DAYTONA BEACH, FL. Inspectors who walked into AB Pho and Deli on S Peninsula Drive on July 29 found food sourced from unapproved or unknown suppliers, meaning ingredients moving through that kitchen had bypassed every federal safety checkpoint designed to catch contamination before it reaches a customer's bowl.
That was one of seven high-severity violations documented in a single visit. The restaurant was not closed.
What Inspectors Found
The unapproved food source violation is among the most serious a restaurant can receive. When ingredients arrive outside regulated supply chains, there is no documentation trail, no USDA or FDA inspection stamp, and no way to trace the food back to its origin if customers become sick.
Inspectors also found that the restaurant had no written employee health policy and that employees were not reporting illness symptoms. Those two violations together describe a kitchen where a sick worker has no formal obligation to stay home and no documented system requiring them to do so.
The handwashing violation compounds that risk further. Inspectors cited improper hand and arm washing technique, meaning that even when employees attempted to wash their hands, the method used was insufficient to remove pathogens. That is a distinct and more troubling finding than simply skipping the sink.
Toxic chemicals were found improperly stored or labeled near the food operation. Mislabeled or misplaced cleaning agents and sanitizers can contaminate food directly or be mistaken for food-safe products. The intermediate violation, inadequate ventilation and lighting, rounded out the inspection report.
What These Violations Mean
The combination of no health policy and employees not reporting symptoms is precisely the condition that produces multi-victim outbreaks. Norovirus, which causes roughly 20 million illnesses in the United States each year, spreads most efficiently through food workers who prepare meals while sick. A written health policy is the minimum structural barrier between a symptomatic employee and a customer's plate. AB Pho and Deli had neither the policy nor the reporting practice on July 29.
The food contact surface violation adds another layer. Cutting boards, prep surfaces, and utensils that are not properly cleaned and sanitized between uses transfer bacteria from one food item to the next. In a kitchen already operating without active managerial oversight, and with no documented health policy, unsanitized surfaces become a compounding factor rather than an isolated one.
The unapproved food source violation carries its own category of risk. If a customer becomes ill after eating at AB Pho and Deli and investigators need to trace the ingredient back to its origin, an unapproved source means that trail may not exist. Listeria, Salmonella, and E. coli have all been linked to supply chains that bypassed standard inspection checkpoints.
The absence of a person in charge performing duties ties all of it together. CDC data correlates active managerial control with significantly lower rates of critical violations. When no one is accountable in the building, the other violations on this list become easier to understand.
The Longer Record
AB Pho and Deli has three inspections on record. Across those three visits, inspectors have documented 39 total violations.
The pattern is not improving. The restaurant's March 2026 inspection turned up 2 high-severity violations and 2 intermediate violations, a relatively contained finding. Then on July 28, the day before the inspection that generated this report, inspectors returned and found 9 high-severity violations and 2 intermediate violations. The following day, July 29, brought 7 more high-severity violations and 1 intermediate.
That means inspectors visited AB Pho and Deli on back-to-back days and found a combined 16 high-severity violations across those two visits. The restaurant has never been emergency-closed.
The July 28 inspection, with its 9 high-severity findings, did not result in a closure order. Inspectors returned the next morning and found 7 more. The facility remained open after that visit as well.
Still Open
State inspection records classify seven of the eight violations documented on July 29 as high-severity. That category is reserved for conditions inspectors determine pose the most direct risk of illness or injury to customers.
AB Pho and Deli at 312 S Peninsula Drive in Daytona Beach was serving customers when inspectors arrived. It was still open when they left.
