body as well as a swollen end.” When cans have food and big dents, botulism can follow. That’s why they get thrown out when spotted by inspectors.

The garbage also got filled with food kept at temperatures that can turn them into ferries for food-borne sickness. The retail area lost bean sprouts in a produce display cooler and pico de gallo. The deli department’s hot holding — lukewarm holding? — couldn’t keep mondongo, fish, chicken wings and chicken meal safe.

In the meat department, the slicer and meat saws in the front and backroom went more than four hours without being cleaned. Same for the deli slicer in the deli department. In the seafood department, there was “soil buildup in the meat saws.”

Handwashing either isn’t a thing at this Presidente or it isn’t a big thing. The produce department’s handwashing sink was “blocked with cleaning equipment.” In the meat department, it was a “big trash bin” doing the blocking. Handwashing sinks need to be like parking in lots and yards around the Orange Bowl back in the day or Marlins Park today — no blocking.

In the seafood department and the meat department backroom and service areas, the handwashing sinks didn’t have a way to dry your hands, either by blower or towel.

A plethora of problems plagued the deli department, where Inspector Zunino saw a box with raw pork thawing at room temperature. He saw raw meats thawing at room temperature in the meat department.

Still in the deli department, “cups used as scoops inside containers with flour and rice” (that usually leads to hands touching whatever you’re scooping — no bueno) and “debris on a measure spoon used in the coffee station.”

Ick.

The re-inspection will be next week around July 27.