FLORIDA. At the Panera Bread on East Highway 50 in Clermont, state inspectors documented seven high-severity violations in the last 90 days, including food not cooked to required minimum temperatures, toxic chemicals stored improperly near food, and an employee not reporting symptoms of illness. An intermediate violation for improper sewage or wastewater disposal rounded out the inspection record at that location.
That's one of the worst inspection stretches logged by any Panera in Florida between June 29 and September 26, 2026.
The Violations
The Clermont location's inspection record also flagged parasite destruction procedures not followed, food contact surfaces not properly cleaned or sanitized, and no consumer advisory posted for raw or undercooked foods. Two separate toxic substance violations, one for improper storage or labeling and one for improper identification or use, appeared on the same report.
Panera Bread Store 2789 on Palm Bay Road in Melbourne matched that seven-violation count without a single intermediate citation, meaning every violation inspectors found was high-severity. Those included no person in charge present or performing duties, no written employee health policy, an employee not reporting illness symptoms, food contact surfaces not properly cleaned, no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked items, and two toxic substance violations.
The absence of a person in charge at the Melbourne location is notable on its own. CDC data shows establishments without active managerial control accumulate critical violations at three times the rate of managed facilities.
Panera Bread #776 on Roosevelt Boulevard in Jacksonville logged six high-severity violations and two intermediate ones. Inspectors found food from an unapproved or unknown source, parasite destruction procedures not followed, food not cooked to required minimum temperatures, a person in charge not present, an employee not reporting illness symptoms, and toxic chemicals improperly stored. Intermediate violations included improper sewage or wastewater disposal and single-use items being reused.
Panera Bread #1575 on Hendricks Avenue in Jacksonville, a separate location across the city, also drew six high-severity violations. Inspectors cited food contact surfaces not properly cleaned, no consumer advisory, toxic chemical and toxic substance violations, a person in charge not present, and an employee not reporting illness symptoms. Single-use items improperly reused was the intermediate violation.
Jacksonville produced two of the top five worst Panera locations in the state during this 90-day window.
Panera Bread Bakery Cafe #3358 on Big Bend Road in Riverview drew five high-severity violations, including food not cooked to required minimum temperature, food contact surfaces not properly cleaned, time as a public health control not properly used, no consumer advisory, and a toxic substance violation.
Panera Bread #6228 on South Tamiami Trail in Sarasota added five high-severity violations of its own, including food in poor condition, mislabeled, or adulterated, food not cooked to required minimum temperature, toxic chemical and substance violations, and a person in charge not performing duties. Inspectors also cited multi-use utensils not properly cleaned and inadequate or improperly maintained toilet facilities.
Both Miami locations made the list. Panera Bread #6019 on Southwest 162nd Avenue drew five high-severity violations including improper hand and arm washing technique, food from an unapproved source, food contact surfaces not properly cleaned, no consumer advisory, and a toxic substance violation, along with improper sewage disposal as an intermediate finding.
Panera Bread #1058 on North Kendall Drive was cited for five high-severity violations as well: an employee not reporting illness, food contact surfaces not properly cleaned, time as a public health control not properly used, no consumer advisory, and a toxic substance violation. Multi-use utensils not properly cleaned was the intermediate finding.
Panera Bread Store 2782 on East Eau Gallie Boulevard in Indian Harbour Beach carried the heaviest intermediate burden of any location in this group, with three intermediate violations alongside five high-severity ones. Inspectors cited an employee not reporting illness, time as a public health control not properly used, no consumer advisory, toxic chemicals improperly stored, and no allergen awareness demonstrated. Intermediate violations included improper sanitizing solution or procedures, single-use items improperly reused, and inadequate ventilation and lighting.
Panera Bread 1673 on State Road 200 in Yulee had the lightest record of the group, with one high-severity violation: an employee not reporting symptoms of illness.
What These Violations Mean
The single most common high-severity violation across these ten locations is an employee not reporting symptoms of illness. It appeared at Clermont, Yulee, Melbourne, both Jacksonville locations, Miami's North Kendall Drive location, and Indian Harbour Beach. This is not a paperwork violation. Norovirus, which can incapacitate a person within 12 to 48 hours of exposure, spreads through food handled by sick workers. A single infected employee working a lunch rush can expose dozens of customers before anyone realizes there is a problem.
Three locations, Clermont, the Roosevelt Boulevard Jacksonville location, and the Miami location on Southwest 162nd Avenue, were cited for food from unapproved or unknown sources. When food enters a facility without going through USDA or FDA inspected supply chains, there is no traceability if someone gets sick. That matters because the first step in any outbreak investigation is identifying where the food came from.
Undercooking violations at Clermont, the Roosevelt Boulevard Jacksonville location, Riverview, and Sarasota represent a direct pathogen survival risk. Salmonella survives in poultry below 165 degrees Fahrenheit. The violation does not mean food was slightly warm. It means food reached a customer's table without the heat kill step that eliminates the bacteria.
Toxic chemical and substance violations appeared at nearly every location in this group, including Melbourne, both Jacksonville locations, Riverview, Sarasota, Miami's Southwest 162nd Avenue location, and Indian Harbour Beach. Chemicals stored near food, or improperly labeled, can contaminate food directly or be mistaken for food-safe products by staff. These are not storage housekeeping issues. They are acute poisoning risks.
The Longer Record
Across all 194 Florida locations, Panera has accumulated 4,219 inspections on record, averaging 4.06 violations per inspection with a 91.75 percent pass rate. One emergency closure has occurred this year statewide. That pass rate sounds reassuring until you look at what the failing 8.25 percent of inspections actually contained.
The pattern across the worst-performing locations in this 90-day window is not random. The same violation categories, toxic substance handling, employee illness reporting, food contact surface sanitation, and consumer advisory posting, appear repeatedly at locations in Clermont, Melbourne, Jacksonville, Riverview, Sarasota, Miami, and Indian Harbour Beach. That's a chain-wide training and compliance gap, not a series of isolated incidents at individual stores.
The Indian Harbour Beach location stands out for a different reason: it was the only facility in this group cited for no allergen awareness demonstrated. For a chain that serves customers with documented nut and gluten sensitivities, that violation carries specific weight. Allergic reactions send 30,000 Americans to emergency rooms annually, and the customers most at risk are precisely those who rely on staff knowledge to make safe menu choices.
The Melbourne location's combination of no person in charge, no employee health policy, and an employee not reporting illness symptoms represents a compounding failure. Each of those three violations makes the others worse. Without a health policy, employees don't know what symptoms to report. Without someone in charge, there is no one enforcing the policy even if it exists.
The Clermont location's sewage disposal violation, alongside seven high-severity findings, remains the single most unresolved question in this dataset: inspectors documented improper wastewater disposal at a facility that was also undercooking food and storing toxic chemicals improperly, and the full remediation record for that location has not been released.
