MIAMI, FL. A state inspector walked into Freshco Fish Market at 12700 SW 122 Ave on September 29 and found fish and seafood sourced from suppliers that could not be verified as USDA or FDA approved, meaning no one could trace where the food came from if a customer got sick.
That was one of nine high-severity violations documented that day. The market remained open.
What Inspectors Found
The unapproved food source violation is particularly serious at a fish market. Seafood from unverified suppliers has not been inspected for Listeria, Salmonella, or other pathogens, and if a customer falls ill, health investigators have no chain of custody to follow.
The same inspection found food in poor condition, mislabeled, or adulterated. At a retail seafood operation, mislabeled fish is not only a health risk but a potential fraud, since cheaper species are routinely substituted for premium ones in the seafood industry.
Toxic chemicals were found improperly stored or labeled, and a separate citation noted toxic substances improperly identified, stored, or used. Two chemical-related high-severity violations in a single inspection, at a facility that handles raw seafood, means cleaning agents or pesticides were close enough to food or food surfaces to create a contamination risk.
The employee illness picture was equally troubling. Inspectors cited the market for having no written employee health policy and for employees failing to report illness symptoms. Those two violations together mean there was no formal mechanism requiring sick workers to stay home, and workers who were symptomatic were not disclosing it.
Improper handwashing technique rounded out the illness-transmission concerns. Even when employees attempted to wash their hands, the technique was insufficient to remove pathogens.
Five intermediate violations accompanied the nine high-severity ones. Inspectors noted improper sewage or wastewater disposal, multi-use utensils not properly cleaned, improper use of wiping cloths, inadequate ventilation and lighting, and inadequate or improperly maintained toilet facilities.
What These Violations Mean
The combination of no employee health policy and employees not reporting symptoms is the profile inspectors associate with Norovirus outbreaks. Norovirus spreads primarily through infected food workers, and it takes only a small number of viral particles to sicken a customer. Without a written policy requiring disclosure of symptoms like vomiting or diarrhea, there is no mechanism to pull a sick worker off the line.
The unapproved food source violation carries a different but equally serious risk. When seafood enters the supply chain outside of USDA or FDA oversight, there is no documentation of where it was harvested, how it was handled, or whether it was tested for contamination. At Freshco Fish Market, that means customers buying fish on September 29 had no assurance that what they purchased had passed any regulatory inspection.
The two chemical storage violations compound the food safety picture. Improperly stored or unlabeled chemicals near food contact surfaces can contaminate product directly, or be mistaken for food-safe substances by employees. At a fish market where surfaces are regularly wet and cleaning agents are in frequent use, the margin for error is narrow.
The sewage disposal violation adds a fecal contamination risk to the facility environment. Raw sewage contains E. coli, Hepatitis A, and other pathogens. At a facility already cited for improper surface sanitation and inadequate handwashing, a sewage handling failure multiplies the contamination pathways.
The Longer Record
The September 29 inspection was not an anomaly. State records show Freshco Fish Market has been inspected 24 times and has accumulated 213 total violations across that history, with zero emergency closures.
The inspection history shows a facility that has cycled through high-severity violations repeatedly without a sustained correction. On January 12 of this year, inspectors documented 9 high-severity violations, the same count as September 29. On June 13, 2025, they found 6 high-severity violations. On December 11, 2025, they found 5.
The day after the September 29 inspection, a follow-up visit on September 30 still found 5 high-severity violations and 2 intermediate ones. Whatever corrections were made in 24 hours, they did not resolve the majority of the serious problems.
The pattern across eight documented inspections in roughly one year is consistent: high-severity violations appear, a follow-up visit occurs, some violations clear, and then the cycle repeats at the next inspection. The facility has never been emergency-closed.
Still Open
State inspectors logged 9 high-severity violations at Freshco Fish Market on September 29, including food from sources that could not be verified as safe, employees with no policy requiring them to report illness, and toxic chemicals improperly stored near food.
The market was not closed.
