CLERMONT, FL. Toxic chemicals were improperly stored or labeled inside Best of British Pub on High Grove Boulevard when a state inspector arrived on September 8, and employees were not reporting symptoms of illness, and no person in charge was performing supervisory duties. The pub collected 8 high-severity violations and 6 intermediate violations that day. It was not closed.
The facility at 16909 High Grove Blvd has now accumulated 479 total violations across 42 inspections on record. It has been emergency-closed twice, both times for roach activity. Neither of those closures happened this month.
What Inspectors Found
The chemical storage violations are among the most immediately dangerous on the list. The inspector cited two separate chemical violations: improper storage or labeling of toxic chemicals, and improper identification, storage, or use of toxic substances. Both categories point to the same core risk: cleaning agents, sanitizers, or other chemicals placed or labeled in ways that could lead to direct contamination of food or food-contact surfaces.
Employees were also cited for not reporting illness symptoms, and for improper handwashing technique. Those two violations together describe a kitchen where sick workers may have continued handling food while using a handwashing method that left pathogens on their hands regardless.
Food contact surfaces were not properly cleaned or sanitized. The sanitizing solution or procedures were also cited as improper at the intermediate level. That means surfaces that appeared cleaned may not have been, and the solution used to sanitize them may not have been effective.
Inspectors also found that required procedures for specialized processes were not followed. The pub was cited for having no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods. A customer ordering something undercooked, or prepared through a specialized process, had no way of knowing it.
Improper sewage or waste water disposal rounded out the intermediate violations alongside reused single-use items, improper waste disposal, improper wiping cloth use, and inadequate ventilation and lighting.
What These Violations Mean
The dual chemical violations are not duplicates. One addresses how chemicals are stored and labeled, and the other addresses how they are identified and used. Both failing at once means chemicals were present in ways that created immediate contamination risk, and that staff either did not know what those chemicals were or were not using them correctly.
The illness-reporting failure is what public health officials describe as an outbreak enabler. A worker with norovirus, salmonella, or hepatitis A who does not report symptoms and continues to handle food can infect dozens of customers before anyone connects the illnesses to a single source. Combined with improper handwashing technique, that risk compounds: even a worker who attempts to wash their hands before touching food may still transfer pathogens if the technique is wrong.
The absence of a person in charge performing duties is not a paperwork problem. CDC data links active managerial control directly to violation rates. A kitchen without functioning supervision is one where the other 13 violations on this list are more likely to occur and less likely to be caught internally before an inspector arrives.
The sewage violation adds a separate layer. Improper waste water disposal creates the possibility of fecal contamination moving through the facility, reaching surfaces or equipment that then contact food.
The Longer Record
The September 8 inspection is not a departure from the recent pattern at Best of British Pub. It is the pattern. The February 2026 inspection found 7 high-severity violations. January 2026 found 6. November 2025 produced back-to-back inspections, one with 8 high-severity violations and one with 10. November 2024 produced back-to-back inspections with 10 high-severity violations each.
Across 42 inspections on record, the facility has accumulated 479 total violations. That is an average of more than 11 violations per inspection visit. The two emergency closures, both for roach activity, occurred in April 2022 and April 2017. The 2022 closure lasted a single day.
The categories of violations have remained consistent across recent inspections: management failures, food safety process failures, and chemical or sanitation problems appear repeatedly in the record. The September 8 findings are not an unusual spike. They fall within the range the facility has been producing for at least two years.
Still Open
After the September 8 inspection, Best of British Pub was not emergency-closed. Fourteen violations, 8 of them high-severity, including toxic chemicals near food, employees not reporting illness, no functioning management oversight, and improperly sanitized food contact surfaces.
The pub remained open.
