JACKSONVILLE, FL. A food worker at Broadway Deli on Belfort Road was observed not reporting symptoms of illness during a September 10 state inspection, a violation inspectors classify as the number-one cause of multi-victim outbreaks. The restaurant had no written employee health policy in place, either. It remained open after the visit.
State records show inspectors cited the deli for 11 high-severity violations and 2 intermediate violations during that single inspection. The facility has never been emergency-closed in 22 inspections on record.
What Inspectors Found
The illness violations were not the only acute concerns. Inspectors found food not cooked to the required minimum temperature, a failure that allows Salmonella in poultry to survive and reach a customer's plate. Food contact surfaces were not properly cleaned or sanitized, creating a direct cross-contamination route between raw and ready-to-eat items.
Two separate toxic-substance violations were cited. Inspectors documented both improperly stored or labeled chemicals and a second, distinct violation for toxic substances improperly identified, stored, or used. Both categories carry immediate risk of chemical contamination of food.
Inspectors also flagged parasite destruction procedures not followed, inadequate shellfish identification records, food in poor condition or adulterated, and no consumer advisory posted for raw or undercooked items. Customers who ordered raw or lightly cooked shellfish or fish had no written warning available to them.
The intermediate violations covered improper sewage or wastewater disposal and inadequate ventilation and lighting. Improper sewage disposal creates the possibility of fecal contamination throughout a kitchen.
What These Violations Mean
The combination of no employee health policy and an employee actively not reporting illness symptoms is, in practical terms, a direct transmission pipeline. Norovirus spreads through infected food workers who continue preparing food. A written health policy is the first mechanism that stops that chain. Broadway Deli had neither the policy nor the compliance.
Undercooked food compounds the illness risk. Salmonella in poultry requires an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit to be destroyed. When that threshold is not reached, the pathogen survives and is served. At Broadway Deli, inspectors documented this failure on the same day a symptomatic worker was present.
The shellfish traceability violation carries a separate category of danger. Without proper shell stock identification records, there is no way to trace oysters, clams, or mussels back to their harvest location if customers become ill. That traceability is the only mechanism public health officials have to identify a contaminated harvest bed and prevent additional illness.
Improperly stored toxic chemicals near food require no bacterial incubation period. Contamination can be immediate and acute, with no warning until a customer is already affected.
The Longer Record
Broadway Deli: High-Severity Violations by Inspection
Broadway Deli has 170 total violations across 22 inspections on record. The September 2026 inspection is the worst single visit in that history, but it is not an outlier. The deli logged 9 high-severity violations in September 2023 and 8 in November 2022, the only inspection it has ever passed being a follow-up the day after that 8-violation visit.
Every inspection since 2022 has produced high-severity violations. The counts have moved in one direction: 3, 3, 3, 5, 3, 9, 8, 4, and now 11.
The facility has never been emergency-closed. State records show zero prior emergency closures across all 22 inspections.
Still Open
After an inspector documented a symptomatic food worker, food cooked below required temperatures, two separate chemical storage failures, no shellfish traceability records, and no consumer advisory for raw items, the deli at 4100 Belfort Road was not ordered shut.
Broadway Deli remained open for business following the September 10 inspection.
