HOLLYWOOD, FL. Inspectors visiting Azucar Bakery & Cafe at 2021 Pembroke Rd. on September 23 found toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled near food, a violation that can cause acute poisoning without any visible sign that something has gone wrong.
That was one of six high-severity violations documented in a single visit. The bakery was not closed.
What Inspectors Found
The inspector also cited the facility for inadequate shell stock identification records. Azucar Bakery and Cafe is not a raw bar, but if shellfish is on the menu in any form, state law requires that tags identifying the harvest source travel with the product and be kept on file. Without those records, there is no way to trace a contaminated batch if customers fall ill.
Food contact surfaces were not properly cleaned or sanitized, the inspector noted. That citation covers the cutting boards, prep tables, and utensils that touch food directly throughout a service day.
Employees were found not reporting symptoms of illness, and the inspector also cited improper hand and arm washing technique. Those two violations arrived together, which matters: an employee who is sick, who is also not washing hands correctly, represents the most direct transmission route from kitchen to customer.
No allergen awareness was demonstrated. That citation means staff could not reliably communicate which menu items contain common allergens to a customer who asked.
Two intermediate violations rounded out the inspection: improper sewage or wastewater disposal, and equipment in poor repair or condition.
What These Violations Mean
The chemical storage violation is worth slowing down on. Cleaning agents and sanitizers stored near or above food, or in unlabeled containers, can contaminate food or beverages without altering their appearance or taste. A customer would have no way to know.
The allergen violation is a different category of risk. Food allergies affect roughly 32 million Americans, and allergic reactions send approximately 30,000 people to emergency rooms each year. When staff cannot demonstrate allergen awareness, a customer with a tree nut or dairy allergy who asks about a menu item may receive an answer that is simply wrong.
The illness reporting violation is what epidemiologists call an outbreak enabler. Norovirus, the most common cause of foodborne illness outbreaks in restaurant settings, spreads person-to-person and through food handled by infected workers. When employees do not report symptoms, they continue working through the infectious period. The improper handwashing technique citation compounds that directly: even an employee who attempts to wash hands may leave pathogens behind if the technique is wrong.
The shellfish traceability failure matters in a specific way. Shellfish filter large volumes of water and can carry bacteria, viruses, or toxins absorbed from their harvest environment. The tagging and record system exists so that, if a batch is linked to illness, regulators can identify the harvest location, the date, and every other facility that received product from the same source. Without those records, that chain breaks entirely.
The Longer Record
September 23 was not the first time Azucar Bakery and Cafe produced a high-severity violation count. The facility has five inspections on record, and across those five visits, inspectors have documented 29 total violations.
The February 2026 inspection tells a compressed story on its own. On February 17, the inspector cited six high-severity violations and three intermediate ones. The following day, February 18, a follow-up visit found only one intermediate violation remaining. That pattern shows the facility can correct violations quickly when required. The September 23 inspection shows those corrections did not hold.
The June 2025 inspection produced four high-severity violations. The September 2025 inspection added one more. The facility has never been emergency-closed.
What the record shows, across five inspections, is not a facility that had one bad day. The high-severity violation count has reached six on two separate occasions, separated by seven months.
Open for Business
State inspectors have the authority to order an emergency closure when conditions present an immediate threat to public health. Six high-severity violations at a single inspection, including chemical storage near food, no allergen awareness, illness reporting failures, and improper sewage disposal, did not meet that threshold at Azucar Bakery and Cafe on September 23.
The bakery at 2021 Pembroke Rd. remained open after the inspection.
