FLORIDA. A Subway in Bronson drew six high-severity violations in a single inspection this spring, with state inspectors finding no person in charge on duty, employees not reporting illness symptoms, food in poor or adulterated condition, unsanitized food contact surfaces, toxic chemicals improperly stored, and no consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods.
That location, Subway #47295 at 830 E. Hathaway in Bronson, tied for the worst inspection result among all Florida Subway locations in the 90-day window from April 21 through July 19, 2026. Two other locations matched that six-high-severity tally. The chain operates 876 locations across the state.
The Violations
Subway #29413 at 7965 SR 50 in Groveland matched Bronson's six high-severity count, with inspectors citing employees not reporting illness symptoms, food in poor condition, food contact surfaces not properly sanitized, toxic chemicals improperly stored, no consumer advisory, and a violation for failing to follow parasite destruction procedures.
That last citation is notable at a Subway. Parasite destruction procedures are required when fish is served raw or lightly cooked, and failing to follow them means parasites including Anisakis and tapeworm can survive and reach customers.
Subway #60865 at 1325 San Marco Blvd, Suite 104 in Jacksonville also drew six high-severity violations, including improper hand and arm washing technique, inadequate shell stock identification records, unsanitized food contact surfaces, no consumer advisory, toxic substances improperly stored, and no allergen awareness demonstrated by staff. The allergen violation alone carries acute risk: food allergies affect tens of millions of Americans, and a single mislabeled or cross-contaminated sandwich can trigger anaphylaxis.
The inadequate shell stock records citation at the Jacksonville location is a separate concern. Shellfish traceability records exist so health officials can trace an outbreak back to a specific harvest lot. Without those records, identifying the source of a shellfish-linked illness becomes significantly harder.
The Pattern Across the State
Five of the ten worst-performing locations this quarter cited employees not reporting illness symptoms. That violation appeared at the Bronson location, the Groveland location, Subway #26296 at 4410 W. 16th Ave in Hialeah, Subway at 1905 W. 35th St in Hialeah, and Subway at 12089 SW 152nd St in Miami.
Improperly cleaned or unsanitized food contact surfaces appeared at seven of the ten locations. That violation was cited in Bronson, Groveland, Jacksonville, Clearwater, LaBelle, Miami Beach, and the SW 152nd Street Miami location.
Toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled showed up at five locations: Bronson, Groveland, Clearwater, LaBelle, and SW 152nd Street Miami. Chemicals stored near food prep areas without proper labeling create a direct contamination pathway.
No consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods appeared at nine of the ten locations reviewed, making it the single most common high-severity citation in this stretch.
Subway 3956 at 1895 N. Highland Ave in Clearwater stood out for one violation that is rarely cited at sandwich chains: no approved potable water supply. Non-potable water used in food preparation can carry E. coli, Cryptosporidium, and Legionella. The Clearwater location also drew citations for food not cooked to required minimum temperature, food contact surfaces not properly sanitized, toxic chemicals improperly stored, and no consumer advisory.
Subway 1973 at 917 Arthur Godfrey Rd in Miami Beach accumulated four high-severity and four intermediate violations, the highest combined intermediate count in this group. Inspectors cited time as a public health control not properly used, unsanitized food contact surfaces, toxic substances improperly stored, multi-use utensils not properly cleaned, improper sanitizing solution, inadequate ventilation, and equipment in poor repair.
Subway at 6542 Collins Ave in Miami drew a single high-severity violation, the missing consumer advisory, and no intermediate citations. It is the lightest inspection result in this group.
What These Violations Mean
The illness-reporting violations at five locations represent the most direct threat to customers in this dataset. Norovirus, the leading cause of foodborne illness in the United States, spreads readily from an infected food worker to every item that worker touches. A single employee preparing sandwiches while symptomatic can expose dozens of customers before anyone connects the illness to a meal. The violation does not mean inspectors confirmed a sick employee was working; it means the documented procedures requiring workers to report symptoms were not in place or not followed.
The food contact surface violations, cited at seven of ten locations, describe surfaces including slicer blades, prep tables, and utensils that were not properly cleaned or sanitized between uses. Bacteria including Salmonella and Listeria can survive on surfaces for hours. At a sandwich assembly line, those surfaces touch nearly every ingredient served to every customer.
Toxic chemicals improperly stored near food, cited at five locations, carry a different kind of risk. Cleaning agents and sanitizers can cause acute poisoning if they contaminate food directly. The risk is not theoretical: the FDA has documented cases of chemical poisoning in food service linked to mislabeled or improperly stored products.
The no consumer advisory violation, appearing at nine of ten locations, matters most to specific populations: pregnant women, the elderly, people with compromised immune systems, and young children. Those groups face heightened risk from pathogens that survive in undercooked food. Without a posted advisory, they have no way to make an informed choice.
The Longer Record
Florida's 876 Subway locations have accumulated 14,108 inspections on record, an average that reflects decades of routine oversight across the chain. The statewide pass rate of 93.26 percent and an average of 3.43 violations per inspection set a baseline: the locations in this report are performing substantially worse than that chain average.
The chain has recorded one emergency closure in Florida this year. An emergency closure requires an inspector to find conditions severe enough to warrant immediate shutdown, and that threshold is rarely reached. The single closure against a base of 876 locations suggests most Subway restaurants are not operating at the severity level documented at the Bronson, Groveland, and Jacksonville stores.
What the inspection record does not show is whether the worst-performing locations this quarter are first-time offenders or chronic underperformers. The Bronson location's combination of no manager on duty, sick employee reporting failures, adulterated food, and unsanitized surfaces in a single inspection suggests layered, systemic failures rather than isolated oversights. A single citation for a cracked floor tile looks different than six simultaneous high-severity violations.
The two Hialeah locations appearing in the same quarter's worst-performers list, one on W. 16th Ave and one on W. 35th St, share overlapping violation types: employees not reporting illness, inadequate handwashing facilities, and food in poor condition. Whether those locations share ownership or management is not reflected in the inspection data, but the parallel findings across two stores in the same city within the same 90-day window is a pattern the records document.
The Clearwater location's citation for no approved potable water supply remains the most operationally alarming single violation in this dataset. That citation has not been resolved in the public record reviewed here.
