MIAMI, FL. A food worker at 107 Taste on SW 107th Avenue was found not reporting symptoms of illness during a September 28 inspection, a violation state health officials classify as an outbreak enabler and one of the leading causes of multi-victim foodborne illness events.
That was one of seven high-severity violations inspectors documented at the Miami restaurant that day. The facility was not closed.
What Inspectors Found
The inspection also found that food was not cooked to the required minimum temperature. Salmonella in poultry survives below 165 degrees Fahrenheit, and inspectors classify undercooked food as a leading direct cause of foodborne illness.
Food contact surfaces were not properly cleaned or sanitized, a condition inspectors describe as a primary vehicle for bacterial transfer between raw and ready-to-eat foods. Cutting boards and prep surfaces that carry residual contamination can spread pathogens to every item prepared on them.
Toxic chemicals were found improperly stored or labeled. When cleaning agents or pesticides are stored near food or in unlabeled containers, the risk is not theoretical: mislabeled chemicals have caused acute poisoning incidents in food service settings.
The restaurant also lacked a consumer advisory for raw or undercooked menu items. That omission leaves elderly diners, pregnant women, young children, and people with compromised immune systems with no way to make an informed choice about what they are ordering.
Five intermediate violations accompanied the seven high-severity findings. Inspectors cited improper sewage or wastewater disposal, the reuse of single-use items, inadequate ventilation and lighting, improper use of wiping cloths, and inadequate toilet facilities.
What These Violations Mean
The illness-reporting violation is the one public health officials consistently flag as the highest-consequence failure in a food service setting. Norovirus spreads with extraordinary efficiency from an infected worker to food, surfaces, and ultimately customers. A single employee who continues working through symptoms of vomiting or diarrhea can trigger an outbreak affecting dozens of people who never set foot in the kitchen.
The handwashing violation compounds that risk directly. An employee who attempts to wash their hands but uses improper technique, insufficient time, or skips the process entirely after touching contaminated surfaces leaves pathogens on their hands regardless of the attempt. At 107 Taste, inspectors found both failures in the same visit.
The temperature violation and the time-as-public-health-control violation point to the same underlying problem: food was allowed to remain in conditions that support bacterial growth. When a facility uses time rather than refrigeration to manage food safety, strict documentation and discard protocols are required. Inspectors found those protocols were not being followed properly.
The sewage disposal violation is the intermediate citation with the most immediate contamination implications. Improper wastewater handling introduces fecal matter into the facility environment, and that contamination does not stay contained.
The Longer Record
The September 28 inspection was not an anomaly. State records show 107 Taste has been inspected 40 times and has accumulated 479 total violations across that history, with zero emergency closures.
The pattern in recent years is consistent. Inspectors found eight high-severity violations on March 9, 2026, and eight more on February 20, 2025. The September 15, 2025 inspection produced seven high-severity violations, the same count as the September 28, 2026 visit. The October 25, 2024 inspection logged six high-severity violations.
The only inspection in recent memory that showed a dramatically different result was September 16, 2025, which found zero high-severity violations. That visit came one day after the September 15 inspection that found seven. The improvement lasted one inspection cycle.
A follow-up visit on October 6, 2026, eight days after the inspection that is the subject of this article, found three high-severity violations and three intermediate violations. The count dropped, but high-severity violations were still present.
Across eight inspections spanning roughly two years, 107 Taste accumulated 48 high-severity violations. The facility has never been emergency-closed.
Still Open
Florida's emergency closure authority is triggered when an inspector determines a facility poses an immediate threat to public health. Seven high-severity violations on a single inspection date, including an employee not reporting illness symptoms and food not cooked to required temperatures, did not meet that threshold at 107 Taste on September 28.
The restaurant served customers that day, and the days that followed.
