11 high-severity violations, toxic chemicals near food, undercooked meals — and the restaurant stayed open

CLERMONT, FL. Food was not cooked to required minimum temperatures at Ay Jalisco on East Highway 50, according to a June 3 state inspection that also found toxic chemicals improperly stored near food, no written employee illness policy, and employees who were not reporting symptoms of illness. The restaurant was not closed.

The inspection turned up 11 high-severity violations and 5 intermediate violations, a total of 16 citations in a single visit. State records show the facility has never been emergency-closed in 35 inspections on record.

What Inspectors Found

The undercooking violation is among the most direct threats to customers. Salmonella survives in poultry below 165 degrees Fahrenheit. A kitchen that is not hitting required minimum temperatures is sending food to tables with live pathogens still present.

The chemical violations compound that picture. Inspectors cited both improperly stored or labeled toxic chemicals and toxic substances improperly identified, stored, or used. Two separate citations in the same category, in the same inspection, means the problem was not isolated to a single item on a shelf.

The person in charge was either absent or not performing duties. That single finding, according to CDC data cited in state inspection records, correlates with three times as many critical violations in a given establishment.

The Illness Policy Problem

There was no written employee health policy at Ay Jalisco on June 3. There were also employees not reporting symptoms of illness.

Those two violations together describe a specific failure chain. Without a written policy, workers have no formal instruction to stay home when sick. Without reporting, a sick employee working the line becomes the most direct transmission route for Norovirus, which accounts for 20 million cases in the United States each year.

The handwashing violations add another layer. Inspectors found both inadequate handwashing facilities and improper hand and arm washing technique. Inadequate facilities means the infrastructure for proper hygiene was not in place. Improper technique means that even when employees attempted to wash their hands, pathogens remained.

The intermediate citation for improper sewage or waste water disposal, combined with the cooling equipment failure, means the kitchen was operating with compromised infrastructure across multiple systems at once.

What These Violations Mean

The undercooking violation is not a paperwork problem. It means a customer who ordered chicken, pork, or another protein on June 3 may have received food that had not reached the temperature required to kill Salmonella, Campylobacter, or E. coli. Those pathogens cause illness within hours to days of exposure.

The toxic chemical citations are a separate and immediate risk. Chemicals stored near or improperly labeled around food can contaminate a dish without any visible sign. The customer would have no way to know.

The combination of no illness policy, employees not reporting symptoms, inadequate handwashing facilities, and improper technique creates what state inspection records describe as an outbreak enabler. Each violation on its own is serious. Together, they describe a kitchen where sick workers could prepare food with contaminated hands on surfaces that were not properly sanitized, and no system existed to catch any of it.

The consumer advisory violation means customers with compromised immune systems, elderly diners, pregnant women, and young children were not warned that certain menu items may contain raw or undercooked ingredients.

The Longer Record

Ay Jalisco has 353 total violations across 35 inspections on record. Every inspection going back to at least March 2023 has included high-severity violations. The count has not gone down. In April 2025, inspectors visited on consecutive days, April 16 and April 17, logging 10 high-severity violations on the first day and 7 on the second.

The June 2026 inspection, with 11 high-severity citations, is the highest single-visit count in the visible record. It is not an outlier. It is the continuation of a line that has been moving in one direction for more than three years.

The facility has never been emergency-closed. After 35 inspections and 353 violations, Ay Jalisco on East Highway 50 was open for business on June 3, 2026.